I told you a few weeks ago that I’m a big fan of letting an athlete’s body rest for several weeks per year. If you didn’t catch that blog, read it HERE. Today, I wanted to tell you exactly what that looks like and how it’s going in my gym.
Immediately after tryouts, we did two nights of Welcome Nights and team bonding. We released team placements on Saturday, hosted Prep Welcome Night on Monday followed by prep team bondings and then Elite Welcome Night on Tuesday followed by elite team bondings.
Welcome nights is something you can learn about in All Star Academy packets. Shelley calls them Team Commitment Days, and you can find more about those in the Tryout Guide HERE. After welcome night, we visit our local Sonic, Culvers and Dairy Queen and let the kids hang out for a half hour with icecream (they purchase this themselves). The parents usually sit together and the kids sit together. Coaches usually bounce back and forth getting to know both. We get to know one another and then remind them we’ll see them again in 2 weeks for their first practice.
I bet you think that’s an anticlimactic way to start the season. You might be right…but there is intention behind it.
First, that’s one way we sell parents on this concept, “No, I can’t tell you what night of the week or time of day your child will practice next season. No, you won’t find that out until after you’ve made a team. No, I can’t tell you what teams practice what nights yet. No, softball/volleyball/show choir may conflict.” We tell them that after tryouts, they’ll have two weeks to adapt to the new schedule so they don’t miss out on anything they already had planned. I don’t want mom going to work the next day and having to tell her boss she needs to leave work early Mondays now instead of Thursdays. That’s one way to really make cheer a burden, and that’s never our intention, so we give two weeks for the family to adjust anything they need to in their schedules.
Secondly, the kids who just finished a season can take a well-deserved break at this time. They went to All Star Worlds, came back, hopped right into tryout prep, into tryouts and now in the blink of an eye, we expect them to be excited for their new team and make friends with new teammates. I need them to rest and adapt a bit. So, they can meet their teammates and then take a couple weeks to get excited for the new season. (You know what they say, “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.) This also helps kids make friends on social media with new teammates so they’re a little less heartbroken and jaded when their best friend is no longer on the same team.
Third, it allows us to make any necessary adjustments. This year I had a LOT of novice kids move to prep and a lot of prep kids move to elite. I had two parents email us the Monday after tryouts. Both were super respectful, but heartbroken their kids hadn’t moved up to elite teams with the rest of their former teammates. Both had full level one tumbling skills and are talented kids, but their moms registered them for prep teams only. This break between tryouts and the first team practice allowed us to meet with the parents and coaches and make any adjustments we thought would be best. (If you’re wondering, I did move them by their parents’ request. Their moms just didn’t understand the difference and were humble and kind in their requests. I don’t have any prideful feelings about it. Their feelings were justified and I believe their new teams are the perfect fit.)
Finally, it allows the parents to get excited. Tonight I had a mom send me snapshots of some fun team t-shirts she’s requesting us to get. Another mom messaged me saying her daughter was dying to start practices and she was so excited for the new season. The parents are not burned out like they were 3-4 weeks ago. They’ve rested. They’re refreshed and excited again.
This week is the last week before team practices start. We’ll do our Meet the Team highlights on team Facebook groups (I am not a fan of Band, but you can do it there too!) We’ll post some, “We can’t wait for next week” posts and we’ll just start some exciting engagement in the groups.
For me – the two week break is perfect. The kids can have fun and kick off the summer, and then they can kick off the season EXCITED.
