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If your daughter/son is torn trying to decide which school team to tryout for, here is some guidance to help all of you. Be sure you check with the Athletic Department or coach to verify participation overlaps for the winter season. Cheerleading is a very time consuming sport. If your child or family has/wants other activities and obligations, cheering for wrestling or volleyball may be a better fit in your schedule and lifestyle. Be sure that the wrestling cheerleaders aren't also obligated as a crossover to cheer for the Girl's basketball games too. The winter season brings 5 teams to cheer for: 1. Boys basketball 2. Wrestling 3. Girl's Basketball 4. Volleyball 5. Your own Competition team. Your coach will have schedules and crossovers, plus special events, performances and competitions. Time, Money, Family and very importantly academic grades are all factors to consider. |
The Best Coach's Gift
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Does your team meet your expectations?
Does everyone understand why the team was created? Is the framework clear? Commitment is a must. Who controls who? How do we collaborate and coordinate? click on link below |
Gifted Athletes
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Another new coach?!
The start of the season has sharply increased the cheer coaching turnover. Please continue to share with us your ups and downs of new coaches, old coaches, no coaches and more than one new coach per season. To gather statistics and information see the Director's Page. |
The Value of Team parents
Team Mom - Team Dad Teams Moms and Dads assist in maintaining appropriate etiquette and protocols during practice and games. Your behavior and your spirit does influence the behavior of other adults. Team parent provides support to the coaches and squad members, communicates information to parents, coordinates snacks for games, and are the focal point for team parties. In some cases the Team Parent (Mom or Dad) may even have duties assigned that are more like a team manager than a team parent. You may be assigned to be equipment organizer, keeper of uniform inventory, may be responsible for the first aid kit, team picture day or logistics schedulings. The OACC feels that a team parent should attend practices frequently. You should stay informed on team events, issues and concerns. A parent acts as an extra adult for safety precautions and for the coaches protection against being alone. You are the impartial observer. Should problems or disputes arise down the road, you can offer your input to the other parents as to the happenings at practice. |
OACC Dues
Coaches, Volunteers and Cheerleaders all need good learning resources, materials and a point of contact. Your Booster Club or Budget, should have a line item for your $30.00 Membership Fee. Membership may aid in keeping your Risk Management policies and Insurance in check. |
Problems with a coach
"the coach can make a difference" Every cheerleader who participates deserves a concerned and caring coach that many kids are fortunate to get. But far too many bad coaches exist. It will take support by concerned parents, caring coaches and dedicated administration to remove and replace the bad ones. A problem coach figure or team member can be a difficult and frustrating situation you and your child face. Trying to overcome or offset the negative impact a bad coach is having on a child is practically impossible short of removing the child from the team - which should be the last resort. Complaint Procedures As part of our effort to constantly improve our industry policies, practices, and behaviors, the OACC Ethics Committee has adopted the following procedures to govern the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding unfair treatment, stress, deceptive practices, harassment, bullying, safety, character, and verbal and physical abuse ("Complaints"). It is the OACC’s policy to treat complaints about a team member or associate seriously and expeditiously. Can I Submit a Complaint on an Anonymous Basis? YES. You can submit complaints to the OACC Ethics Committee on a confidential and anonymous basis through telephone messaging, email or regular mail. We will endeavor to protect the confidentiality of the reporting person’s identity to the extent possible. You may remain anonymous, without fear of retaliation, threats for continued or additional mistreatment, either stated or implied whether the complaint is about the conduct of a coach, assistant, director, fellow parent, booster, another cheerleader-team member or not, or any party related to the cheerleading team. With a need to investigate the complaint and the best interests of students, should you be asked to reveal your identity, the OACC will contact you. The OACC will not reveal your name without your consent. If you continue to remain anonymous, we may not be able to help you address your specific issue. The OACC will contact the supervisor and or organization with your complaint. Your anonymity will be protected as you request. However-- if a serious violation has occurred, the organization may ask for further information from you to lend credibility to the complaint and take action. We shall not reveal your identity unless you give us permission. |
New to Mounting/Stunting?
The Minimal Mount Guidelines set a standard of safe participation for you and your cheerleaders. |
P.A.S.S.
Parent Ambassadors for Sports Safety PASS is a network of parents that establishes a link between youth volunteer coaches, sport organization administrators, parents and athletes. Your help and commitment to raising the standard will ensure that youth athletes in every sport facility are safe. |
WIN OR LOSE A Guide to Sports Parenting
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WIN OR LOSE A Guide to Sports Parenting This is the resource youth sports organizations have been waiting for! Quick, easy-read. Inspirational. Good ethics messages. Wonderful tips for sports parents. Written to enrich your journey as a sports parent. Great banquet gift. Use as a fundraiser. $6.00 http://www.ncys.org/publications.html http://www.ncys.org/pdf2/winlose.pdf |
Parents of Athletes
As a parent:
Six Dos This advise comes from Coach Bruce Brownlee, soccer coach and soccer trainer.
Self-confidence is a determining factor for success in athletics. Learning to build self-confidence in your child as well as learning to regain lost confidence requires knowledge, understanding, implementation, and constant maintenance.
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How to cut costs when participating in cheerleading
The cost of new shoes, uniforms, bags, warm-ups, poms, signs, banners, traveling, and equipment adds up to hundreds of dollars a season. So you might be asking, "Is there anything I can do to reduce the costs? Some expenses you can’t control. But here are a few solutions to cut costs without cutting the level of participation: |
Our time and energy is being consumed by our participation in cheerleading
What's Important And What's Not Finding The Right Balance Keep a Proper Perspective |
Urban Legends
Or are they? In Virginia, a cheer mom paid $50 to have a rival beaten up. In Florida, a cheer mom paid a “hit man” to “take out” her daughter’s competitor on the same squad. Akron, OH dad choked an 18-year-old CYO basketball referee after a game. In Texas, both knee caps of a cheerleader were broken by a baseball bat swung by a cheer mom just days before try-outs. Parent attacks coach after daughter cut from team, Shaker Heights, OH. Woman gets serious jail time for punching coach in Pittsburgh. In Ohio, Cheer coach arrested on charges serving alcohol to minors. Overbearing Basketball dads are bad, but nothing compares to the pandemonium of an over zealous, disordered cheer mom. Parents beg, borrow, lie and pay to obtain cheerleading status on the winning team and to get the placement on the squad they desire. It happens at all levels. There are some widespread problems about which we need to be concerned. As parents, we have a responsibility to steer our children clear of behavior that will endanger their development into strong, healthy adults. We have the responsibility to learn appropriate behavior of an athletic child and share it with our peers. Teaching adults the difference between right and wrong, parents and coaches, takes much more perserverence than teaching our kids. The OACC believes in setting good examples and promotes the "Six Pillars of Character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship along with our own character core values. If you would like sportsmanship and parent training for your organization, email oacc@ohiooacc.com You may always contact any member of the OACC Character and Ethics Committee for assistance and grievances. |
Special Needs Team
Very special coaches are providing cheerleading for some very special kids. The OACC is compiling a list of cheer programs in Ohio that offer Special Needs Teams or Special Needs Cheer Camps. Aspiring cheerleaders with physical and cognitive disabilities now experience a sport that typically would be challenging, and not readily available to those with special needs. MidwestCheerExpo comments from their Winter Cheer & Dance Classic competition hosted 12/2/08: "I believe it is an experience that is very profound. It seems to have an effect on the spectators, the event staff and the other competitors. It is as if everyone becomes one for that moment in time; to share the excitement that the special needs team emits from the floor from the time they enter the arena. They contain an energy and love of the sport that is evident throughout their routines. They love being out there,they share it and everyone shares it. There is no pity for them, just admiration, respect and love that produces a standing ovation each and every time. They touch your heart. there is no other way to put it." COA Cheer & Dance is extremely proud of special needs athletes and the cheer programs they represent. COA has offered a special needs division for over five years. They have seen a tremendous growth in this area. "Watching a special needs team run onto the floor with all the excitement in the world, is why I love to work in the spirit industry," says Carol Benedetto, COA’s Director of Events. We are all aware of how a special needs athlete can benefit from being part of a team, but it is also heartwarming and exciting to see the entire crowd cheering on their feet for a team that has already accomplished so much. |
Double Standard
Maybe. But we call it a higher standard. You've seen your daughter's friends attend the football games in painted tank tops or sports bras. Their stuff hanging out, bouncing or showing. Hmm all spirited fun? Maybe. But if a cheerleader did that would she be stereotyped as easy or sleazy? Probably. Would that type of dress lend to a negative reputation for your child and the team? Again - probably. Fortunately we don't have much of this problem. Thank your children for dressing in fun, spirited, wacky sportsmanship garb in a manner fitting of young adults. Please continue to have these conversations with your daughters and keep Ohio's cheerleaders proud and repected teammates and people. Take the parent role and speak up to any child you feel is dressed inappropriately. Their parents will thank you, their organization will thank you. Thank you cheer parents! |
Overloaded, stressed no time...
Years ago, an all-star mom told me that my 8 year old daughter had "what it takes" to be at the gym her daughter goes to. After an initial rush of pride, I let it go and did not pursue it. For the next three years of football seasons, the mom approached me at least once on the cheer sidelines. It wasn’t until this daughter was on the Junior High cheerleading squad that a cheer mom I didn’t know called me. She asked to take my daughter with hers to their all star team’s practice. She pointed out her abilities and skills and she wanted to see what she could do. The All Star team wanted her. I wondered how this "honor" might impact our family. We had three children – this one was the oldest. Up until that point, sports had been a pretty low-intensity activity that fit easily into our vision of balanced family life. By contrast, the all star team commitment sounded enormous: practice three days a week, competitions on Saturday and Sunday, and special practices held in between. Convinced that our young family could manage, we said "yes" and in doing so, embarked on an epic struggle between cheer life and family life. Over the years, we saw one family activity after another bow its head to cheerleading activities. Dinner at home, reading before bedtime, visits to grandma's house, household chores, games in the backyard, picnics, weekend jaunts into the countryside, camping trips, school vacations - all casualties of the children's sports schedule. Would we do it again? |
Are you the best Sports Parent you can be?
Become a Certified Second-Goal Parent. * Ensure you are doing all you can to help your child get the most from youth sports. |
Parent's Gear
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Homecoming Spirit
Parents~ Please share your favorite homecoming ideas with your cheerleader and the cheer coach. Old traditions can become new traditions. Be involved to make your Homecoming Week a successful event. |
Bullying and Excluding
A significant feature of the play environment we provide our children these days
is exclusion (from coaches and teams) and bullying (from both peers and
coaches). Children who don’t make a team are already made to feel “less than”.
Many coaches and teachers tend to value the more talented children, even to the
point of excusing certain behaviors. On the flip side, many coaches and teachers
engage in bullying behaviors. Yes, these issues have been around for a while,
but have greater consequences now with the electronic age. Social media and
modern communication devices confer the ability for bullying and exclusion to
follow a child around, literally. Blog |
Mean Girls Mean Moms?
And in the article “The Playground
Gets Even Tougher,” Pamela Paul reports on the increase in “mean girl”
behavior among kindergartners, and the apparent role of many parents: A kindergarten teacher at one of New York City’s top private all-girls
schools observed, “The mean girls are often from mean moms.” … In certain cases, the parents themselves seem to be pleased. When her
daughter Julia was in first grade last year, said Lea Pfau, a mother of two in
Sherman Oaks, Calif., one girl threatened that, unless Julia did as she ordered,
“I’m going to tell my mommy, and she’ll set up a meeting with your mommy, and
you’ll get in trouble.” The girl then orchestrated a series of exclusive clubs
in which girls could be kicked out for various infractions. “I was surprised by
the fierceness,” Ms. Pfau said. “But I was more surprised at the other parents.
Rather than nip it in the bud, they encouraged it.” Eileen O’Connor, a lawyer and mother of five girls in the Georgetown section
of Washington, has also witnessed trickle-down meanness in her daughters’
classrooms. “To be honest with you, the parents not only enabled it, they
engaged in it,” she said. “The parents of mean girls often think, Great, our
daughter is so popular!” Students: Tell us what your parents teach you about
behavior. Do your parents think it’s funny or cool if you are tough on other
kids? Do your parents ever side with you against school authorities or encourage
you not to comply with them? Do you see this kind of thing happening among your
peers? Do kids at your school tend to respect or defy the authority of teachers
and administrators? |
Model for setting up a Parent Club
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