If you are a fan of cheer and have not been living on another planet for a while, you are probably familiar with the events of NCA All Star Nationals 2025. But just in case you are just back to Earth, basically a parent fight erupted in the hallways outside the arena and many people believed that they heard gun shots. This obviously caused massive chaos, people running for their lives, and a great deal of fear in the cheer community.
As a result, now there is a lot of talk about removing “guns” from cheer routines. Not actual guns though as those were never really allowed. Lots of gyms use a hand motion that looks like a gun, or the gun sound effect in their music. Many teams, such as Black Ops, or gyms such as Top Gun, have guns in their name.
So should it be allowed or banned?
I guess it depends on how crazy you want cheerleading to be. I feel like there have always been these things, and there has never been an event situation like NCA before. I am not sure making these things illegal will keep anyone any safer. If it was up to me though, the governing bodies of cheer could do the following things that will likely result in safer events and people:
- Ban alcohol at events. Look. I love a glass or wine, so this is not judging people who drink at all. It’s just that these events are already emotionally charged, and adding alcohol to that is sure to be a recipe for disaster. I am never impressed when I am at an event and all you see are parents walking around with beer or cocktails. I am not a fan of it in the coaches room either. It;s not necessary so why even have it?
- Ban any music or apparel that throws shade. I mean come on. Can’t we all just be nice?
- Check people for weapons when they walk in. After NCA, we did see an uptick in back packs searches, but honestly not at every event.
As a gym owner, my response was to have active shooter training for my staff. We talked about making sure we followed the rule changes and trends to be certain we were not doing anything we shouldn’t (although we always do), and we decided to avoid any themes that might walk a line. Other than that, and those points I made above, I am not sure anything else is truly necessary.
Until Next Time,
Coach Jill