How We Spent Our Day

[Juniper]

All-star cheer squad; first competition of the year, at a local high school. She's on both a Junior and Senior squad. Juniors came in 2nd place, Seniors 1st.

I'll be honest, though -- these things are strange -- often there's no other squad competing in their particular division. The Seniors were the only ones today, so they could've stood there like trees and still won 1st place. It's not always like that, though. We consider it good practice for the bigger ones.




It's not easy being a star.




That's my little blonde blur, far left.

I always feel like I need to defend her sport of choice. She started out taking tumbling classes at age 5. By 6, she was doing back handsprings. At 7 she was ready for "power tumbling" but we opted to switch over to gymnastics instead. She competed for three years on a YMCA gymnastics team - all the goodies, bars, beam, vault and floor. I think she was pretty good at it, for someone who had a life outside the gym.

Big-time competitive gymnasts, even the young ones, practice an ungodly amount of time each week -- 4 days a week or more, 4 hours at a time -- and that's if they're NOT on track to be Olympians. My daughter trained at the gym that taught Jaycie Phelps and Amanda Borden, but we weren't remotely interested in that kind of sacrifice so we opted for the YMCA team instead. That's a lot more sane - 2 days a week, sometimes 3 if needed.

But she got burned out. Understandable. Wanted to try something new. Joined her school's PeeWee cheer squad last year, and they had a #1 undefeated competition season. Our school takes sports very seriously and starting even in 4th grade they have cheer tryouts and oh no, definitely not everyone makes it. In Junior high they had tryouts for football and basketball sidelines squads PLUS a competitive squad - only they would go to an event like the one pictured above. And in fact the school squad was there today, in a different session.

Well, unfortunately the tryouts in the summer were stretched over a 4-day "camp" and two of those days she was committed to a Girl Scout resident camp. That was more important IMO! So she didn't make the competitive squad but did get chosen as an alternate. Mind you, alternates get screwed. They have to go to practice anyway, have to pay all the fees (this year, $200 pay-to-play) but may never be in a competition. Forget that! We opted to go to a private gym and try out for their all-star squad. So here she is.

So yeah, she could've done soccer, basketball, dance, whatever. But it just happens that she likes doing gravity-defying flippy stuff (the handsprings, the back tucks...basket tosses and other stunts). When she started, she was a tiny petite thing. But by the time she turned 10, it became apparent to me that she was going to take more after her 6'3" father than her 5'2" mother. At 12 now she is officially taller than me and wears shoes two sizes bigger.

I can't tell you how much all of this has done for her health, strength, poise and confidence. This girl is BUFF. She has such a healthy attitude toward life - loves to eat veggies, drinks mostly water. Stereotypically cheerleader types are anorexic and self-conscious; not mine. I asked her if she ever felt pressured to starve herself and she told me that was nuts, she loves food too much for that. She was told a couple weeks ago that "the bases would like the flyers to lose weight..." (if you've gotta lift someone up, 90 lbs. beats 110, right?) But my darling daughter said, if that's a problem, she'd rather just be a base. Even if bases get kicked in the head sometimes. But she did agree to cut down the soda and drink more water. I think that's wise for anyone.

I've found that in real life, cheerleading is a lot kinder, more accepting and less shallow than its media portrayal and general stereotyping.

Sidelines cheer is pretty much what you think - rah rah, go team, pom poms rustling, toe-touches, big whoop. Competitive cheer is amazing -- a very intense dance routine, professionally choreographed, with difficult tumbling passes and, depending on the squad, with stunts like pyramids and girls being flung up in the air! Definitely requires top physical conditioning and mental agility, too.

And my daughter, like many kids, has always done a LOT better in school when given a regular source of intense exercise. It's really amazing. I saw this in my son when he started wrestling, too. When they don't have it, they're a mess.

We could really do without the eye glitter, though. Yuck!

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'm glad you were smart enough to let her quit when she decided she was burned out. Being supportive, without being pushy, is a delicate balance, good for you.

[Juniper]

Of course! When the activity no longer meets the kid's needs and goals, things need to change. I always present her with options at the time they exist -- for example, when she got "rejected" for the school competition squad, our options included going back to the old gymnastics team, taking dance classes, or joining the all-star gym. There were a few other options too, but doing nothing wasn't an option, because we'd both go nuts with all that time and hyper energy.

I have no agenda for her. I'm not a stage mom. I just want her to feel competent - that's what it's all about.

And to use a gift you're given - that's important too. One thing I do require is that if either kid signs up for a sport or other activity, he or she is not allowed to quit halfway through or give it less than 100%. Because your teammates, whether it's gymnastics, cheer, baseball, wrestling or whatever, are also giving it their all and deserve yours too..

It also teaches good sportsmanship. One thing I wanted to add -- my daughter asked me to bring her back for the 2nd session at today's competition so she could support her school's squad -- the PeeWees she knew from last year (5th and 6th grade performed together) and even the competition squad she didn't get selected for. After all, it is still her school. I thought that showed an amazing amount of grace and maturity. To go up to the girls who did get selected and say "you did great!" Just wow.

A scholarship someday might be nice, though!

[Aliantha]

Cheerleading is not a 'thing' here at all. The big clubs have cheerleaders for their football teams etc, but it's not something kids do for sport in school, and definitely not something you'd get a scholarship for.

It's interesting how different some things are.

[Juniper]

http://littlemisspompoms.tripod.com/index.htm
http://www.cheerleading.com.au/
http://www.cheerleadingaustralia.com/

Looks like it's in development.

[Aliantha]

Hmmmm...lol Even more interesting is the influence American culture has on our youth.

[Bruce 9012]

YEAH cheerleading is Like a sport OK

[Clodfobble]

Juniper, have you or your daughter ever watched "Making the Team" on CMT (yes, Country Music Television, but they're like MTV, they don't actually have any country music on there.) It's a documentary-style series about the annual tryouts for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. It, too, does an excellent job of showing the classy and non-stereotypical side of cheerleading. I was pretty much the antithesis of cheerleading in high school, and even I love the show.

[Sundae]

There's also an episode of Faking It USA (might just be Faking It for you) that shows the work (just) a traditional cheerleading squad do. I put the just in brackets because of course they're an NFL squad.

Don't feel defensive - you've easily explained the appeal and the exertion. I say having a teen willing to put that amount of time into anything, especially something physical, is a really positive outcome.

Although the photo shows they could tighten up
(And yes, I am half kidding because although I was very sporty at that age I would not have made the team, having no dance skills and little gymnastic coordination).

ETA - waffled away and didn't say how awesome your daughter and her talent is! You should be proud of her. Any vids you can post, do so. It's as valid as Griff's fencing vids, which I also admire.