This was started due to the fact that now-a-days in the mix up of cheerleading competition companies, you really cant call yourself a national champion! Lets put our head together and find a suggestion, possilbly even a solution.
These we added from a previous thread.
-- Edited by Fierce Coach at 21:59, 2008-02-12
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"Come on a flip your mind, to the west's BEST, built by design!!!!" PACIFIC COAST MAGIC ALL STAR CHEERLEADING
I think that there should be a state championship (for each state) that everyone should go to, unless of course you don't want to be involved, for all levels and all teams. If you win your state you, obviously, become the state champion of your division in your state. Then there needs to be a West Coast Championship, Central Championship, and East Coast Championship. If you win that, then you move onto the National Championship. So by the end of the road you only have a top three in each division because you have your West Coast, Central, and East Coast winners. I think that would be very cool.
Becoming a State Champion or a National Champion is meaning nothing any longer.
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"Come on a flip your mind, to the west's BEST, built by design!!!!" PACIFIC COAST MAGIC ALL STAR CHEERLEADING
I think that there should be a state championship (for each state) that everyone should go to, unless of course you don't want to be involved, for all levels and all teams. If you win your state you, obviously, become the state champion of your division in your state. Then there needs to be a West Coast Championship, Central Championship, and East Coast Championship. If you win that, then you move onto the National Championship. So by the end of the road you only have a top three in each division because you have your West Coast, Central, and East Coast winners. I think that would be very cool.
Becoming a State Champion or a National Champion is meaning nothing any longer.
I think the concept is very doable. However a whole lot of egos...parents, kids, coaches, owners, specators, fans, competition company owners and employees, judges et al would have to be put aside to see it happening. Everybody would have to be on board and commit at least to a minimum of five years to make it work. Each event then because of "forcing" people to go that route would probably be at least two full days of competition, or at the least a 7:30 am till 8 or 9pm one day. So that def increases cost to parents.
What happens if a team wins their state, but can not afford to go to the regionla Comp? or make the Reginal but can't afford to go to the National? this is the same thing happening now with World's bid's. Some at large winners do not go because they can not afford it...others hold that bid and go bid shopping trying to get a full paid, thereby canceling out the partial paid not only for them but for any other program either.
What I see currently happening is an attempt to mandate where gyms compete just about the whole season if you want your program recoginzed as "credible." In effect every comp will become a 100 to 400 team version of Cheersport or NCA...with the more teams a true "indicator" of who is really the better team. While that may be great for the fans of the sport, those who pay for it must be having nightmares.
IMO this current approach is not working, which is one reason you may have competition companies popping up over night. They know that every gym is not going for the bigger is better type of competition. To reduce it all to easy wins, is to not think it through throughly enough from the perspective of the other side.
You suggestion is great. The only thing is who would run it...who would crown this coveted ONE TRUE NATIONAL CHAMPION? Who would the State Director's be? Could we ensure that their was no favortism or collusion that knocked a little gym that beat a larger program into second simply because they need the larger program to win to make the comp company or state director look good to the governing body?
If USASF runs this could a gym that is not a member of USASF but who agreed to follow the USASF rules for the competition be allowed to participate? If a true strong contender to USASF developed, would USASF allow all of their member gyms to compete for somebody else's National Title circuit? (This is assuming your format-which I like-is adopted)or would it be an cheer version of the AFL and NFL before the merger?
Every one likes to use the gymnastics model. Well there is USAG, formerly USGF, then there is also USAIGC. Those are the main two "circuits" if you will that offer a National Championship. But then there are numerous other smaller circuits and programs where one can train and advance and literally not show up to one of these two until they already have mad skills. No one is trying to shut down the smaller circuits/trainings because they know it only helps develop their athletes for their future.
But in cheer we want to shut down everything that is not big. Shut down the small gyms and the small competition companies. Right now I am awaiting for the Wal-Mart All Stars to get their bid to Worlds because they are so much better than Target All Stars...and every knows the K-Mart All Stars got grandfathered in but haven't been the same program since their hey day....rofl!
I agree that "National Champion" has lost a bit of luster. However most (not all) event producers do only have one National Championship, so that's not completely gone.
I don't like the state champion advancing to regionals concept for this sport though. While every sport will have "hot spots" of talent, there is no way the North Dakota champion will have to endure the same competition as the Texas, California, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, etc. champion.
And I think USASF needs to fix other issues before tackling this (eg verifying athlete age, certifying judges, etc.)
