h5a5r5c5

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Tryouts- Placements-Evaluations

It seems like every gym has a different name for them, tryouts, placements, evaluations...LOL But it seems to me that the end result is all the same. The gym that my daughter's cheer at everyone makes a team. Last year they had 3 teams- Tiny's, Juniors, and Seniors. This season we are going to be adding a Youth team!
My girls really were not that nervous about tryout's this year. I think mostly after being out of the gym for a week they were more excited to go and see their coach's and friends then anything else. Yes, my oldest daughter was asking me every 10-20 minutes if her coach had texted me with what team she was going to be on, but she also knew that she was going to on A team, so it was more that she wanted to know WHAT team!
Now this is her 3rd season, her very 1st tryout was way different than this years. At her 1st one, she went into a gym with a bunch of girls that already knew each other, and she had never cheered before. She was terrified, but she still wanted to cheer. She thought that it was fun, and everyone was really nice. The 1st week of practice was a TOTALLY different story, she hated it. She couldn't do what most of the other girls were doing, and she wanted to quit. Me being the mean Mother that I am told her that she was out of luck, that she was committed for the season and I asked her quite a few times before she was committed if she was sure that is what she wanted to do- all time's answered with a yes! So she was going to finish it out, and if she didn't want to go back the next year she didn't have too.
Well a month into it, she loved it! Sure she had alot to learn, and was way behind girls that had been there for years, but she was doing it. Last season when it came time for tryout's there was no question that she was doing it, even though she might complain about practice, and the amount of time that she spends at the gym shes committed to the gym, to her team, her friends, and her coaches! This season when it came time for tryout's it really was just another day- she's used to cheering, being at the gym and whats expected of her.
Both of my girls are lucky to be part of a great program that puts the children above everything else, and as a parent that's something that I think is important. It's great to win, but I would rather my girls learn that you can't win every time, sometimes even when you do your best it doesn't work out like that. And I am lucky that my girls have coach's that are not just focused on that!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Cheer Tryouts

Hello,

Our gym is holding our tryouts on May 2nd and 3rd. My daughter is real excited about trying out again for the gym she was asked at the end of the season to do the Senior Level 5 team and tried out and made the team. So she is so excited about this year because she had a mental block for 2 years she was in private lessons and got her tumbling and then she ended up with a mental block. Since my daughter made that team last season at the end she got all of her tumbling back and is not scared to further her skill.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Hello friends!
I have the privilege of being a cheer mom AND owning the gym in which my girls cheer. I have owned Powerhouse Athletics in Southern IL (www.powerhouseathletics.com) for 4 years. We are a newer gym with only about 100 kids, but we are growing steadily. My youngest daughter who just turned 5 will be on our Tiny team this year (Embers) and my older daughter who is 8 will be on our Youth team (Blaze). My oldest daughter will also be on our Youth dance team, Rubies.
In addition to owning and coaching at a gym, I also judge internationally for many various cheer companies, including AC, WCA, USA, WSF, US Finals, Cheer Expo (Canada), Halifax Elite (Canada), ICC (England/US), Coastal Corp., CSG and several others. I am also a certifier for NCSSE.
I am excited to be asked to admin for this blog, as I think cheer moms can give their children the best experience possible the more information they have.
Unfortunatly, many gyms do NOT offer a good experience for their athletes. I have seen first-hand the damage it can do to young athletes to be involved in a negative program. I know because MY gym fell victim to the drama and chaos last year. We got an influx of negative parents who were bent on destorying the gym. We also had some coaches in place that were NOT good for our athletes. I made the decision to tear down my program to almost ZERO and start over. That was the only way to save it. AND IT WORKED! My gym is now drama free and a positive learning environment for our athletes! And we all love being there! A good quality gym should have these qualities (and all parents looking for a gym should checkmark these!!):

1. GOOD ENERGY (No drama or negativity floating around).
2. A QUALITY FACILITY (A facility should be large enough for athletes to train safely and effectively and current and well-functioning equipment should be part of their training regimen).
3. QUALIFIED COACHES (It's not enough that a coach cheered, danced or tumbled themselves. This a GOOD coach does not make! Coaches should have an indepth understanding of the sport and skills required AND be a good motivator and communicator.)
4. SAFETY FIRST (The gym should follow proper progressions and not skill-jump just to attain a wanted skill. Skill jumping is SUPER common but cripples progressions badly! For example, gyms will try and teach a back handspring before the child has a solid, hollow handstand).
5. COMBINATION OF FUN AND WORK (It's not enough to focus on fun, nor is it enough to focus solely on work. Kids need to learn to have fun while working... this is the key. Many coaches fail in this area and focus heavily on one versus the other).
6. PARENTAL EDUCATION (making your parents aware and educated is key to your gym's success. It will instill loyalty from them if they feel they are educated and their expectations are being met).

This is the basis for my new and current formula. So far it is working wonderfully and my gym is growing and prospering. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about anything cheer related! E-mail: powerhouseathletics@hotmail.com

Friday, April 2, 2010