Testimonial Series – Crazy for Cleo

This week we speak with another “rookie” cheer mom, Eileen! Eileen found us last summer and after trying a few classes, enrolled Cleo on our Mini Team. Cheerleading is all about teamwork and flexibility — then a few weeks later she was asked to move onto our Youth team. Cleo overcame many obstacles, grew as an athlete leaps and bounds this season!

See what Eileen has to say about the program:

Ideal: What made you decide to join Ideal Cheer Elite?

Eileen: Cleo had been taking ballet for 2 years but also wanted to take gymnastics and another type of dance. Our schedule was such that I could not bring her to those other programs during the week days.
We saw a demonstration of Ideal Cheer Elite at the Fairy Princess Ball April 2015 and we realized that she would get to take part in dance, gymnastics and cheer (another one of her favorite things she had done through the College of St Scholastica) and a friend of ours, Lindsay Kern, gave us the contact information and the practice time would work and she would get to enjoy so many different sports all at once.

Ideal: What makes you want to come back for another season?

Eileen: Cleo had so many good experiences her 1st year of All Star Cheer. From Cleo’s point of view, she’s returning because she made lots of friends of many ages, she loves stunting best of all, enjoys the excitement of not only the competitions, but also, the excitement of practices when seeing routines come together. She also likes the teamwork involved with Cheer.
From a mother’s point of view: She has come to understand, at a young age, about the strength of teamwork. Right away she saw what would happen to an entire team’s routine if even just one person was missing. I think that is one of the most valuable lessons she has learned. Another value she has learned more fully is trust in others. When she is being held high in the air, she has to trust her teammates! I have witnessed so much encouragement from her teammates also. What a great attribute these athletes have by telling each other “you did great at practice today”, “your (skill) is improving so much”, I really like having you on the team”! I have witnessed other parents giving encouragement to kids who aren’t their own. I have heard no negatives around my daughter. I also like that she is being exposed to athletes older than her that a good role models and I hope she can be a good role model to those that are younger than her.

Ideal: Are there any specific changes you’ve seen in your daughter since starting the program?

Eileen: So many changes over this past year, in one season alone. Physically, Cleo has always been strong, however, over this past year, I have seen her mature in flexibility and grace.
Socially, she has enjoyed becoming a part of a new “cheer family”. The athletes in this program have been awesome in their encouragement of Cleo and making sure she feels like a part of the team.
Emotionally, Cleo grew leap and bounds! I will never forget the 1st competition and how she cried as I was leaving her in the locker room to competing in Tampa and not thinking twice about me going on to watch other teams as she hung out with her team.