Middle of the night - can't fall asleep, ugh! Thought I'd post my thoughts on the recent American Championships competition in San Jose, if for no other reason than to clear my head so I can sleep - LOL!
Location: The Convention Center and the area around it (hotels, restaurants, etc.) was VERY nice. Lots of places to eat nearby, went ice-skating after dinner at the outdoor rink. Inside the actual room, though, I was quite disappointed! No stadium-type seating, just rows and rows of conference chairs placed side-by-side on the floor for seating. Seating was a tighter squeeze than on a cheap airline! Seriously, to be comfortable without knocking elbows with your neighbor, each person needed 1-1/2 chairs. They didn't have enough chairs at the beginning and had to bring more in hours later. Also very difficult to see over the people's heads in front of you if you weren't lucky enough to get a front row seat. It was nice that they had two front and center rows and floor area reserved for spectators of the teams that were performing. At least I was able to see our team perform easily, but really I couldn't watch any of the other teams (bummer) until the second day when I was in the front row.
Sound: Nice volume for in-between music (not blasting), but strangely too low during the performances. I think the seating made it so that you couldn't hear the music for the teams unless you were in the front row. It was very strange to see the performances without hearing the music that goes with it.
Awards: Glad they broke those up into two ceremonies the second day. Lots of kids and not much floor space! I liked the way they did awards - first, second and third place got to go up on the three separate stages set up for them to have pictures taken with their trophies. It went fairly quickly because they didn't have to get up there one team at a time. It was really nice that the tiny and mini kids ALL got to take home individual trophies - you could see on their faces that they were soooooo excited, no matter what place they got! I do kinda think it would have been nice if the older kids who got second and third place would go home with something. Maybe a medal, ribbon, or a patch? I think a matching little patch that says 1st Place, 2nd Place, etc. that could go under the participation patch that all the kids received would be nice - kinda like they do with the Girl Scouts cookie sale badges (small 100+ boxes, 200+ boxes, etc strip badge to go with the primary cookie badge); that would be easy to store for years to come! (Or to scrapbook )
Energy: Not much energy to the whole production - some freebies thrown out during breaks (t-shirts, beads), and a little "flair" during awards.
Anyway, to sum it up, the first day I was very disappointed (and a bit bored because I couldn't see or hear any of the performances well), but the second day was okay because I had a (rare) front row seat and could see and hear everything!
Anyone else have thought/opinions on the recent comps they've attended?
Oh, and forgot to ask . . . was there something wrong with the competition floor? Most of the cheerleaders were having trouble getting enough height in their tumbling to land their fulls, tucks and layouts. And that was happening with ALL the teams - even level 6! It was like the floor was absorbing all of their momentum, and the tumbling passes were all ending too low, many on their knees and the ones that landed on their feet looked like they were barely able to keep upright. I think the spring floor was not as springy as everyone was used to.
You're so right about the seating and the volume. I could barely hear the music at times even when I was sitting in the front row! So thumbs down on their sound system and seating.
No videotaping allowed but I saw plenty of videocameras rolling so I brought mine the next day. Maybe to please Mr. Video they have to announce it a couple times and post a note outside the door, but nobody was enforcing it, which was fine with me because they wanted $40 per package (a package consisted of a few of the divisions). Sure it was for both days, but for me it would cost $120 to purchase the divisions my girls are in. It's nice they supply the service for those who want to buy them, but just like the action shots you can purchase if you desire, you should still be allowed to take your own pictures (and cameras were permitted). So if cameras are permitted it should apply to videocameras. Action shots were only available there, they won't be available on-line. So you have to be patient and wait behind folks who are looking and choosing.
The food offered inside the venue, nothing worth mentioning. Mostly junk.
Awards were nice but took too long to get started. I agree it was nice for the little ones to get their own trophies.
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