DW is too invested in DD making the cheerleading squad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mentioned your older DD not being in the "popular" group. Is it possible your DW just wants a different experience for your younger DD because she saw how much your older DD was effected?

OP here. Yes, definitely. They're also very different kids.

Given that, nothing you say is going to make a difference.

And she needs a good lesson about acceptance. Her kids are who they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to say that while I can see that cheerleaders are very athletic and fit, I am uncomfortable with some aspects of High School cheerleading. I recently overheard a conversation between my freshman old daughter, on a JV sports team at school at a local public high school and her good friend, on the JV cheerleading team at the same school, in which my daughter asked why the cheerleading squad only performed at boys sporting events, and not at her's, or other sporting events involved the girl's team. Her friend didn't have an answer. I checked into it, and found out this was true, and it bothers me.

Why does it bother you? I am not American , but I thought that they traditionally cheer only at the football games. Are there anything wrong with that?

Well it's sexist. Why shouldn't girls teams have people specifically designated to cheer for them and get the crowd rooting for them? Why only boys teams?

Why do you have to make it all about sexes? How do you see it in practice: normally, they practice five days a week, attend one game on weekend and some competitions on weekends. How is it possible for a school team to cheer at more than one game?

This is hilarious. Are you concerned that if cheerleaders cheer at more than one game a week their uteri will fall out? What exactly is the concern? Boys' and girls' games tend not to be scheduled at the same days/times, so there would be little conflict. If there were conflicts, they could alternate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to say that while I can see that cheerleaders are very athletic and fit, I am uncomfortable with some aspects of High School cheerleading. I recently overheard a conversation between my freshman old daughter, on a JV sports team at school at a local public high school and her good friend, on the JV cheerleading team at the same school, in which my daughter asked why the cheerleading squad only performed at boys sporting events, and not at her's, or other sporting events involved the girl's team. Her friend didn't have an answer. I checked into it, and found out this was true, and it bothers me.

Why does it bother you? I am not American , but I thought that they traditionally cheer only at the football games. Are there anything wrong with that?

Well it's sexist. Why shouldn't girls teams have people specifically designated to cheer for them and get the crowd rooting for them? Why only boys teams?

Why do you have to make it all about sexes? How do you see it in practice: normally, they practice five days a week, attend one game on weekend and some competitions on weekends. How is it possible for a school team to cheer at more than one game?

This is hilarious. Are you concerned that if cheerleaders cheer at more than one game a week their uteri will fall out? What exactly is the concern? Boys' and girls' games tend not to be scheduled at the same days/times, so there would be little conflict. If there were conflicts, they could alternate.

Or they could have more people on the squad and split the games. But that would make it less of a popularity contest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they also cheer at basketball games. However, yes, I do think that there is something wrong with the cheerleading squad only cheering at male athletic events. There are plenty of girls athletic teams out there now, and having cheerleaders present would lift school spirit and interest in these sports.

I find this interesting, in my small city in the 90s (when I was in HS) the winter cheerleaders cheered at both girls and boys games, 3 days a week generally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they also cheer at basketball games. However, yes, I do think that there is something wrong with the cheerleading squad only cheering at male athletic events. There are plenty of girls athletic teams out there now, and having cheerleaders present would lift school spirit and interest in these sports.

I find this interesting, in my small city in the 90s (when I was in HS) the winter cheerleaders cheered at both girls and boys games, 3 days a week generally.

At my midwest high school in the 80s the cheerleaders cheered for both boys and girls sports (football & basketball). They now also cheer for varsity soccer (girls snd boys teams)

[Anonymous]

so did your DD make the squad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:so did your DD make the squad?

I was wondering this too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused by many of the replies. If OP's post is accurate, he's talking about a middle school cheerleading squad (like the type that cheers next to football games). It may be that he's confused or that the end goal is competitive cheer, but middle school cheerleading in the school games context is not particularly athletic/certainly not anything like competitive cheer at any middle school I've heard of.

That said, if there's an actual coach involved, then I doubt making the team is a popularity contest and I don't think it's fair to equate cheerleaders with mean girls just because popular media presents things that way. FWIW, at my admittedly dorky/magnet public high school, drama kids were by far the most popular crowd/where the mean girls congregated.

Are you kidding?
The cheerleading coach at my kid's middle and high schools was the absolute worst snob of anyone I know and her decisions on which girls made cheerleader and at which level (basketball, football, varsity, etc.) were based almost totally on popularity and social standing, with the caveat that she had to include at least one black girl. My kids were not interested in cheerleading, but I have an acquaintance who gave this woman's husband a business contract to be sure her daughter would be picked for the squad. The daughter was a nice kid who couldn't hack the mean girl scene on the squad and quit after one year.