Everyone wants to place first in a cheerleading competition, of course, but only one team will place first in a given category. How do you handle coming in second or third or…last?

I have heard from some people who attend many competitions, that they have witnessed poor sportsmanship at cheerleading competitions. They have seen things such as: parents who scream at the judges; coaches who have a “hissy fit,” and entire teams who refuse to show up for the awards ceremony because they did not place first.

For a sport which prides itself on instilling positive values, this behavior is simply unacceptable!

What might prompt such behavior? Here are some thoughts:

1. Some coaches/parents/cheerleaders may believe the judges were unfair in their assessment. Is it possible that a judge might be biased? Or course it’s possible but judges pride themselves on being fair. Plus, judges see things that other observers do not. And the reason there is more than one judge is to prevent bias from entering into the decision.

2. Some cheer gyms attract new students based on winning championships so there is a lot riding on winning.

3. Cheer coaches work hard and typically get paid very little; their “pay” is the delight in winning and when that does not happen, it hurts which can lead to a dramatic expression of their unhappiness.

4. Parents devote a good chunk of money plus time and love into their kids’ cheerleading efforts. They want to see results which, to some, mean winning! Also, some parents may live through their kids a bit too much!

5. Some parents are, frankly, over-protective of their kids. They are reluctant to allow their kids to “fail” at anything.

6. Some kids have never experienced not winning. In a misguided attempt to “build self esteem,” parents and some schools provide an atmosphere which makes it impossible for a child to not succeed. Instead of winners and losers, everyone is deemed a winner. Don’t think the kids don’t know the score! They see right through it and end up feeling worse. This flies in the face of reality and is ultimately not helpful to anyone.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Please write and voice your opinions. And stay tuned for my next post with more on this subject.

Tags: cheerleader, cheerleaders, Cheerleading, Competitions

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 9:10 pm by Dr. Pam and is filed under Competitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.