Anonymous wrote:

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I'm soooooo done with this thread!  Please close.

If your a mom who has this issue, let the coach tell you were the child should go, if you do not trust their judgement leave the program.  If you do not get warm fuzzys...don't do it.........

Coaches....do the right thing for children in this situation.....do NOT let mothers be stage moms


Kids.......JUST SAY NO!

I am done  

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THANK U1!!

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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If this is about being able to show her skills, my suggestion would be stay on an age approprite team and do an Individual. Problem solved!

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its all age approprite thats y they call it a junior team not a senior

CASE CLOSED!!!

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 No, there are more than Jr and Sr divisions.  How about youth?  Heck most Mini's are older than 6.  Why not ask the gym owner to put together a youth team of kids with similar skills?  Even if they don't have fulls.  I'm sure there are other parents whose kids have this problem who don't have anywhere to place their kids.

Just a suggestion...

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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I'm soooooo done with this thread!  Please close.

If your a mom who has this issue, let the coach tell you were the child should go, if you do not trust their judgement leave the program.  If you do not get warm fuzzys...don't do it.........

Coaches....do the right thing for children in this situation.....do NOT let mothers be stage moms


Kids.......JUST SAY NO!

I am done  

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Again........So done.........  

Food for thought.......  Haveing tumbling skills is NOT all what it takes to be on a level 3,4, or 5 for that matter.......just becasue she is small does NOT mean she should fly!!!!!    They do not look the same in a stunt, or a toss or a pyramid.  Her body is NOt going to be as tight as the older flyers, might beable to do the skills......will not look the same.   In a toss, she better have great body control or she wil look like a ragdoll. Now for the pyramid, her legs and arms are too short for it to look good! (unles all your flyers are small) There, it is, in black and white.......some will disagree some  will say, "yep".......some might even say, "hell, is that why it looks off!" 

OK.....I am now done!  Again....

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who said she was just a tumbler, or would be a flyer, what would you know about the this person.  you could be right but cheer is a sport not a social club.  view it that way and everyone is an athletic regardless of age, just skill. 

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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I'm soooooo done with this thread!  Please close.

If your a mom who has this issue, let the coach tell you were the child should go, if you do not trust their judgement leave the program.  If you do not get warm fuzzys...don't do it.........

Coaches....do the right thing for children in this situation.....do NOT let mothers be stage moms


Kids.......JUST SAY NO!

I am done  

---

Again........So done.........  

Food for thought.......  Haveing tumbling skills is NOT all what it takes to be on a level 3,4, or 5 for that matter.......just becasue she is small does NOT mean she should fly!!!!!    They do not look the same in a stunt, or a toss or a pyramid.  Her body is NOt going to be as tight as the older flyers, might beable to do the skills......will not look the same.   In a toss, she better have great body control or she wil look like a ragdoll. Now for the pyramid, her legs and arms are too short for it to look good! (unles all your flyers are small) There, it is, in black and white.......some will disagree some  will say, "yep".......some might even say, "hell, is that why it looks off!" 

OK.....I am now done!  Again....

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who said she was just a tumbler, or would be a flyer, what would you know about the this person.  you could be right but cheer is a sport not a social club.  view it that way and everyone is an athletic regardless of age, just skill. 

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LOL...I do not know this child at all....this is JMO from what I have seen coaching for oh, the last 6 years.  I have coached from the mini's to seniors.  I have seen it all.  Cheer is a sport....I NEVER said it's a social club and it's common sense that tells me becasue she is 8 years old, she would be considered a flyer also if she was bringing tummbling skills too.  If it was just for her tumbling and nothing else....that means the child will be put in the back for everything or would be a front spot if they have them....(They should not have front spots).

What I have said before, I stand by. Lets move on.

Tamara wrote:

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I don't feel that age has anything to do with skill level. 

I think the answer to this depends on the age of the other team members.  If it's an older junior team (made of mostly 13-14yo) than I wouldn't expect my 10yo to be on the team; however if there's mostly 10-11yo (with one or two older ones to require the team to be junior) than there's a little more leeway, but still wouldn't be expecting my 7yo to be one the team.

Now, if I have a level 4 8yo and the only options are a level 2 youth team or a level 4 junior team - I'm most likely going to say keep her/him on the youth team.  My 8yo theoreticly has many more years to cheer.  It's not like her/his skills are going to disappear because she/he doesn't compete them for 2.5 mins once to a few times a month, her/his skills are bound to just improve through practices, tumbling and privates.

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Oh! these examples are only relevant if the gym has youth or mini.  If the gym doesn't then, of course, the appropriate place for the child would be juniors.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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my3grlz wrote:

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I know she's 6 but what are the other ages on the team?  I mean is it just one 6 year old and the rest 14 year olds or is it a pretty good mixture of ages? 

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You sure do have a lot of facts.  Is your child on this team as well???

She IS the youngest on that team. All of the other girls are at least 11 and up (most are 13 and 14yrs. old).

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Her team mates can drive her to practice

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Is there a difference between putting a 6 year old on a Junior team and putting an 11 year on a Senior team (11's the minimum age right?)? Or is there one?

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Is there a difference between putting a 6 year old on a Junior team and putting an 11 year on a Senior team (11's the minimum age right?)? Or is there one?

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         Yes, I think a few. To be honest I think you have to think twice about younger ones on the senior team as well. 6 yr olds in most cases do not have the same attention span as an 11 yr old. Although there are always exceptions on both ends. My opinion is no 6 yr old on a Jr. team. 11 yr old on Senior depends on the make up of the senior team. I have seen very old senior teams and very young senior teams. Sometimes you end up going senior because you have 1 child who missed the cut off date. In those cases you may have a younger team. If it is composed of mainly HS girls it's probably not a great idea.  This subject could be debated forever. Each situation is so unique that the parent, coach and child must decide what is best!

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yes ultimately it is the decision of owner, coach, & parent (because we pay the bill) just think positive, have your own opinion (just note that's all it is a "opinion")

"Constant debating will not change anything."


Nope, but debates open the mind to possibilities and other points of view.

When Emily was 7, she was on a Junior team. Most of the kids were MUCH MUCH older than she was. She came out of that situation a very confident flyer because her bases could actually hold her up in the air AND save her rear should she have come down.

The older kids did baby her a little, but that was her place on the team. She WAS the baby. They played with her, watched her, cared for her like she was one of their own. And she was. Her coaches (Nikki Pierce and Michelle Bumbaca) took care of her and treated her with such respect and kindness, even when she wouldn't pay attention or danced around like a 7 year old. Oh, they had to stop practice cause "Emily wasn't paying attention again..." but she learned. The older kids would remind her over and over to quit messing around and pay attention. And she learned...

What she got out of that was a life long respect for kids of ALL ages and the ability to work with everyone. She learned patience and respect. The older kids were reminded from time to time to watch what they say cause Em was there. And THEY learned.

I guess if you have a good coach watching what's happening around your child, he/she can learn lessons that would last them a life time.

Talk to your child after every practice. If something isn't right, TALK TO THEM. Use it as a learning tool. You think they are hearing these things ONLY at cheer practice? Spend a week on the school playground. You might LEARN something....