Hello,

This is a picture of my first ever heel stretch. I'd never practiced it before because my base was never at practice the days we were supposed to practice it. I went up in it that night when we warmed up our stunts, but that's all I had to prepare before we did it during the game, and this picture was taken. I'm the flyer on the right. What do you think? Oh, the other flyer and I no longer grab arms because our bases felt that they were too close. Any advice would be great. Thanks guys!

Signed, Sealed, and Sent,
With Peace, Love, and Dance,
~~~Dancer57730

Not trying to be mean here....

I cannot believe your coach was so irresponsible! That is very dangerous doing a stunt for the first time at a game without mats. You should not perform any stunt at a game or competition that is not mastered first or close to at least.

I'm glad you were able to perform it without getting hurt.

Good luck with your squad!

I have to agree. That's really scary and dangerous.

For a first try, you still look better than the other flyer :/ Which to me, is also kind of scary. I don't know if I'm more scared that coach knew the other flyer didn't have it mastered (clearly not) and decided to put it up anyway, or that she knew you'd never done it and decided to put it up. Why didn't she have you try the stunt with another base during practice?

It seems even more dangerous to lean on one another for support in the beginning... if one of you goes down, you both go down. When people do pyramids and the flyers connect, generally they've all mastered the stunt that they are doing before they try to connect.

Anyway, not trying to offend, it really is just dangerous and scary. You look good, though.

^ Thank you. I didn't want to say too much because I didn't want to sound too negative or discouraging. I'm glad someone else feels the same way. I'm sure UCO will really have a lot to say about it too lol.

I feel that this is a prime example of why cheerleading is bashed upon for injuries. I also feel that situations such as this are responsible for the rules constantly changing. They keep eliminating and ruling so many things illegal its getting ridiculous.

So true. I understand wanting to be impressive for games, and that mistakes do happen (even with the best, most well-trained teams), but safety should always, always come first.

Stunts and tumbling should be absolutely <i>mastered</i> before it goes up at a game or competition.


When I was on a team, we did the same stunt over and over again until we nailed it every single time before moving onto something more complicated. If part of the group had to be gone for the practice, someone else would fill in so all the flyers/groups could practice. People were rarely ever gone though, since we had such strict attendance policies. It makes sense. If even one member of the team is gone for a practice, the stunting falls behind and you end up compromising safety. We were all aware of how important that was.

I realize not all teams are so strict (I was an all star, high schools tend to be more lenient), and that's OK. But safety is still more important than putting up a "good" stunt. Complicated stunts rarely look good when they're sloppy anyway. It's always, always better to be clean and sharp with simple things than messy and dangerous with complicated things.

Hello,
I understand where you are all coming from on the safety issue. I couldn't believe that our coach wanted us to do the stunt that night. I tried to dissuade her, but she was intent upon us at least trying it before the game, and seeing how it went. It went up okay the one time that we practiced it, so she thought it would be fine. I would also like to note that the other flyer is a senior and has been flying for four years. She's done a heel stretch every one of those to my knowledge. Also, she had practiced her heel stretch for this game many times before the game because her bases are always at practice. Some of you mentioned that I should have tried it with another base, but that's a hard thing to do with my squad because as you can see, we are very small, and most of us are flyers. Mixing up stunts like that is very hard on all the girls. I appreciate your concern, and hope you know that it mirrored mine on the safety issue. I do appreciate too, that you all thought I looked nice up there. I'll try to get a picture of our heel stretch now as well as some of our other stunts soon. We were supposed to have a game today, but it got cancelled due to the weather. Thanks again for all the comments!

Signed, Sealed, and Sent,
With Peace, Love, and Dance,
~~~Dancer57730

P.S. I want to assure you guys that no offense whatsoever did I take from your comments. They were all very firmly based, and I appreciate your honesty and concern.

If you're concerned about your safety, have you thought about talking to your coach about it?

Having "set" stunt groups is fine, but it's actually really beneficial to everyone if you are able to practice stunts with different people and even learn different positions. For example, generally I backspot. I'm good at it and love it, but I also know how to base and I did a touch of flying. In routines, I always was backspot, but I could base if needed. Everyone learned everything. I thought it was good, because when I started to learn how to fly, and knew what it was like to be a flyer, I could backspot better because I could figure out how better to support the flyer, you know?

I think any member being gone, small squad or huge, is bad for the team. Even in the largest squads, if someone in a stunt group is missing, that stunt group doesn't get to practice it as well. If the other flyer already knows the stunt, what the coach should have done is concentrate on teaching you the stunt. The original flyer could practice it a few times as well, but one you could have used one of her bases to practice, just to learn with it. That way at least you would have a better idea of how to do it, even if your normal base didn't.

That said, I can't believe the other flyer has been doing that stunt for so long. Could just be a bad picture but it seems like her group is holding her leg really oddly, and she's tilted to the side because of it. I don't get why the backspots are grabbing your knees, either.

I really don't mean to be overly critical. It's not directed at you personally, at all. It just freaks me out so much- the situation, your coache's decisions, and the fact that I can list more than a couple of things in this photo that make the stunt completely unsafe. Do you know what kind of certification or experience your coach has? Frankly, I get the impression she doesn't really know what she is doing. You are completely right to be worried. I would definitely talk to her about it. If all else fails and you are still concerned, I would bring it up with your school's athletic department.

DarkIvy,
I know what you mean about us having set stunt groups, and I'd like you to know that that's not exactly the case with our squad. We are all flyers, bases, and spotters with the exception of one girl who physically cannot base. I also know what you mean about one girl being gone. The girl who's gone occasionally, has thankfully started showing up at all of our practices because we told her how disrespectful it was, and that she was jeopordizing her chances of staying on this squad, competition squad, or every getting on another squad. I agree that the other flyer doesn't look too sturdy. I actually quite wonder at her flying in the stunt at all because her heel stretch is unstable on the ground much less in the air. She has trouble pulling it and holding it on the ground as well, and she often falls shortly after she grabs it. I don't think her leaning to the side is the fault of our bases, but her lack of stability in the stretch. As for our backspots holding our knees, that's just how we stunt. The backspot is responsible of providing additional stability to the flyer by securing her ankle and her knee. I'll try to find out about my coach's certification also, and talk to the other girls to see if they are worried about it. I know that most of us are just feed up with her general lack of concern for us, and it has been mentioned to athletic directors, parents, etc. Thanks for the comment! I'll still try to get a new picture ASAP.

Signed, Sealed, and Sent,
With Peace, Love, and Dance,
~~~Dancer57730

Backspotters generally grab below the knee. I would think it would be MORE dangerous to grab the knee, if the flyer falls over while the backspot has a good grip on the knee, something could easily tear or break. Ankle/lower calf are usually much better, especially since when the flyer finally does go up to a full extension, the backspot won't be able to reach that high anyway. Just my thoughts.

Anyway, good luck with the whole coach thing. It's good that at least it has been brought to the attention of the athletic department, but nothing seems to be changing because of it. If that's the case, I would suggest trying to bring more attention to the situation. Honestly, getting people to understand how dangerous cheerleading can be if not done correctly is probably your best bet. Keep talking to your parents. Everyone should. Explain how some of the stunts are dangerous and why. You could go ahead and say most teams do this or that to help prevent accidents or injuries, but your coach is not taking those precautions. You could even talk about the picture you've posted- leaning on one another is not safe, neither flyer has the stunt mastered, yet it is being performed at a game without a mat, one flyer had not even practiced the stunt prior to the game, backspots holding knees instead of ankles... ect. Point out the flaws, explain what makes them dangerous, and what is normally considered "stunt safety". If you can bring in some good evidence and reasoning as to why the coach is disregarding the squad's safety, people will start listening. From there, the parents may want to talk to the athletic department themselves. You could go yourself, and say the same things. The key is to make the athletic department understand that you guys aren't just whining about a "mean" coach, but that you are actually concerned about the safety and well being of the members. Another thing you could do is search for a stunting guide on the UCA website (varsity.com) or some other reputable cheerleading site. If you could print off pictures and guidelines and prove that the top cheerleading assocations have certain rules and guidelines for safety that aren't being taken seriously, you may get somewhere. You could also try looking up NCA rules.

If anything, if it's too late to find a new coach for this year, try and find a new one for next year. Or perhaps the school could talk to the coach privately and say that they're concerned with safety and would like to start following stricter safety guidelines.

no trying to be mean but you bases (not your main) are not baseing right. they are supposed to be holding the bottom of the shoe and the ankle and pulling up.

no trying to be mean but you bases (not your main) are not baseing right. they are supposed to be holding the bottom of the shoe and the ankle and pulling up.

DarkIvy,
Our cheerleading season is actually over for this year now, but I have a strong feeling that this coach may not be coaching next year. The girls and their moms have both said that they won't cheer next year if she coaches. I'm not sure exactly what'll happen, but I'll stay optimistic. Thank you for all your helpful input--it's shed a whole new light on the situation. If anything develops, I'll let you know.

Signed, Sealed, and Sent,
With Peace, Love, and Dance,
~~~Dancer57730