The Crazy World of All-star Cheer.
Why do we sign ourselves up for this stuff? It's most often compared to that of a "Dance Mom." I think they both have their own insanity, but aren't quiet the same. I've been a cheer mom for over 8 years now, and nothing would have ever prepared me for All-star cheer being hit by a pandemic.
Insanely enough, the cheer season typically runs year round. They have an "off season" (no competitions) from June to October, but they stay training in the gym 12 months out of the year. So yes, 2020 has been the year of drastic change. You have parents almost losing touch with reality because of the fact that their kids aren't able to be in the gym. COVID-19 has forced an end to all things including end of season competitions, banquets, and now even tryouts are suffering as a result. I get it, after months of quarantining there's a void yearning to be filled... We want our children happy, and cheer is a part of their happiness. But lets be honest, what do you parents expect?
Cheer competitions are huge. You can guarantee an arena to be filled with well over 1,000 people at even the smallest of events. Of course this is solely considering those competing in the competition, not even the workers who are present to host it. Why? Because a team itself holds up to 30 some athletes, each of those athletes will bring along a parent (or two) as well as siblings, there's typically 2 coaches per team, and each gym brings along at least 5 teams at minimum to compete and support one another. So what that says to me (and hopefully you too) is there's absolutely no chance of social distancing whatsoever. Indicator #1 that anything happening in the cheer world, after group gatherings were limited to 50 back in March, would pretty much be impossible.
Now for some reason, parents seem to be "shocked" and appalled that events such as Worlds and Summit, which you'll most often hear described as the Cheer Superbowl or Olympics, are being canceled. So surprised, that when its cancellation is announced by a reputable cheer blogger, they go on an old fashioned witch hunt, demanding his apology and seemingly calling for a shut down of his entire business. All because he made the announcement on his time, and not when/how they felt it were appropriate. Now don't get me started on this part, because honestly, I think this shows how fucking sensitive and dramatic some of these parents are... but we'll save that for another time.
Again, these same parents are upset that their kids aren't getting time in gyms and may potentially lose skills. They've even expressed frustrations with plans for next season, which understandably will include rearrangement of events for a more crowd controlled system. They will introduce us to a new normal for the sake of everyone's health, but that's not good enough. It's as if the 2019 version of normalcy within the world of CHEER, is a requirement for their overall survival. You read that right. THEIRS, not the kids.
So my question is, what are we teaching the kids? That when the world is faced with a killer disease throw caution to the wind, kick and scream, and demand that you have the right to cheer? Hell no. Not mine. As a mom my kids have learned how to adapt to this madness. Cheer has never been our world. It is fun. It has brought us happiness and sadness, it has helped to build character and confidence, but it has not and will not ever be worth risking anyone's life.
So what gym time is being lost... you adjust your routine and figure out how to keep moving. In our case, money was recouped from the events that were cancelled, saving me over $1,000, and so I splurged and bought my girl a tumble track for the back yard. She tumbles and works on jumps 2-3 times a week, she logs in, stretches/exercises with other athletes virtually, and she will be ready (when the world reopens), to get back to work. What my girl will know after all of this, is not how to be a spoiled brat about change, but instead that even when you're standing still the world doesn't stop moving. So you adjust your sails to keep up.
She didn't lose anything, instead she gained a better understanding of being humble. She's learned that when the odds are stacked against you, how important it is to still focus on you, and make shit happen.
If you can't say the same for your athlete - what the hell are you doing?