Top Gun Allstar Cheerleading

Hands down the best cheerleading gym in SWFL! My daughter has Been a part of the jaguar family for 6 years and has loved every minute of it! Her technique has improved, her ability has improved, her confidence has improved… all attributed to the time, dedication and knowledge of the coaches.

This organization has potential. It’s a shame the owner, John Bencomo, is not suited to be around young children, and frankly lacks the social skills to deal with adults.
This review is not all negative. Top Gun tries to have some of the best teams and they do successfully compete very well.
In my experience, this comes at a cost.
When I signed my two girls, 6 and 9, up for Top Gun I thought it would be a fun activity that they would enjoy.
I’ll admit I didn’t stay to watch many practices. I found it hard to watch all these little girls being yelled at for making a mistake, and many brought to tears.
It wash’t until my youngest was the victim of one of John’s temper tantrums, that I HAD to speak up. I am a pretty laid back Mom, I didn’t care if my kids were put in the back row or if they weren’t the stars of the show. I just wanted them to have fun.
I had watched this man out of line one too many times. This time it was directed at my child, no fault of her own. I wrote this to John–
Dear Coach Shoe Chucking Nut,
Really? Calling out a 6 year old for the wrong shoes at practice and then throwing them across the gym? What the hell is wrong with you? This is supposed to be fun. I would like to remind you, you empathicless jerk, Charly is from a split home. Shoes will wind up in the wrong place from time to time. I don’t tell you this for any special treatment, however perhaps it would behoove you to realize cheerleading is a great stabilizer for her, and being shamed, in front of the class, for a small shoe infraction, is a major trauma to a 6 year old GIRL.
Please in the future throw your tantrums in my direction, not hers.
His response was to wish us the best, but the girls were not welcome back at Top Gun. We were dismissed. I thought this would be terrible news to my girls and I dreaded telling them. Much to my suprise they were relieved. They opened up to me about how they really felt about him. They told me about incident after incident where he made a child cry, where he yelled, and how the other coaches threatened to call Coach John over if they didn’t perfect whatever was needing perfecting. Again, they are on a team of 5 – 9 year old kids. My daughter admitted to holding back tears on many occasions for fear of being embarrassed.
Speaking to other parents, it has become clear that they are afraid to stand up for their kids for fear of this Bully. The fear that he will take it out on their child. Yes, he will. I thank him for that now. John’s dismissal of my kids turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. We can now put this experience behind us and find a more suitable activity that will help build their confidence, not destroy it. Something that will be fun and not stressful.
Also be warned that this activity will drain your budget and time. Monthly gym fees were near $ 400.00 for my two girls. Warm-​up suits $ 150.00 each and the frequent travel expenses is all in addition. Children are expected to be in the correct practice uniform which is different for each practice. You will be required to buy enough Top Gun gear to make you nearly go insane. Whatever you do… don’t wear the wrong shoes to practice. You must where the $ 55.00 shoes John sells at the gym.

I find it interesting that parents decide to comment on the quality of the gym and its owner after a review that accurately depicts his negative behavior is posted.
Side note: I was a cheerleader. Competitive or not, it’s dangerous. I am also familiar with coaches and their behaviors in a must win environment. And I absolutely respect the fact that he’s concerned about the safety of children. There’s also a way to do it, as a human being without being a total asshole.
It’s a bummer to know that as parents, it’s acceptable to teach you’re kids that to «lose gracefully», means staying quiet when someone, especially an adult, who’s in a position of guiding children, reacts poorly and in a threatening manner, to a six year old (I’m not talking thirteen, or ten, SIX YEARS OLD). Hopefully, there will not come a day where Mr. Bencomo does something to your children that is cruel and hurtful, because some of you clearly won’t have the backbone to stand up to him.

Top Gun is a wonderful program. Not all people will appreciate the strict and competitive nature of these teams. As you can see from another reviewers story they «heard» from a friend. Yes it is hard and yes the coaches are tough on the kids, but the results far outweigh these Isolated issues. I have given my own children the option to continue or quit when it’s gotten hard. Both my daughters chose to stay at it and love TG. They are learning how to work hard, how to win or lose gracefully, and are making friends they will have for years. I hate to see one persons personal issue posted on a site like this in an attempt to destroy a wonderful NON Profit company like Top Gun.