Stay ConnectedThe Cheer Mom Podcast is a place that helps cheer moms (and dads!) understand cheer and navigate this crazy world, so we can support our athletes. Listen to experts within the industry on topics like strength and conditioning, keeping our athletes safe, and all things High School, College and All Star Cheer.
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I am joined by Jason Larkins, host of the Let's Talk Cheer Podcast, and Dan Cotton, host of The Cheer Biz Podcast, and we answer your questions from our own perspectives.
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Let's answer some of the questions I have been getting lately!
Is NCA changing locations next year? What's the difference between Worlds & All-Star Worlds? Can D2 teams compete at Worlds? Is it possible to not get a Summit bid?
All of these answered and more.
Episode Mentions:
Email Kristen at hi@thecheermomblog.com with questions and comments
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Music by Alex LaGrossa- Twisted Cutz Music Productions https://www.twistedcutz.com/
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Today I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to talk a little bit about the score sheet, and how your team's score sheet can be negatively impacted before your athlete even hits the mat.
Episode Mentions:
End-of-Season Gifts with The Cheer Collection https://thecheercollection.com/
USASF Cheer Rules https://usasfmain.s3.amazonaws.com/Worlds/docs/19-20/Cheer/usasf_worlds_cheer_rules-regs.pdf
Summit Rules https://www.varsity.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/VAS_Summit_Rules_22.pdf
Summit Championship Rules https://www.varsity.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Summit-Championship-Rules-23.pdf
EPCOT Cheer Parent Incident https://www.disneyfanatic.com/cheerleading-team-bullied-disqualified-after-parents-seen-swimming-in-epcot-fountain-ks1/
Email Kristen at hi@thecheermomblog.com with questions and comments
Join The Cheer Mom Hive on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/cheermomhive/
Follow The Cheer Mom Blog on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecheermomblog
Follow The Cher Mom Blog on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@cheermomblog?lang=en
Music by Alex LaGrossa- Twisted Cutz Music Productions https://www.twistedcutz.com/
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
All right. There are a lot of overwhelming, confusing things about cheerleading. That's probably why most of you are here listening to the podcast, why you follow the Cheer Mom blog on social media, why you've read any one of my blog posts or emails.
Because the majority of us walk into our first cheer competition our athlete's first cheer practice and we go, "Whoa... what is this?"
And in some ways that feeling never goes away. So, as I've been at your events this season, I've kind of been just like jotting down little notes about like, I don't get it. That's confusing. You guys, I've been doing this 12 years and I still walk around going, I don't understand.
This is confusing. Why do we do this? Why is it this way? So this episode is really just gonna be a vent sesh and commiseration over things in cheer that just don't make sense to me. That are just confusing. Maybe you can relate to some of them. I don't have a solution. It's not like a problem solution episode where it's like, I was confused about this, and then I found out it's that.
No, not really. It's just going to be me getting on my soapbox and talking about things that are confusing. You ready?
Everything You Want to Know About Bids
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Today's episode is going to answer a few of the common questions that are asked in all of the Facebook groups. "How do I support my athlete at home? My athlete wants to improve their skills. What do we need to be working on with them at home to make that happen? What's the best tumbling mat? What is the best Airtraq? What kind of exercises should they be doing?" etc.
If you are not part of the Cheer Mom Hive Facebook group, we are over 8,000 members going strong. And there are some really helpful people in there asking and answering questions and offering support.
And one of them is Coach Sunni Wheeler. Yeah, fellow Wheeler, no relation. Coach Sunni has been a gymnastics coach and a cheer coach for many years. And she is also a content creator on Tik Tok and has some really funny videos about coaching and what it's like from a coaching perspective.
She caught my eye in a Facebook group talking about what your athletes should and should not be doing at home from a coaching perspective. We dive deep into that today and her answers really intrigued and surprised me.
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Follow The Cheer Mom Blog on TikTok Shop our Jewelry line!Music by Alex LaGrossa- Twisted Cutz Music Productions
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Today's episode we're here to talk about college cheer from the perspective of an actual college athlete. But not in a way that you might think. Cheerleading in college is something that I think a lot of times as parents look to as a status symbol.
And it is especially now, seeing your cheerleader make a college team can mean all kinds of opportunities. Like an incredible game day experience that not many people get to have. It is a built-in community. It's almost like a sorority of its own, like unofficially.
Being on the cheer team may provide additional resources. Like access to. Athletic meal plans or venues that they might not otherwise have experienced. Those are all good things. Campus life, the letter jackets, all of the automatic things that we think about when it comes to college cheerleading.
But one thing that you may not be thinking about, I certainly hadn't, is the other opportunities that being on a cheer team in college bring that are applicable to what the students may be studying. So I got to sit down with a University of Colorado Boulder cheerleader.
Joie is a senior at CU Boulder. She has been in cheerleading for so much of her life and went on to be a college cheerleader. My daughter introduced Joie to me and mentioned she was the social media captain for the cheer team.
I never really thought about that being an official position or official role within the cheer team. And I honestly never thought about a student running the social media account. How cool is it that a student not only gets to run the social media account, but there's a role for like social media and marketing captain. It turns out she was a marketing and advertising major.
I won't spoil the rest of the interview, but Joey and I talk about the opportunities afforded to her and potential opportunities that could be afforded to your athlete by being a part of the cheer team at their college or university and what that can translate into beyond a great game day or spirit or campus life experience. Joie is such a sweetheart. She took time out of her two and three a day practices during national season to talk to me and Joie, I just appreciate you so much. You're going to do amazing things.
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Follow The Cheer Mom Blog on TikTok Shop our Jewelry line!Music by Alex LaGrossa- Twisted Cutz Music Productions
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When we say NCA, for a lot of you that could mean different things. But usually when people say NCA they are talking about NCA super nationals in Dallas, Texas. Usually the end of February or the first weekend of March. It is one of the biggest cheer competitions in the world, even surpassing the Summit. It surpasses Worlds in terms of attendance, and in some cases even hype.
I've been getting a lot of questions about different parts of NCA so I thought I would take a minute (or two or three or 20) and talk about the different aspects of NCA weekend. What to expect what's worth it. What's not worth it in my experience. What it's all about. So here we go.
A Parent's Guide to National Cheer Competitions
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TGLC will always have a special place in my heart, but there is another team that has caught my attention this season and we have to talk about them.
No, it is not another world's team. It is the medium youth level one Kitty Katz from Cheer Athletics Plano.
I am a fan. I am obsessed. It's the whole institution that is Kitty Katz, including one of their coaches, Coach Cam.
Do not overlook level one teams. Do not overlook youth level teams. That NCA jacket, that summit ring looks just as good on a level one finger as it does on a level five finger is all I'm going to say. I am vying for my spot to be an honorary kitty-kat. Whatever it takes. I feel like I have what it takes to be an honorary member of this team.
Cam & I talk about the importance of the level one and two teams, and the importance of youth level athletes. I think that sometimes we get wrapped up in the big show and the allure of these advanced level teams that we forget about the foundation of these beginner level teams.
We also talk about the parent coach relationship and the parent athlete relationship. When it comes to those younger athletes, I think a lot of times I get carried away with philosophies and advice about your athletes advocating for themselves and taking a quieter or more backseat role and letting her athletes do the pushing and your athletes do the talking. That isn't always possible when you have a six or seven year old athlete.
So Cameron and I talk a little bit about strategy around how you can be advocating for your athlete when you're teaching them how to advocate for themselves or when they can't necessarily advocate for themselves at all. Super fun conversation. A lot of great information. Thank you, Coach Cameron. And I'm ready for my spot.
I'm ready.
Episode Mentions
Kitty Katz Cheer Athletics Plano
Let's Talk Cheer - Jason Larkin's Podcast
The Cheer Biz Podcast - Dan Cotton
Music by Alex LaGrossa- Twisted Cutz Music Productions
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The most recent news about the arrest of Coach Monica's son: what we know and what we don't know. My thoughts.
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In this episode I talk about all the things in cheer competitions I think need to change. And I also may have thrown in a handful of pet peeves in there too. But nonetheless! Things like food shortages, wait times, bathroom makeup parties, and clapping to the (wrong) beat of the music. We all want our experience at these competitions to be great and memorable, so here are a few things I think could help.
Let us know your cheer competition pet peeves in the Cheer Mom Hive Facebook Group!
Episode Mentions:
The Cheer Collection Ambassador Application
Behind the Scenes of Cheer Music, with Alex LaGrossa
Let's Talk Cheer - Jason Larkin's Podcast
The Cheer Biz Podcast - Dan Cotton
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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