There is no secret that All Star Cheer is an extremely demanding sport.
I often – half-jokingly – make the comment that our sport is like a circle, that once you are ‘all in’, there really is seemingly no beginning and no end.
This being said, ‘burnout’ is a real thing and if we are all not careful it can creep up on us and create internal resistance within us all, to the point that we may feel as though some type of an extended break may be necessary.
While it is SUPER important to be able to balance our lives, eat healthy, and get appropriate rest including a vacation once in a while (during non-comp season and NOT at a time when practices are picking up in intensity ramping up toward comp season of course!), taking extended breaks can be enormously detrimental to the long-term potential of any athlete.
Now if an athlete is purely participating in cheer for the “fun” of it, to make new friends, etc., this may not be as applicable.
But for the serious athlete, extended time away can be super harmful to being able to achieve as close to their athletic ‘ceiling’ as possible.
Cheerleading is a physically demanding sport that requires strength, flexibility, and endurance. When athletes take extended time off, their muscles can weaken, and their flexibility can decrease. This makes it harder to jump back into intense training and may lead to injuries. For example, a flyer might lose balance in the air or a base may struggle to lift their partner as easily as before.
Cheerleaders need to practice routines and skills regularly to keep them fresh. All Star Cheer is very fast-paced, with stunts, tumbling, and “the dance” happening quickly. In season as an example, if you don’t practice regularly, you might forget important parts of the routine or lose confidence in your abilities. This can affect the entire team, since cheer is a group sport that requires perfect timing and trust between teammates.
Taking time off can also hurt an athlete’s mental game. Confidence is key in cheerleading, whether you’re performing in front of judges or in a high-pressure situation like at a competition in general. Losing that regular practice time can make athletes feel unsure of themselves, which could cause them to hesitate during performances. Hesitation increases the risk of mistakes or injuries.
When athletes are away from their team for a long time, they might miss out on important team bonding. Strong teamwork is essential in All Star Cheer, and being away from your teammates can weaken those bonds, making it harder to work together smoothly when you return.
Sometimes we are forced into time away due to an injury or other extenuating circumstances.
If something like this does occur, it is important to work through things as best you can, even attending practice when all you might be able to do is observe for what in some case could literally be weeks or months.
As frustrating as situations like this may be, simply attending practice, however, helps keep you focused, strengthens rapport with teammates and the program, and will lead to scenarios that are more confidence-boosting when the time indeed arrives for you to work your way back onto the mat.
What serious athletes have to be super careful of is the idea of taking ‘a year off’ (or similar) because they feel that they are burnt out.
If it is truly a situation where ‘a year off’ may be needed, then it is what it is as they say, but if the plan is to eventually work the way back in to competitive cheerleading, it is going to be a case of a challenging uphill battle that needs to be worked through – physically, mentally, emotionally, and MOST certainly from an athletic standpoint.
