Cheer, pom, idk?? Help this clueless parent

[Anonymous]

My 10yo dd is very social, EXTREMELY loud (she is in choir already but her voice can carry forever), likes to dance but has zero formal training in dance, and has about 1yr of training in gymnastics so is at an extremely basic level. She’s a total hype girl and hypes up her teammates in every sport or extracurricular she has tried. She’s now expressing interest in cheer and/or pom and wants to be on her high school team one day. I am completely clueless about this sport and how someone even gets involved in it?? What are the steps most kids follow to get onto their high school cheer or pom squads (and I will be honest to say I don’t even appreciate what the difference is between cheer and pom!)

TY!!

[Anonymous]

I would not allow it. I'd encourage kick line or dance, but cheer is so dangerous - they are doing tumbling on wooden floors and the mats are VERY thin. Tons of injuries.

[Anonymous]

Short version, school Cheer is non-competitive tumbling/sports hype and Poms is competitive dance team. Cheer is National, Poms is a Montgomery County thing.

There are gyms that do competitive cheer, but from my high school memory our school team did not compete. Kids who didn’t make the poms team tried out for cheer.

[Anonymous]

My high school in Western PA had a national-level cheerleading team and also a pom-pom dance team.

The dancing ability was extremely high. Most of the girls participated in formal dance classes starting in childhood so I'm sure that's part of the mix. At our school, cheerleaders was harder to get into, so the ones that didn't make the varsity squad in 11th grade ended up on the pom team.

I have seen little girls in my current hometown at specific cheer-only classes associated with the local elementary school age football league.

You could try contacting the high school coach in your area by e-mail to find out what is normal. I wouldn't be surprised to find that gymnastics classes are also part of it.

[Anonymous]

Depending on where you are located we can recommend completion cheer and dance teams. They will teach skills during the off season, so now’s the time to sign up.

[Anonymous]

Not true that Poms is a MC thing. There are lots of colleges with Poms teams. But as for MCPS, this is what I can tell you.

If your daughter goes to a HS with a D1 poms team, it’s highly unusual to make the team if the athlete doesn’t have a dance background. PP is right that most Poms start dance at a young age and continue through HS. And if the HS has a dance program, most Poms are involved.

Poms is a precision dance team. In D1 schools it’s very competitive to make the team. It’s a fall and winter sport.

Performances occur at football and basketball games. Some schools practice daily including weekends and some practice a bit less.

In MCPS sports starts a couple of weeks before school and missing practices isn’t an option for most teams. After freshman year, athletes are also expected to do summer workouts which start in July - I don’t think all schools have these though.

Poms doesn’t not involve tumbling. There are rules about what moves are legal and there is some rule that makes tumbling not allowable.

There is a county competition in February and a few invitationals before that. These start right after New Years and some schools require practice between Christmas and New Years.

Good luck to your daughter. Mine found that being on Poms and in HS dance really gave her a good group of friends. I liked that it kept her active and it gave her a good peer group of hard working friends.

[Anonymous]

Where are you located, OP?

Some of the things people have said here aren't true for teams at Fairfax County public high schools, which is the only county I know anything about.

[Anonymous]

Can she do marching band?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are you located, OP?

Some of the things people have said here aren't true for teams at Fairfax County public high schools, which is the only county I know anything about.

+1

Varsity Cheer at our zoned FCPS high school is 90% tumbling and stunting with maybe 10% dance thrown in. Lots of former/current competitive gymnasts. They do sideline cheer in the fall and competitions in the winter, so it's a 2 season sport. There's also a Dance team that does Poms routines (90% dance, very little tumbling except for aerials and front walkovers). Which team is most appealing probably depends on the preference for gymnastics vs dance. At our school more kids try out for the dance team since everyone knows that only true tumblers would have a chance at cheer, so dance team is more competitive purely from a total numbers perspective.

[Anonymous]

Cheer is so dangerous and poms is kinda sad. It sucks that talented girls are stuck as side entertainment for boys sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cheer is so dangerous and poms is kinda sad. It sucks that talented girls are stuck as side entertainment for boys sports.

I used to have heartburn about this sort of thing. But when my daughter got involved, I realized that these events are more than just the boys team. Football was when the marching band showed their amazing skills, both musically and choreographically. And marching band is not a boys sport. And both cheer and poms were at these events together watching and supporting each other. And, these were some of the biggest draws of HS days - bigger than school theater, school concerts, school whatever. And part of the reason was because it wasn't just football. It was band, poms, cheer, and the crowds who showed because it was the best option for a Friday night in the fall.

Plus both cheer and poms have their own competitions. And, at least in MCPS for poms, the other sports teams showed up at their invitationals and competitions.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on your zoned high school. At ours, cheer was way more competitive to make (generally top 3 in the state), while Poms is easier.

For cheer, you start at a cheer gym near you. Cheer gyms accept everyone and place them on leveled teams. Each year she can be reevaluated for a new level. She should aim for being Level 4 or higher to make the high school team. Please know that cheering for teams is just one part of cheer. The bigger part is their competitive routine that they compete toward counties, regionals, and States.

For Poms, she should join a dance studio. Many have specific Poms classes, but really she just needs to learn technique, picking up the steps quickly, and dancing in sync.

Right now is the right age to try these sports out and see what she gravitates toward. Mine definitely liked the power of cheer. She’d tumble all day if she’d let us. She is now captain of her cheer team for her upcoming senior year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on your zoned high school. At ours, cheer was way more competitive to make (generally top 3 in the state), while Poms is easier.

For cheer, you start at a cheer gym near you. Cheer gyms accept everyone and place them on leveled teams. Each year she can be reevaluated for a new level. She should aim for being Level 4 or higher to make the high school team. Please know that cheering for teams is just one part of cheer. The bigger part is their competitive routine that they compete toward counties, regionals, and States.

For Poms, she should join a dance studio. Many have specific Poms classes, but really she just needs to learn technique, picking up the steps quickly, and dancing in sync.

Right now is the right age to try these sports out and see what she gravitates toward. Mine definitely liked the power of cheer. She’d tumble all day if she’d let us. She is now captain of her cheer team for her upcoming senior year!

This is just the response I was looking for! Thank you. We are zoned for Fairfax HS but may relocate OOS prior to high school. At this stage I’m just trying to understand what we should be exploring. Helpful!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cheer is so dangerous and poms is kinda sad. It sucks that talented girls are stuck as side entertainment for boys sports.

I used to have heartburn about this sort of thing. But when my daughter got involved, I realized that these events are more than just the boys team. Football was when the marching band showed their amazing skills, both musically and choreographically. And marching band is not a boys sport. And both cheer and poms were at these events together watching and supporting each other. And, these were some of the biggest draws of HS days - bigger than school theater, school concerts, school whatever. And part of the reason was because it wasn't just football. It was band, poms, cheer, and the crowds who showed because it was the best option for a Friday night in the fall.

Plus both cheer and poms have their own competitions. And, at least in MCPS for poms, the other sports teams showed up at their invitationals and competitions.

It's just not. It’s a sad activity with girls there as fillers between the main event. The poms/cheer competitions are spirited and the parents in the stands enjoy it. But, let's not confuse it for anything else.