How awesome would it be if All Star cheerleading had seasons?
Example...
January and February would be for training, Choreography, practice etc. and in March you would compete locally 3 times.
April would be a "break month" and then in May you'd start over again going through July with August being a "break month". And then the same thing Sept-Nov. breaking in Dec. Maybe in November there would be a championship of some sort.
Athletes could do all of the season or just pick & choose.
It would be much cheaper and much more practical for families.
What do you all think? Any ideas to expand on this idea? What would make it better? What are the pitfalls?
Cheergyms.com is doing this with our younger teams and we've had a great amount of interest so far. It's hard to commit to an All Star year for any family and even harder for the younger ones. Not to mention the expense.
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Danny Kahn Cheergyms.com
"If you're injured don't play. If you play don't tell me you're injured." ~ Don Shula
Oh Bill....If anyone should know it's you...the industry would never mandate anything this good for itself. hahaha.
But I see what you're asking. It would be impossible unless the majority of all cheer gyms in a given area decided to convert to this system.
I just think it's time to start making the sport available to all different types of families instead of just the ones that have the money and no interest in other activities. I know my area well (Northern Cali) and I've been working in the All Star cheer business here for 25 years. I know that if all of us here by some miracle agreed to this, All Star Cheer would triple in participation in no time at all.
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Danny Kahn Cheergyms.com
"If you're injured don't play. If you play don't tell me you're injured." ~ Don Shula
I was thinking this same exact thing this past weekend. Now convincing the rest of the country might be a little tough but it sure would benefit the athletes and the gyms. Win Win in my opinion.
I think this is a great idea. I have a seven-year-old who wants to cheer, but don't have the $3,000 plus travel expenses needed for the regular season at the gym we want to go to.
I also don't have time for fundraising and hate asking people to buy, donate, sponsor, etc, and won't go into debt with credit cards. Been there, done that, and don't ever want to do it again. Also, with this idea, there's time to get involved with other activities without juggling schedules or just not doing other things. Love it!!
-- Edited by oldcheermom on Thursday 29th of April 2010 01:57:33 PM
I think AP used to or still does something similar, only 3 or 4 local comps, 1 nationals, and their costs are very low. I know this is how it was, I have no idea how it is now, but it seems like a good idea.
But did AP still have a full cheer season? I think thats one of the points, time commitment, which is tricky for some families.
I do think it is a great idea. The only pitfall I can see is that some seasons may be more populated than others. So you may not go against a lot of competition in particular seasons. Currently a gym can boast how they have done for a full cheer season. Would it be as fulfilling to say "we were undefeated in the winter season", for example? Just throwing that out. Other than that I see no disadvantages.
I also think it would be a great idea, that way kids who really want to do high school cheer/song would also still be able to compete at an all-star level on the off season. Some schools wont allow cross competing, and plus that is a lot for kids to try and juggle.
Even for some kids like mine, that still have a little bit of "cheer" love in their heart, but because they are better in dance, would also be able to do a both -- hit the dance end hard, but still be able to do cheer and compete a little....
I love the idea of having a true season, but not the way Danny had it blocked off. It would be nice if the kids could compete November through March and starting summer practices in August-October. I feel many kids don't do it because there is no real break, not necessarily because of money. Other sports have seasons unlike cheerleading.
I also think it would be a great idea, that way kids who really want to do high school cheer/song would also still be able to compete at an all-star level on the off season. Some schools wont allow cross competing, and plus that is a lot for kids to try and juggle.
Even for some kids like mine, that still have a little bit of "cheer" love in their heart, but because they are better in dance, would also be able to do a both -- hit the dance end hard, but still be able to do cheer and compete a little....
I work with several high school teams and there isn't any off season for them. The problem is the high schools make them cheer for both football and basketball. I know in some parts of the country you can cheer only football or basketball which would make it great. They should consider breaking it up.
I love the idea of having a true season, but not the way Danny had it blocked off. It would be nice if the kids could compete November through March and starting summer practices in August-October. I feel many kids don't do it because there is no real break, not necessarily because of money. Other sports have seasons unlike cheerleading.
The only problem with that Chris is there would be 4 months (April through July) where gyms would be bringing in zero tuition. That would put most gyms out of business.
Each gym could still have 1 or 2 year around teams for the ultra dedicated kids. Lets face it...most gyms have maybe 30 of these types of kids at the most anyways.
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Danny Kahn Cheergyms.com
"If you're injured don't play. If you play don't tell me you're injured." ~ Don Shula
I also think it would be a great idea, that way kids who really want to do high school cheer/song would also still be able to compete at an all-star level on the off season. Some schools wont allow cross competing, and plus that is a lot for kids to try and juggle.
Even for some kids like mine, that still have a little bit of "cheer" love in their heart, but because they are better in dance, would also be able to do a both -- hit the dance end hard, but still be able to do cheer and compete a little....
I work with several high school teams and there isn't any off season for them. The problem is the high schools make them cheer for both football and basketball. I know in some parts of the country you can cheer only football or basketball which would make it great. They should consider breaking it up.
true we do both football and basketball -- but there is the May thru July/august season, where while they do practice and do camps, its not as hectic as the football, basketball, compitition season. Its great to think about though....they could call it Spring/Summer Cheer!
