Jandotcom came up with some good points.
I'd like to add some other things for you to consider.
My daughter presently is involved in a youth stunt group. She is a very strong flyer. She is flexible and has not reached the "I'm scared" stage.
She should be in a youth stunt group. She is seven. Bottom line here is that she should be stunting with a group similar in age to her and working on techniques she needs for her youth stunt group.
She is tiny...weighing only 40 lbs. The senior is the strongest all round cheerleader in the gym. He has done co-ed stunting previously... I was told he wasn't very serious about it. He has been "playing" with my daughter for the past six months.
By "strongest all round cheerleader in the gym," and considering "he has done co-ed stunting previously...[but] wasn't very serious about it," I'm assuming you mean he has good dancing abilities, good jumps, good tumbling, and good basing/backing skills in a stunt group. Why do you think he suddenly got interested in co-ed stunting over the past six months?
I'm not going to knock the guy for trying to learn how to co-ed stunt, but by learning with a 40 pound girl, he's not being very realistic considering he'll be pretty lucky if he gets a partner in college who weighs 2.5 times what your daughter weighs. He should be learning with someone more the size of who he will be stunting with when he gets to college.
I told the stunt coach that my daughter (nor myself) have time for missed practices and fooling around. He assured me that wouldn't happen.The coach told me that the senior wants to work with her because he is used to her technique. (whatever that means...)
Translation: "She's light and effortless to toss. I can do anything with her."
He also wants to do more advanced things. With her bieng so small I guess it is easier.
Of course it's easier, but it brings up a whole other issue. Are the "more advanced things" he's going to be doing with her legal at both his level and her level? The internet is littered with videos of elite stunts/stunt sequences showing a post-pubescent male and a pre-pubescent female doing skills that are everything from legal to illegal on
EVERY level. Again, she should be working on stunts that her youth stunt group.
The coach also went on to tell me about another coed stunt pair who started off the same way (maybe not as big of an age gap) and now the senior is at U-Louiville and the younger female has more national championships in stunting that you can count.
And just because he's at Louisville doesn't mean he's cheering there and, if he is cheering there, it doesn't mean he is on the competition team and, if he is on the competition team, it doesn't mean he's one of their elite stunters (they design their routine so that some of the guys who are elite tumblers have limited stunting duties and vice versa).
I'm not going to knock national championships in stunting, but, when it comes down to it, they're just trophies. If that's why your daughter is involved at this gym, then great, but I don't think most 7 year olds are involved with all stars to simply win "more national championships than you can count." Besides, there is no reason to believe that stunting with a guy co-ed will translate to prowess with her youth stunt group...especially if she's working on co-ed techniques (which can be very different from all-girl techniques) and if she's learning illegal stunts or, at the very least, stunts that she cannot use with her group. You mentioned her flexibility and fearlessness. Those two characteristics will allow her to keep advancing whether she's stunting co-ed or not.
A second coach at the gym that I asked advice told me that he didn't think it was a great idea... He felt it was to benifit the senior and not my daughter. He used the term "She will be tossed around like a teddy bear"
I often use the term "rag doll," but the point is the same and I very much agree with this second coach. What are the benefits for your daughter? I realize she's excited, but beyond that, how will she benefit from this experience?
My daughter adores this senior and trust him and wants to do it.
The vast majority of male cheerleaders are adored by the girls at the gym. They're an anomalie. They often have an easier time with skills because they're generally stronger than females (especially as they get older) and they're generally less fearful. She should trust him...taking into account her size and the fact that there should be a spotter on the stunts if they do stunt. But, aside from her adoration of him, why else would she want to co-ed stunt?
My concern is I have one coach that thinks it's great and one that doesn't. I really want my daughter to learn and do well. Even though she is so young, she has a lot of talent and I'm sure by the time she reaches college the compitition for flyers will be fierce.
Is she not learning and doing well now? Her talent will continue to develop as she gets older and she gets more experience. There will be plenty of opportunity for her to learn to co-ed stunt (with people her own age or closer to her age) as she progresses through her career. She has over 10 years before she is going to be going off to college.
If you want my opinion, I think you should tread very carefully here and take into consideration everything starting with your daughter's overall safety. There are other issues to consider which I have not even gone into here which others may comment on as well.
Good luck with your decision.
Kong
