While many people think that our teams practice extensively, this is a misconception. Each team at East Celebrity Elite practices twice per week for a total of 6 hours. This allows our athletes plenty of time to be involved in other activities and school related functions. Furthermore, during the summer months our teams do not practice on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. This is done in an effort to allow families to travel throughout the summer and spend time together without the worry of missed practices. When the school year begins, the schedule changes and our teams practice once per week and once on the weekend. This is done to prevent our athletes from being out on multiple school nights, allowing them to concentrate on school work and to keep their grades and success in school as their primary priority. We do schedule extra practices prior to our most major tournaments, but this scheduling is done with much advanced notice and generally takes place on weekends. Most of our weekday practices are held between the hours of 5:00-9:00 to allow working families plenty of time to travel to and from the gym.

While it is true that our teams travel to National competitions, no team at East Celebrity Elite takes more than 2 trips per season requiring flights. Some teams travel only once.  The competition schedule for the upcoming season is planned in advance and given to each family at our annual parent meeting prior to tryouts. Because trips are planned early, our parents have the opportunity to find very inexpensive airfare deals. In addition, when the gym selects hotels, cost is a primary consideration and many options are given to fit within the needs of each family. Most importantly, our Booster Club is a separate, non-profit organization that helps our athletes to raise funds for these trips. All athletes have the opportunity to participate in fundraising offered by our Booster Club and to share in those profits.

Our youngest teams, Tinys and Minis do not travel outside of New England.

Parents are not required to travel with their child to competitions although many
choose to. If a child is attending a tournament without a guardian, then a member
of our staff or another family at East Celebrity Elite assumes responsibility for that
child. For safety reasons, we do not allow any children to take flights or to stay in
hotel rooms unaccompanied by an adult. On the other hand, when a child is
traveling with their parent or family, they are always permitted to stay together,
both on flights and in hotels. The children do not have to fly with their teammates
or stay with their teammates in hotel rooms, but instead can travel with their own
families.
 

The answer to this question is yes, but it is necessary to coordinate your schedule to make sure that your child does not have conflicts. Because East Celebrity Eliter will provide you with a complete practice schedule for the entire season, it is easy to give that schedule to your other coach to avoid conflicts. While we encourage our athletes to be involved in their schools and communities, it is necessary to make certain that they will not be missing extensive practices (for either their all-star team or their school team) as this will not benefit either.

There are currently 31 teams at East Celebrity Elite although this number can vary from season to season. Although East Celebrity Elite is a large gym, it is a place where everyone knows one another. Throughout the season, our parents and families get to know our entire coaching staff very well. Parents are encouraged to talk with coaches any time they have questions and both Cassie, Cheryl, Linda and Colleen (the gym’s owners) are always available to meet with any family. While each team has 2-3 primary coaches, our entire staff is always on hand to help each other out. Although Cassie and Colleen each coach a team of their own, they are present at the gym virtually every day and are involved with all of the teams at East Celebrity Elite. Despite the larger size of our gym, our athletes are never “lost in the crowd” and each individual receives a great deal of personal attention from our staff. Student to instructor ratios in classes are approximately 8 to 1 and every instructor and coach in the gym is familiar with each individual child’s skill level and goals for the future.
 

THERE ARE NO REQUIREMENTS TO CHEER AT EAST CELEBRITY ELITE. Through talking with others, we have found that this is one of the biggest misconceptions about our gym. There are NO specific skill requirements to be on ANY team in our gym. This includes our advanced teams. Each one of our teams is balanced in an effort to ensure them success within the division they are competing. This means that each team has strong tumblers, strong jumpers, strong bases and flyers, great dancers and great performers in an effort to maximize each team’s success. For example, it would make no sense to put all of the best tumblers on one team because tumbling is only one small section of a much larger scoring system. On the other hand, if we were to choose some skilled tumblers, others who had exceptional jumps, and some who were great dancers and performers, we would enable that team to score well in virtually all categories.
 

This is impossible. Every child who attends tryouts will make a team at East Celebrity Elite. We believe that every child who wants to participate in all-star cheerleading should have that opportunity and for this reason we do not cut people from our program. We also believe that every child has the potential to be an outstanding athlete and cheerleader, regardless of their skill level or cheerleading experience. We believe that it is our job to train our athletes to reach their full potential. Our entire staff is incredibly knowledgeable with years of coaching experience and is completely committed to making each cheerleader the very best they can be. Our kids receive training from a very professional, caring, and motivated staff dedicated and committed to the kids we coach. At East Celebrity Elite, every age and every skill level is welcome, and we have a team to accommodate each individual child.

This season, 7 of our 31 teams compete in advanced divisions (Level 5 or 6). There is an advanced division for every age group, from children who are in kindergarten to college. This is important because it means that those who enter the gym with strong skills or develop strong skills throughout the season will always have the opportunity to compete them. Levels 1-4 restrict and/or limit certain skills (such as a full twist in tumbling or certain dismounts in stunting). We believe in rewarding the hard work of our athletes by ensuring that they can compete every skill that they have mastered and are not limited by restrictions in divisions. Creating an advanced division at each age level has allowed us to make this happen. While divisions can change from year to year, this season we have two advanced Junior teams (ages 14 & under), two advanced Senior teams (ages 18 & under), and one advanced International Open team (ages 14 & over), and two advanced Open teams (college age & older). In each of these age groups, we also have Intermediate and Beginner levels. Again, this means that every child has a place at East Celebrity Elite and a team which would fit their needs.
 

There is no difference in skill level between our younger and older teams. In fact, many of our younger athletes are some of the strongest children in our program. We believe that our young athletes are capable of mastering & competing the same difficult skills as their older counterparts. In other words, we do not believe that age in any way restricts the ability of our younger kids & we believe in training them to safely compete the same difficult tumbling and stunting as our older teams. Our Junior teams and younger are a prime example of this. Many of these athletes entered the season without any tumbling skills. However, by the time they began competing all were able to safely compete a back handspring and much more difficult skills. We believe that our youngest athletes are the future of our program & some of the hardest working kids in our gym. They often times learn skills quicker than any other age group & we believe in giving them every resource and opportunity to excel.

Prior to tryouts, we always have a parent informational meeting designed to give all information pertinent to our program to all interested families. At that time, we will cover our program in extensive detail including all costs, expectations, goals, and competition and practice schedules. There will be lots of time to check out our facility, meet our staff & to have all questions answered. Tryouts will occur in May and are broken down into specific age groups. Dates and times for each age group are posted on our home page and in our news section. Remember that no child will be cut from our program at tryouts. Instead, the tryout process is used to place athletes accordingly onto the team which is best suited for them. Our tryout process is very laid-back and non-intimidating. The kids will be given material to learn & our staff will both instruct and observe them. We will be looking to see all of their skills from stunting ability (either flying or basing), to jumping, tumbling, dance and cheer. The kids are not singled out and asked to do things alone (such as cheer or dance), but instead learn and then perform as a group. We spend a lot of time talking to the kids & helping them so that they can have the best tryout experience possible. If they do not yet tumble on their own or are hesitant to, we will spot them to help them feel secure. We do our best to make sure that tryouts are fun and rewarding so that each child leaves feeling excited about the upcoming year.