Why do boys get preferential treatment in this sport?

They get free tuition, preferential treatment over girls in many cases. I'm just wondering why?

I didn't know boys got free tuition. Does this happen everywhere?

They are stronger, can throw higher, and bring bigger crowds at compatitions. They also usuelly learn tumbling faster than girls.

ibleedteal wrote:They are stronger, can throw higher, and bring bigger crowds at compatitions. They also usuelly learn tumbling faster than girls.

I totally disagree with the fact that they bring bigger crowds! If you watch the all girl Level 5 division at worlds, I think that they can pack the house as much as Coed. Maybe Top Gun brings a bigger crowd or even CEA but they are two out of many coed teams.

This sport has existed for many years off of the backs of talented, FEMALE athletes. Most gyms couldn't make their overhead, let alone salary without the paying female clients.

I don't have a problem with boys being recruited, I just think that when they are should have to tow the line just like the female athletes. Many male athletes will throw a hissy because they know a gym is "afraid" to lose them but I want to point out that gyms have been successful for years without ANY males....FCA being one.

Again, I don't have a problem with boys in programs, I love the coed divisions. I just had to address the statement above.

ETA: I don't mean to leave out CA, T&S, and other coed programs that draw a crowd but most competitions aren't jampacked with talent at the coed division. We would all be luck to see those teams at the "average" comp all year

Aviator_Nation wrote:I didn't know boys got free tuition. Does this happen everywhere?

I think the boys at our gym have to pay the same tuition as the girls.

The boys at our gym get no free ride. I know for sure because I'm the parent of one. As a matter of fact we were considering relocating and were checking into gyms. We wanted to stay with a small, family-oriented gym and were told that my son could not cheer on their level 3 or 4 teams because they didn't want to compete co-ed. So the guy thing can be a double edged sword.

So the post above me, is very true- Being a guy is a double edged sword. But to the main topic, the real reason that boys get preferential treatment has nothing to do with what they can do, weather they bring bigger crowds or anything like that. Really all it is, is supply and demand. Lots of gyms have a problem finding males to be on their teams. If that wasn't the case- you would see a lot more Unlimited Sr. Coed teams like Top Gun and California that have 24 guys and 12 girls. Truthfully, I can't see how male cheerleaders can draw any more of a crowd than girls. And on the issue of tuition, it really depends on where you go. Like my first gym when I was a Junior in HS (2 years ago) made me pay for everything, but my gym last year didn't make me pay near anything, and neither of my gyms this year do either. So it really depends on where you go. And the "Cheer-Tator" is very correct in saying that there are very successful gym all over this nation that draw huge crowds with 0 males on any of their teams.

-C.J

None of the guys on my team get preferential treatment from the gym unless they put forth more effort than the rest of the team, as I believe it should be. If we're told to go full out at practice, the people who do all of their skills are appreciated and the people who don't are put on the spot, regardless of their gender. Besides that, the company that does our uniforms has some kind of scholarship that lets the guys get their uniforms for free, but that has nothing to do with how the gym is run. The boys and the girls all pay the same tuition, the same booster club fees, the same travel and hotel fees, go to the same practices and are asked to work just as hard as each other.