Maine Event Cheer & Dance

General Info.

Frequently Asked Questions

1-What kind of a time commitment is involved in being a member of a Maine Event team?

While many people think that our teams practice extensively, this is a misconception. Each team at Maine Event practices once per week for a total of 3 hours. This allows our athletes plenty of time to be involved in other activities and school related functions. 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 on the weekend. This is done to prevent our athletes from being out on multiple school nights, allowing them to concentrate on schoolwork and to keep their grades and success in school as their primary priority. We do schedule extra practices prior to our most major competitions, but this scheduling is done with as much advanced notice. We try to hold all of our weekday practices between 5:00-8:30.

2-What are the requirements to make a team at Maine Event?

THERE ARE NO REQUIREMENTS TO CHEER AT MAINE EVENT. 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. We offer a program for all levels and all abilities. We divide the teams by ability and age appropriate. We make sure that our teams are balanced to ensure success within the division they will be competing in. 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.

3-What happens if I don’t make a team?

Not possible. Every child who attends evaluations will make a team at Maine Event. 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.

4-What is the difference in skill levels between the younger and older teams at Maine Event?

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. 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 Youth team entered the season with only 4 back handsprings & now almost the entire team has their back handspring. 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.

5-What can I expect at Evaluations? IF YOU MISSED OUR EVALS CALL FOR A PRIVATE EVAL!!

Our evaluation 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, 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 evaluation 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 evaluations are fun and rewarding so that each child leaves feeling excited about the upcoming year.

6-I’ve heard that there are new age guidelines for all-star cheerleading. How does this affect me?

Prior to the new upcoming season, all-star cheerleading was grade based. For the 2010-2011 season, the most major change in all-star cheerleading is that it will switch to age-based. For the most part, this will not dramatically affect our teams. It will, however, affect some graduating seniors. For the 2010-2011 season, most athletes who have graduated high school will still be permitted to cheer on our Senior level teams. Therefore, if you are graduating from high school this year but still have the desire to cheer, you can contact us directly to see if you will still be eligible. If you are 18 as of August 31, 2010, you are still eligible to participate in the senior cheer level.

7- What kind of travel and travel expenses can I expect?

The competition schedule for the upcoming season is currently being planned. Our goal is to schedule 4-6 competitions for our teams to attend. We plan in advance and give the schedule to each family. Most importantly, our parents association is a separate, non-profit organization that helps our athletes to raise funds for these trips. The competition schedule for the upcoming 2010-2011 season is currently being developed and will be available early June.

8-What Fundraising Opportunities does Maine Event Offer?

We do have a Parents Association, which is a separate, non-profit organization that helps our athletes to raise funds for assessments, competition and travel fees. There is no cost to join the Maine Event Parents Association. This is free to all parents and althletes in the gym. All athletes have the opportunity to participate in all the fundraising activities offered by our parents association and share in those profits.

Fundraising is not mandatory. Those who are interested fundraising begins in May and runs throughout the season. The biggest fundraisers take place during the summer months and early fall. Since the parents association was formed in 2004 it has raised over $50,000.00 for its members.

We also offer have an established Sponsorship Program. This program allows athletes the opportunity to get businesses and personal sponsors to help with assessment costs, specialty classes, and travel and competition fees. All sponsorships collected go directly on the athlete’s account. Since the start of the sponsorship program in 2004 it has raised over $25,000.00 for its members.

9-Does your program have Coed teams where both males and females can participate?

The answer is yes. Both males and females are welcome to participate in all of our programs at every age level in the gym. We currently have males on our College Team and our Sr Coed team. Both boys and girls are welcome to attend our tryouts.

10-How do the athletes on various teams get to know one another?

We offer many different ways for athletes of our various teams to get to know one another. We feel very strongly that this is a program & that each and every one of our teams will be most successful with the complete support of EVERY athlete & EVERY staff member at Maine Event. To help facilitate team bonding and bonding within our program as a whole, we offer various outside activities throughout the year. In the summer, our athletes have the opportunity to attend a weekend fun camp together as a gym. We have special events throughout the summer for the teams. Our athletes also participate in activities as groups throughout the summer & throughout the season to create unity within the teams and the gym. All these special activates allow the athletes the opportunity to get to know one another outside of the gym.

11-Outside of all-star practices, what other types of classes or instruction can I take at Maine Event?

12-How are practices run and how do the staff and cheerleaders interact together? While we believe that it is our job to push our athletes to reach and obtain their goals, the atmosphere at Maine Event is fun and enjoyable. Our coaches treat our athletes kindly and with the respect they deserve. We believe in positive reinforcement and in motivating and encouraging our athletes. While gymnastic and cheerleading training is certainly our primary focus, we realize that we are coaching kids and that they need to have fun in this sport. In an effort to maximize their enjoyment and success, we plan lots of outside activities for our teams and our athletes to participate in. Whether it’s spending an evening at the movies, team parities or having sleepovers, we try to create strong team bonds and relationships amongst our kids that will last long into the future. While we certainly believe in creating strong and competitive teams, we also believe that there is much more to be gained from cheerleading and team sports than titles and trophies.

13-Can my child cheer or dance for Maine Event and still be on their school team?

The answer is yes. We do encourage our cheerleaders and dance team members to be involved with their school programs. We try not to schedule trips or events during competition season for high school teams. It is necessary to make certain that your child will not miss practices for either their all-star teams or their school team, as it will not benefit either team. It will be necessary to check your schedule to make sure your child will not have conflicts with our schedule. We supply a practice schedule for the season. Please review your schedule to avoid conflicts.

Maine Event offers tumbling classes Monday through Saturday. We also offer specialty classes for standing tumbling & front tumbling, flexibility & jumps, stunt classes, flyer classes, dance camps, cheer camps, and Cardio & Pilates class for cheerleaders & adults. All of our all-stars receive unlimited time inside the gym to participate in all the different classes we offer.

We offer private lessons for all of our members for all of our specialty classes from tumbling to flexibility to all of our students. We also have a special fitness program for our parents. We have a new fitness room that offers parents the ability to work out while their child is attending classes and they can also earn fitness incentives for free gym gifts. We also offer a full summer camp program where kids receive instruction in all aspects of cheerleading. Our summer camp program is very flexible allowing you to design your own schedule.

14-How many cheer & dance teams do you currently have at Maine Event?

Currently we have 8 cheer teams and 4 dance teams. This number can vary from season to season. Our teams have one primary coach for each team, and assistant coaches. Our entire staff is always available to help each other out when needed.