That is good to know Acedad because our high school prohibits it also. One girl tried to do both without telling the school but she was dropped off the team when the high school coach found out. We were told our daughter had to do high school in order for colleges to give her a chance but our high school is not competitive in cheerleading.

What we have seen in the last couple of weeks with try-outs being held are a couple of different problems. The first problem is in order to be on a competitive all star team practices are mandatory. Of course you will have the occasional absences due to family and personal life problems, but for the most part if the team wants to be successful the kids won't miss practice. This is where the problem comes about with kids that would like to do high school as well as all stars. High school teams tend to go to camp, and have school related activities in August. Well that is the most crucial month for an all star team because that is when all of the coreography is taking place.

I have heard of some high schools not letting a child do both their high school team as well as an all star team. I don't think that it is a matter of the all star gyms not letting a child do both, but making sure the family understands that the child can not miss practices.

The nice thing about this situation is that Pyramids is offering a new team program that can work with the high school schedule as well the all star schedule. This program is called All Star Lite. This program is for those kids who really want to cheer for thier high school, that may or may not be competitive, but would also like to be on a competitive all star team. They only practice once a week for 2 hours, and the cost is lower than if the child were to do the full year program. They still compete at local competitions, and are apart of our all star tumlbing program. I think All Star Lite will make a lot of high school coaches happier because they can put their high school team as a top priority (as well as give that child an extra pracitce a week) and it will make families happier because they do not have to make a difficult decision in choosing which they would rather cheer for. If you have any questions or are interested about this program at Pyramids please feel free to call (925)685-3910, or e-mail the Pyramids program directors derick@cheergyms.com or jeff@cheergyms.com.

I hope this answers some questions to the high school and all star situation.

Angie Amo
Pyramids All Star AND Clayton Valley High School Coach

Within cheergyms.com we have no issues with kids cheering at their HS's as well as within the All Star program. Come to think of it; what right do we have?

Perhaps I am stepping over the line here and I hope that I do not bruise any ego's, for it is not my intention. But, if I had a child I could not imagine anyone telling my child what they can and cannot do when it comes to their extra curricular activities. What right do they have? So long as my child is able to make all their commitments, I would tend to think that no one has a right to tell my child what they can and cannot do. Are they not allowed to play soccer, dance, join a club as well? If they can, why not join another cheer team?

A successful program will lay out the year for you and do all they can to stick to their schedule. This allows you to make other plans, have your child involved in other activities (not just cheerleading) and more. If your HS or All Star program is successful and does this for you, why not fill up your open time with another activity? Don't we want to encourage kids to be involved so long as they are not overloading their plate? I'll give one example here, Elisa Sabes. Four year All Star with Motions and spent her entire HS career cheering for her HS as well, not to mention being involved in other sports and activities. To this day I still have her 4.0 report card pinned on my wall.

Going back to cheergyms.com, we are doing all we can to provide a service for everyone. Our new "All Star Lite" program is perfect for those who want to put their school cheer first as the commitment level in All Star Lite is less and not as strict. However, it is very possible for kids to commit to a full year program as well and still keep their commitments to their HS.

Nelson de Dios
Motions Cheerleading Gym

Ya, I'd love to get a lawyers opinion on this one.

If a High School Cheerleading program allows their members to participate in Club soccer, Club Lacross, Piano Lessons, and outside scholastic tutoring......then why not All Star cheerleading as long as it doesn't interfere?

Maybe there's a great explanation but I'm at a loss. Especially when Pyramids has a program designed SPECIFICALLY to avois this very problem.

Well, it's funny that this subject be brought up. We were just dealing with this in April. OC All Stars has a program similar to the one cheergyms has. Our gym also runs the program at the high school here but not all of the local schools. My daughter is on both her HS team and her All Star team because the coaches are one in the same. There isn't a scheduling conflict. But one local school does not allow their kids to do both. And this school even practices in our gym!

Now, even though it would be nice to allow the girls to do both, this one school doesn't want to be a part of that plan. So many of our girls had to choose one or the other. But the good thing is, these girls still practice on spring floors because they use the gym. The coaches of the school and our gym work hand in hand also. They just aren't permited to do both.

As my daughter grew up, I always told her she would never cheer in school because I didn't want her risking her All Star years to tumble on grass or the track and get injured. There was no way. But now that OC is also doing Mission Viejo HS, this has proven to be a blessing. MVHS also has seperate cheer teams for games and a competition team made up of girls who want to compete. My daughter chose to only do the games so she could have the "high school" experience and compete at OC. It's wonderful!!! So many choices!

So it CAN work out. We are lucky that the HS she goes to has a program called ECore where you have a laptop and it is linked to the school and the teachers. Your work is done this way. My daughter will be able to do her homework at the gym in between practices or at competitions where she might miss school. What a blessing. And she still has time to have fun!!!!

OC Mom

Its kind of stupid actualy...my highschool prohibits geting better coaching and faster progress of an allstar program also...its almost like the highschools dont wanna have skill on their teams

Well I can see why they would be threatened. It varies depending on the area, but in most cases in California, all-star teams blow high school teams out of the water skill-wise. How can a high school coach keep from losing a kid who does both AS and HS at the same time to AS the following season? Easy - don't let them do AS.

Now, if it were MY kid, I agree with Nelson. No HS coach is going to tell my kid she can't do AS. I'd be more apt to let her do AS instead!

Who is the best High School Coed team in California?

Coming from the other side of cheer. Hs coaches in the bay area only have problems with allstar programs when they interfere with school events, games or summer practices. High school cheer does compete also and I think the problem coaches have at this level are kids just doing the game program and not wanting to compete for our high school but want to compete allstar. At least in our situation, We would love if our kids would do both allstar and high school competitive cheer it would benefit both programs. The problem high schools have is even though allstar gyms say it won't interfere, In the past weve had girls not show up at games and important school events and that makes the District and administration make rules for kids not to participate in both. There is no right or wrong decision in this matter, but just another point of view. I think the lite program is great for people in these situations, I just hope your right and it does not interfere at any level thats when kids get taken off by ADMINISTRATION or by their allstar gym. Usually this is not only a coaches decision.