Cheerleading for Young Catholics

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marmee79

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How do you moms out there feel about your young daughters cheerleading?Today my 13 year old daughter who has wanted to be a cheerleader since kindergarten,and my 4th grade tagalong daughter came home from the 13 year olds 3rd day of practice for the soon to be 8th grade cheer squad at a upstanding Catholic Middle school.
Apparently the girls were having to do a routine that another 8th grader from another middle school and her friend from our school made up. Although they have a varsity cheerleader there to coach and two chaperones they were shown some rather vulgar moves.
Apalled by the situation I responded by calling one of the chaperones and the coach. They assured me that the situation would be changed or taken care of, we talked about different options for the moves and I feel assured that it will be changed however what do I do if it isnt? There are at least 8 girls from our school who are trying out for cheerleading and this routine is for 'Fallfest at one of the cities Catholic high schools. I would like any (name removed by moderator)ut Moms especially.
Thanks so much Marmeee 79
 
Would you be comfortable with your daughter performing in front of Jesus, and for that matter would she be comfortable in front of Him. If not then i suggest you look at how moral cheerleading is, what is its purpose? As far as i can tell, and im from the U.K where it doesnt exist, so dont slate me if im wrong, but it seems that cheerleading is to impress the other teams with their “selection of dancing girls” for the crowds pleasure. Is it being done for Gods glory or are the girls doing it to be looked at by men/teenagers, if the latter, id suggest you seriously question it being acceptable for a 13 year old, who is under YOUR control to be doing it.

I saw a sig today which said that even animals nourish the body of their young ones, but we should nourish the soul of our children, do you think allowing her to cheerlead is bringing her close to God. Again, you must examine your conscience, and imagine what God will say to you on the day of Judgement, you should strive so that everything he will say will make you proud that it was done for Him, and not for any self gain or admiration at all.

God be with you.

Andre.
 
since moving to Texas, where football and cheerleading are for teens what the priesthood and sisterhood are for the Church, a way for both male and females to devote their life to a religion (yes, it is a religion down here, and I thought Ohio was bad), I have learned a lot about cheerleading (not much about football, except not to schedule CCD or youth events on Friday night, or until after football practice).

apparently it has changed since my girls tried out (and failed) for cheerleading. there are 2 kinds, one the squad that actually leads crowd participation at the football games, which is still cool, but not nearly as cool as the 2nd kind. these are the glorified dance troupes that enter competitions, and this is where the most vulgar moves and routines, equalling anything I have ever seen at Vegas shows (when forced due to business reasons to attend such exhibitions).

there are even such squads at Catholic high schools and universities. When my granddaughter’s Catholic high school went co-ed a few years ago and introduced cheerleaders this trend became apparent and the whole program was stopped. They now have boy-girl cheerleading teams, modestly dressed, who do the traditional yells and cheers at football games.

it is up to the parents to supervise what is going in, know what your kid is involved in, speak out if moral principles are violated. Personally, since most parents here don’t seem to know the difference between modesty and dressing like a whore, I don’t have a lot of confidence this will happen. To promote it, in my mind, by cheearing along as you daughter dresses and dances like a Vegas showgirl, is pimping your daughter.
 
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puzzleannie:
it is up to the parents to supervise what is going in, know what your kid is involved in, speak out if moral principles are violated. Personally, since most parents here don’t seem to know the difference between modesty and dressing like a whore, I don’t have a lot of confidence this will happen. To promote it, in my mind, by cheearing along as you daughter dresses and dances like a Vegas showgirl, is pimping your daughter.
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Its harsh and to the point, but annie nailed it on the head. 🙂
 
Um, marmee, think about it. If I asked you to any of the following:
  1. Shake your backside around while yelling at the top of your lungs
  2. Do high kicks in the air while wearing a short skirt
  3. Yell “Hoo rah rah” and wave pompoms
would you do it? More to the point, would you want your daughter exhibiting herself like that? Even if you don’t think there’s anything wrong with its morality, it doesn’t exactly enhance the dignity of woman.
 
Last night while we were at unit 6’s baseball game (he is in second grade) we saw the cheerleading coach and Julie (aka Marmee79) had quite a talk with her.

Unit 4 (the eight grader) came home today with changes to make it a lot more modest. She was in much better spirits than she was yesterday.

Julie and I thank you for all your kind (name removed by moderator)ut. I didn’t think puzzleannie was at all harsh. If that’s what it seems like to you, then it helps us for you to tell us flat out.

Julie watched part of practice today and thought it was better. I like the distinction between leading crowd yells and trying to be stage bimbos. I’ll be watching for that as she learns her routines and practices for us each evening. I might also go to practice tomorrow to watch a while and see what the attitudes of the other kids and the adults are.

Thanks again. Julie has been anxious to see your replies. She may have more to add to my answer. If I was smart I’d let her get the last word more often than I typically do. 😃

Alan
 
I am surprised (am I becoming cynical?) and glad that the coach was responsive to your wife’s concerns. As a former all star varsity cheerleader, with a genuine love for it, I have become more and more disappointed as it has evolved into what seems to be glorified kiddie porn.

In case there are other mom’s struggling with the “should I allow my daughter to be a cheerleader” question, I wanted to bring up another aspect that should be considered. SAFETY. This is not so much of a concern for the older girls, but for the younger ones. Cheerleading competions are very competitive and in the drive for victory, many safety standards have been compromised.

When I cheered in the late 80’s, safety was a priority. There were no basket tosses (the girl being thrown into the air and caught by another) until the college level. You could build two high in a full extension, but not until high school.

I coached the 9-11 age group about five years ago and was appalled to see basket tosses. The basket toss itself is fun and looks great. The problem is in who is doing the catching. If there was an adult catching or even spotting the catchers, in my eyes this would be sufficient. But these girls are being caught by their 9-11 yr old peers without a grown up nearby. I don’t understand what kind of parent would be comfortable with their child falling from 15-20 feet in the air and being caught by a young child! On a gymnasium floor no less!

I was vocal with my unesainess and was looked at by the other coaches and parents as a party pooper. After one particular discussion with my co-coach, and being ignored again, I was horrified to see a girl on my squad (coincidently the coach’s daughter), fall through the hands of the catchers and land on her head on the gym floor. When she recovered consciousness she was blind. Fortunately, she recovered her sight, but is left with minimal brain damage and continuing health problems. The girls who “dropped her”, one only nine yrs. old, suffered from guilt and cried for the rest of the season as the other girl watched from the sidelines in her wheelchair. Imagine if she had died! Is it fair to put that kind of emotional responsibility on girls that age?

I decided I could no longer coach the sport I loved so much in good conscience, that i would finish the season then resign. My decision was confirmed at the end of season competition, when I witnessed a five year old in a full extension (at least 13 ft. in the air) with no spotters, fall face first onto the gym floor. Her mother who had just two seconds before had a proud peacock look on her face, jump up and screaming carried her daughter out with blood literally gushing like a faucet from her mouth.

For those with younger children in cheerleading, please rethink your decision. Football is safer. They wear pads.

God bless!
 
Thanks for all your helpful information and for stating cheerleading is actually a sport not an exhibitionism. I could go on but I have a saying that goes something like this “say nothing and never regret it.” I appreciate your support and hearing your point of veiw.

Thanks again Marmee 79
 
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marmee79:
Thanks for all your helpful information and for stating cheerleading is actually a sport not an exhibitionism. I could go on but I have a saying that goes something like this “say nothing and never regret it.” I appreciate your support and hearing your point of veiw.

Thanks again Marmee 79
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She normally says nothing because by the time I get done talking nobody wants to hear anything about it anymore. 😛

I’m glad you brought up the issue of safety. Even watching some high school cheer leaders I think they push the limits. Of course I don’t know their training but it scares me. It’s fun to watch their tricks, but uneasily.

They have improved the offensive moves so that they are only annoying and not so objectionable. Also they are just doing basic jump-around cheers and no fancy stuff, so at the moment there probably isn’t an imminent danger.

Thanks again for all the advice. 👍

Alan
 
Thanks to all of you I feel much better about my daughter being a cheerleader this year. She just got done with cheerleading camp put on by FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and I was very pleasantly surprized at the cheers she learned. The only “concern” I had was that there were many kids there that asked if Catholics were christians of my daughter. Sad that she had to defend her faith to them but also good for her because she did. Some girl even had the nerve to make a comment about her crossing herself at prayer time but again she handled it beautifully. I am so proud of her!!!
 
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