Kyle Field Shade Chaser said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Cheer parents are insane. Especially cheer moms and I feel for the dads too. Some just look so broken & dejected they look on the verge of eating a bullet.

IMHO the parental craziness of youth sports (and cheerleading like this is basically coordinated team gymnastics) is from worst to least terrible:
1) hockey
2) cheerleading
3) AAU/travel basketball
4) football, travel baseball & softball are probably tied
7) travel soccer
8) league baseball/t-ball
9) lacrosse
10) swimming

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You got baseball way to low on the list but i get what you are saying

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Tell me you've never been around the 3 I put in front without actually saying it.

Hockey parents, especially up north, wrote the book on crazy sports parents.

And AAU/travel basketball is probably responsible for more parents brawling with each other and refs than any other youth sport.

Cheerleading is the outlier but there seems to be a strong socioeconomic correlation to the more insane youth sports parents.

cheeky said:

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Average Joe said:

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Two of my daughters competed at this this weekend (both got first place). Oldest finished up about 30 minutes before this took place, so we took off for home. We had two teams warming up when everything went to crap. They all hid in a private room.

No actual shooter, but the mass hysteria definitely did damage. Children and adults trampled and separated from families. Lots of injuries from the stampede of people.

There were 30k athletes there. That doesn't include coaches, family, workers.

Most here plan for disasters, shooters, home invasions, etc. Can't say I know what I would have done with 30k plus hysterical people stampeding through the convention center.

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Athletes?

Doesn't everyone get first place? Sort of like there are about 600 "National Champions" every year?

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No. Only one team from each division gets first place.

You do realize this isn't the pom pom kind of cheerleading, right?

While not addressed to me, I do get it and know that these competitive cheer teams are more like coordinated gymnastics can you tell me why when they introduce middle school/junior high and high school cheerleaders there are approximately 237,000 "all American" cheerleaders?

TarponChaser said:

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Kyle Field Shade Chaser said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Cheer parents are insane. Especially cheer moms and I feel for the dads too. Some just look so broken & dejected they look on the verge of eating a bullet.

IMHO the parental craziness of youth sports (and cheerleading like this is basically coordinated team gymnastics) is from worst to least terrible:
1) hockey
2) cheerleading
3) AAU/travel basketball
4) football, travel baseball & softball are probably tied
7) travel soccer
8) league baseball/t-ball
9) lacrosse
10) swimming

---

You got baseball way to low on the list but i get what you are saying

---

Tell me you've never been around the 3 I put in front without actually saying it.

Hockey parents, especially up north, wrote the book on crazy sports parents.

And AAU/travel basketball is probably responsible for more parents brawling with each other and refs than any other youth sport.

Cheerleading is the outlier but there seems to be a strong socioeconomic correlation to the more insane youth sports parents.

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I can't speak to AAU or hockey, but most cheer moms are less violent, overbearing crazy and more midlife crisis/living vicariously through their daughters/wishing they were still 16 crazy. They are more likely to keep the makeup and mimosa industries thriving than be violent. There are super crazy ones, though

Average Joe said:

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cheeky said:

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Average Joe said:

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Two of my daughters competed at this this weekend (both got first place). Oldest finished up about 30 minutes before this took place, so we took off for home. We had two teams warming up when everything went to crap. They all hid in a private room.

No actual shooter, but the mass hysteria definitely did damage. Children and adults trampled and separated from families. Lots of injuries from the stampede of people.

There were 30k athletes there. That doesn't include coaches, family, workers.

Most here plan for disasters, shooters, home invasions, etc. Can't say I know what I would have done with 30k plus hysterical people stampeding through the convention center.

---

Athletes?

Doesn't everyone get first place? Sort of like there are about 600 "National Champions" every year?

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No. Only one team from each division gets first place.

You do realize this isn't the pom pom kind of cheerleading, right?

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It's "team gymnastics"…………..in cheerleading uniforms.

TarponChaser said:

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While not addressed to me, I do get it and know that these competitive cheer teams are more like coordinated gymnastics can you tell me why when they introduce middle school/junior high and high school cheerleaders there are approximately 237,000 "all American" cheerleaders?

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I don't know all the ins and outs. I just learn enough to keep supporting my kids and challenging them to continue to get better and grow. They have done ball sports, but enjoy this the most.

From my understanding, at a certain age and skill level they can try out to become All American at camps. They have to complete certain skills and requirements. It's really the only way to give individual awards. I'm not sure about the 237k number.

Average Joe said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Kyle Field Shade Chaser said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Cheer parents are insane. Especially cheer moms and I feel for the dads too. Some just look so broken & dejected they look on the verge of eating a bullet.

IMHO the parental craziness of youth sports (and cheerleading like this is basically coordinated team gymnastics) is from worst to least terrible:
1) hockey
2) cheerleading
3) AAU/travel basketball
4) football, travel baseball & softball are probably tied
7) travel soccer
8) league baseball/t-ball
9) lacrosse
10) swimming

---

You got baseball way to low on the list but i get what you are saying

---

Tell me you've never been around the 3 I put in front without actually saying it.

Hockey parents, especially up north, wrote the book on crazy sports parents.

And AAU/travel basketball is probably responsible for more parents brawling with each other and refs than any other youth sport.

Cheerleading is the outlier but there seems to be a strong socioeconomic correlation to the more insane youth sports parents.

---

I can't speak to AAU or hockey, but most cheer moms are less violent, overbearing crazy and more midlife crisis/living vicariously through their daughters/wishing they were still 16 crazy. They are more likely to keep the makeup and mimosa industries thriving than be violent. There are super crazy ones, though

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I'm not saying they have to be violent to be on the list. That's just one kind of crazy. We just have boys so not involved in competitive cheer but have friends who are and the cattiness of a lot of moms towards not just other moms but towards young girls is staggering.

Hockey wrote the book on parental violence and craziness though. Probably because it's got the longest history of youth levels being hyper competitive as they take kids out of their homes at like 15 and put them into semi-pro hockey.

We don't really need to delve into baseball crazy because it's probably pretty well known around here. I will say that from personal experiences the crazy declines rapidly as the boys get older. As one coach said, "at 9-years old these parents think their kid is the next Mike Trout, by 13 they're just hoping they make the HS team."

TarponChaser said:

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Average Joe said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Kyle Field Shade Chaser said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Cheer parents are insane. Especially cheer moms and I feel for the dads too. Some just look so broken & dejected they look on the verge of eating a bullet.

IMHO the parental craziness of youth sports (and cheerleading like this is basically coordinated team gymnastics) is from worst to least terrible:
1) hockey
2) cheerleading
3) AAU/travel basketball
4) football, travel baseball & softball are probably tied
7) travel soccer
8) league baseball/t-ball
9) lacrosse
10) swimming

---

You got baseball way to low on the list but i get what you are saying

---

Tell me you've never been around the 3 I put in front without actually saying it.

Hockey parents, especially up north, wrote the book on crazy sports parents.

And AAU/travel basketball is probably responsible for more parents brawling with each other and refs than any other youth sport.

Cheerleading is the outlier but there seems to be a strong socioeconomic correlation to the more insane youth sports parents.

---

I can't speak to AAU or hockey, but most cheer moms are less violent, overbearing crazy and more midlife crisis/living vicariously through their daughters/wishing they were still 16 crazy. They are more likely to keep the makeup and mimosa industries thriving than be violent. There are super crazy ones, though

---

I'm not saying they have to be violent to be on the list. That's just one kind of crazy. We just have boys so not involved in competitive cheer but have friends who are and the cattiness of a lot of moms towards not just other moms but towards young girls is staggering.

Hockey wrote the book on parental violence and craziness though. Probably because it's got the longest history of youth levels being hyper competitive as they take kids out of their homes at like 15 and put them into semi-pro hockey.

We don't really need to delve into baseball crazy because it's probably pretty well known around here. I will say that from personal experiences the crazy declines rapidly as the boys get older. As one coach said, "at 9-years old these parents think their kid is the next Mike Trout, by 13 they're just hoping they make the HS team."

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Yeah, the cattiness is definitely there. I akin it to territorial cats. Most of the moms at our gym are mild, but we get a few that need to be humbled.

The worst situation I've been involved in was with a coach from another team. He decided it was a good idea to talk trash and berate my younger kid's team...of 6 and 7 year olds. Us dads were about to take care of it but the gym owner was already getting heated with him when we walked up.

I grew up in the baseball world, so I know how those parents get. My dad was an umpire, though, and probably knew I wasn't the next Trout.

44mAG said:

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Funky Winkerbean said:

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Between the time spent on social media and sports, when do kids get to be kids?

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Or academics. I guess that's all over rated these days. The status symbol of the parents is all that matters. As long as moms get to make their social media post with the other moms on the competition weekend, all is right with the world.

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Never. My daughter does a basic tumbling class at a cheer gym because she has fun with it. She's been invited to join their team events, but they practice 6-8 hours per week after school and have tournaments at least twice a month. I don't know how some of these families are holding it together, it sounds like an insane commitment at 7 & 8.

LOL. Same here. Neighbor (Husband) text me they didn't hear anything, his wifes FB posts says they were "trampled running away from the gunfire"

Cheer is not structured in an age only format. There is no tournament where you go head to head with other teams and advance to a final championship round.

Instead, you are in a division at each competition based on your skill level and the size of your team. There can be age limits too, depending on the class.

Some tournaments you go to, there are only a couple of teams in your division (like 3-4) and other times it's 9-12 (like my daughters this weekend). Further, each one of these tournaments are usually affiliated with a different group like NCA or ACA, and the winners from each division are crowned as National Champions.

So that being said, if you're friend or other people are in an odd division due to class size, skill level, and age, you can also manipulate the tournaments you appear in to potentially win every weekend. You still have to be good though…

I am not sure how this is different than any competitive sport as teams usually try and find a few tournaments where they know their team has a good shot at winning.

MAS444 said:

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"Two of my daughters competed at this this weekend (both got first place)."

Weird that somehow everyone I knows kids who are involved in that sort of thing all get first place at every tournament too.

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There are a lot of divisions based on skill level and age. There were 8 teams in each of our two divisions, so there are at least 14 teams that didn't get first. There were 1700+ teams there. It's not like ball sports.

So one out of somewhere between every 3-12 teams gets to be a national champion?

terradactylexpress said:

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So one out of somewhere between every 3-12 teams gets to be a national champion?

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In their division, yes. They compete against teams in their age, size and skill level.

TarponChaser said:

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Average Joe said:

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TarponChaser said:

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Kyle Field Shade Chaser said:

---

TarponChaser said:

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Cheer parents are insane. Especially cheer moms and I feel for the dads too. Some just look so broken & dejected they look on the verge of eating a bullet.

IMHO the parental craziness of youth sports (and cheerleading like this is basically coordinated team gymnastics) is from worst to least terrible:
1) hockey
2) cheerleading
3) AAU/travel basketball
4) football, travel baseball & softball are probably tied
7) travel soccer
8) league baseball/t-ball
9) lacrosse
10) swimming

---

You got baseball way to low on the list but i get what you are saying

---

Tell me you've never been around the 3 I put in front without actually saying it.

Hockey parents, especially up north, wrote the book on crazy sports parents.

And AAU/travel basketball is probably responsible for more parents brawling with each other and refs than any other youth sport.

Cheerleading is the outlier but there seems to be a strong socioeconomic correlation to the more insane youth sports parents.

---

I can't speak to AAU or hockey, but most cheer moms are less violent, overbearing crazy and more midlife crisis/living vicariously through their daughters/wishing they were still 16 crazy. They are more likely to keep the makeup and mimosa industries thriving than be violent. There are super crazy ones, though

---

I'm not saying they have to be violent to be on the list. That's just one kind of crazy. We just have boys so not involved in competitive cheer but have friends who are and the cattiness of a lot of moms towards not just other moms but towards young girls is staggering.

Hockey wrote the book on parental violence and craziness though. Probably because it's got the longest history of youth levels being hyper competitive as they take kids out of their homes at like 15 and put them into semi-pro hockey.

We don't really need to delve into baseball crazy because it's probably pretty well known around here. I will say that from personal experiences the crazy declines rapidly as the boys get older. As one coach said, "at 9-years old these parents think their kid is the next Mike Trout, by 13 they're just hoping they make the HS team."

---

I never would have believed it but then my kid played on a high school hockey team and I saw two sets of parents (from 2 other teams in the tournament) start a fight with each other at the end of the game. On top of the one team's players cussing horribly (like using the C-word) on the way to the locker room. We were standing there waiting to play next--one of our team's dads is a retired cop and broke the fight up before it got physical.

I could not believe how those parents acted and I know that makes me naive but I don't miss that. I can do without hearing the C word at a kids sporting event thanks very much.

I remember a story from probably 20 years ago, maybe more, about a hockey dad (I think in upstate NY) who got into a fight and one dad was beaten to death. And from that story I went down a rabbit hole learning about how insane youth hockey and parents can be.

I've seen plenty of crazy in baseball. Even league ball. In select the teams my boys have been on we have tried to choose as much with the parents as the team itself. The couple times there have been truly crazy parents the coaches either put a stop to it or when the coach had a chat with them the parents yanked their kid off the team without being told to leave.

Lacrosse would like a seat at the table...

My daughter thankfully quit competitive cheer and is only doing school cheer for her Junior and Senior years. Glad we don't have to fly across the country for those massive competitions anymore. For years, wife and daughter had Atlanta, Indy, Dallas, Orlando, etc. and I'd get sitters for our sons and attend 1-2 per year with them.

The good:
hot cheer moms

The bad:
BSC cheer moms
massive crowds
loud noises

I can easily see how drama within the same team (someone's daughter who is a base drops someone's daughter who is a flyer, blame each other, etc.) compounding with historical/past drama and jealousy and cattiness between parents and daughters could erupt into a fight like Saturday. I can also easily see how it could cause hysteria in a huge convention center like that, with the poles crashing sounding like shots fired.

I was at a tournament with one of my sons on Saturday and another dad whose wife and daughter were at NCA got the phone call about an active shooter. He was freaking out, ran off to the parking lot, about to jump in his truck and hit the highway from Houston to Dallas asap.. Scary moment for us even 280 miles away.

Old Tom Morris said:

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My oldest daughter (22 now) did competitive cheer for 10 years at Cheer Athletics, working up from level 2 to one of their premier teams. So I spent many weekends at NCA.

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Old Tom, my son (25 now) was on Cheetahs when he was 17, they won the national champs that year. His name is Nathan, they may have known each other?

Parents have gone bonkers in sports.

Two parents this weekend were banned from our local league's field for going after (verbally) an umpire at a 6u t-ball game (rec level)...That's insanity.

I had a dad on another team challenge me to a fight in the parking lot this past summer because I was asking for a rule clarification during a 10u baseball game. I wasn't even arguing the call, I just wanted to understand how to explain it to the kids.

I've seen in girls travel soccer since 2022:
1) Pistols brandished during a fight between parents at the next field over from us in Killeen (I know I know) causing the whole complex to be cleared
2) A brawl involving a parent coming on the field to open hand slap a player on another team who clapped at her when she was ejected for cussing out the ref
3) A brother coming on the field to fight a player on the other team. Brother was 16 and the soccer player was 12
4) 4 dads charge onto a field to get into a ref's face after a match (14u rec soccer tournament). The ref was 15

At least 5 parent ejections in the last year, my daughter had a coke bottle thrown at her by a parent amongst a whole bag of random lesser shenanigans at various tournaments. Its almost comical.

I helped with my son's T-ball many years ago. I was questioned as to why I was cheering for kids on the other team. I told them, "it's T-ball. It's an accomplishment when the kids run to the correct base. This is supposed to be fun for the kids."

I didn't feel the need to live vicariously through my 5 or 6 year old's accomplishments.