Lessons Learned Last Season

Date: Thu May 8 12:16 PM, 2008

Lessons Learned Last Season

Date: Thu May 8 1:29 PM, 2008

I would have to agree with you completely on this subject. We have witnessed cheerleaders being placed on Level 5 teams that did not have the tumbling skills that were needed to make this team successful. One gym in particular put 11 additional people on their level 5 team last year so they could compete as a lg. level 5 co-ed team and set them up for the past two season to fail. This defeats and humilated these athletes.

This same gym places other level cheerleaders on teams that "the parents want their cheerleader to be on" I don't feel this is a smart business move, because these athletes just like any other sport should be placed on the team of their ability, for the cheerleaders that dedicate and accomplish the skills needed for that team, it is not fair to bring a level 1 or 2 cheerleader to a level 5 team because they are good friends with the owners. Ridiculous! Why work so hard to get skills when they have others on the team who bought their way in or play favoritisms because of acquired friendships with the parents?

I give Kudo's to gyms like POWER, Fusion, Nor Cal, who make up teams according to skills and require cheerleaders to come up to par with all cheerleaders placed on the team or they get moved to the appropriate team.

We persoanlly are excited about seeing some new "standards made this year" and the Nor Cal Alliance!!! How exciting!! aww

-- Edited by Monitor 8 at 14:52, 2008-05-08

Date: Thu May 8 1:49 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I would have to agree with you completely on this subject. We have witnessed cheerleaders being placed on Level 5 teams that did not have the tumbling skills that were needed to make this team successful. One gym in particular put 11 additional people on their level 5 team last year so they could compete as a lg. level 5 co-ed team and set them up for the past two season to fail. This defeats and humilated these athletes.

This same gym places other level cheerleaders on teams that "the parents want their cheerleader to be on" I don't feel this is a smart business move, because these athletes just like any other sport should be placed on the team of their ability, for the cheerleaders that dedicate and accomplish the skills needed for that team, it is not fair to bring a level 1 or 2 cheerleader to a level 5 team because they are good friends with the owners. Ridiculous! Why work so hard to get skills when they have others on the team who bought their way in or play favoritisms because of acquired friendships with the parents?

I give Kudo's to gyms like POWER, Fusion, Nor Cal, who make up teams according to skills and require cheerleaders to come up to par with all cheerleaders placed on the team or they get moved to the appropriate team.

We persoanlly are excited about seeing some new "standards made this year" and the Nor Cal Alliance!!! How exciting!!

What is the Nor Cal alliance?

-- Edited by Monitor 8 at 17:03, 2008-05-08

Date: Thu May 8 1:55 PM, 2008

i know a gym that lost a lot of their true level 5 cheerleaders for that reason this season and last season too. i am a parent of one of the level 5 teams that left that gym because our daughter was a true level 5 and worked hard for years to get those skills and half her team couldn't even do a tuck yet the gym was in a fantasy world thinking they could go to worlds this way, what a disappointment for all of them, needless to say we are no longer at that gym.

Date: Thu May 8 2:35 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would have to agree with you completely on this subject. We have witnessed cheerleaders being placed on Level 5 teams that did not have the tumbling skills that were needed to make this team successful. One gym in particular put 11 additional people on their level 5 team last year so they could compete as a lg. level 5 co-ed team and set them up for the past two season to fail. This defeats and humilated these athletes.

This same gym places other level cheerleaders on teams that "the parents want their cheerleader to be on" I don't feel this is a smart business move, because these athletes just like any other sport should be placed on the team of their ability, for the cheerleaders that dedicate and accomplish the skills needed for that team, it is not fair to bring a level 1 or 2 cheerleader to a level 5 team because they are good friends with the owners. Ridiculous! Why work so hard to get skills when they have others on the team who bought their way in or play favoritisms because of acquired friendships with the parents?

I give Kudo's to gyms like POWER, Fusion, Nor Cal, who make up teams according to skills and require cheerleaders to come up to par with all cheerleaders placed on the team or they get moved to the appropriate team.

We persoanlly are excited about seeing some new "standards made this year" and the Nor Cal Alliance!!! How exciting!!

What is the Nor Cal alliance?

Nor Cal had kids at worlds who didn't have the tumbling skills...they do not make teams based on level...sorry....

-- Edited by Monitor 8 at 17:05, 2008-05-08

Date: Thu May 8 2:58 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

i know a gym that lost a lot of their true level 5 cheerleaders for that reason this season and last season too. i am a parent of one of the level 5 teams that left that gym because our daughter was a true level 5 and worked hard for years to get those skills and half her team couldn't even do a tuck yet the gym was in a fantasy world thinking they could go to worlds this way, what a disappointment for all of them, needless to say we are no longer at that gym.

I am sure that team was better off without you on the team.

Date: Thu May 8 3:08 PM, 2008

Much better off!

Date: Thu May 8 3:13 PM, 2008

No need to get nasty. I agree with the original post, cheerleaders should be placed on teams according to their level and not for any other reason. Let's keep this nice and wish everyone a fantastic season this year! biggrin

Date: Thu May 8 4:00 PM, 2008

I was the original poster and I have a request, can we please just mention general issues and observations, and please leave the names of gyms out of it? I should have realized this topic could turn nasty, it certainly was not my intention. I was just hoping we could avoid some things that may have been frustrating last year.

Anyone have any other issues that maybe we could all improve on this season?

NOSEBAG · Senior Member

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

Date: Thu May 8 4:27 PM, 2008

NOSEBAG wrote:

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

I agree, with this one.

this sounds great!

Date: Thu May 8 4:45 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

NOSEBAG wrote:

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

I agree, with this one.

this sounds great!

Ok - this works in theory, but what about two different scenarios:

1 - you compete at a certain level November/December, and then you may have injury/illness of team members, or some leave for personal/financial reasons mid year and you need to cross over or pull up from a lower level squad? The squad may then need to drop down to compete at a lower level.

2 - you start the season November/December at a certain level, and wow - tumbling and stunts get amazingly better mid year and you decide to try the team out at a higher level mid-year.

Oh, and by the way, who at USASF would have the time to micro-manage thousands of squads from all over the country to check every division at every single competition to make sure xyz cheer from podunk where-ever didn't go up or down a level at any given competition after December 31, 2008? It won't happen.

NOSEBAG · Senior Member

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOSEBAG wrote:

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

I agree, with this one.

this sounds great!

Ok - this works in theory, but what about two different scenarios:

1 - you compete at a certain level November/December, and then you may have injury/illness of team members, or some leave for personal/financial reasons mid year and you need to cross over or pull up from a lower level squad? The squad may then need to drop down to compete at a lower level.

2 - you start the season November/December at a certain level, and wow - tumbling and stunts get amazingly better mid year and you decide to try the team out at a higher level mid-year.

Oh, and by the way, who at USASF would have the time to micro-manage thousands of squads from all over the country to check every division at every single competition to make sure xyz cheer from podunk where-ever didn't go up or down a level at any given competition after December 31, 2008? It won't happen.

For # 1 My answer would be tough love "deal with it" (no disrespect to you intended) I just think there has to be a line drawn period,

#2 The rules should state that it's okay to move up a level providing their is a team to compete against but you can not move back down ever.

#3 If this is a USASF rule it would be the responsibility of the competition company to enforce it. Trust me if a rival gym sees that their most hated enemy is in violation of this rule they will report them and it would be easy to prove. All they would have to do is look at the last perf. order of the last comp attended.

Date: Thu May 8 5:24 PM, 2008

NOSEBAG wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOSEBAG wrote:

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

I agree, with this one.

this sounds great!

Ok - this works in theory, but what about two different scenarios:

1 - you compete at a certain level November/December, and then you may have injury/illness of team members, or some leave for personal/financial reasons mid year and you need to cross over or pull up from a lower level squad? The squad may then need to drop down to compete at a lower level.

2 - you start the season November/December at a certain level, and wow - tumbling and stunts get amazingly better mid year and you decide to try the team out at a higher level mid-year.

Oh, and by the way, who at USASF would have the time to micro-manage thousands of squads from all over the country to check every division at every single competition to make sure xyz cheer from podunk where-ever didn't go up or down a level at any given competition after December 31, 2008? It won't happen.

For # 1 My answer would be tough love "deal with it" (no disrespect to you intended) I just think there has to be a line drawn period,

#2 The rules should state that it's okay to move up a level providing their is a team to compete against but you can not move back down ever.

#3 If this is a USASF rule it would be the responsibility of the competition company to enforce it. Trust me if a rival gym sees that their most hated enemy is in violation of this rule they will report them and it would be easy to prove. All they would have to do is look at the last perf. order of the last comp attended.

#1 - this is just wrong - we had to pull a team down a level due to having to replace a few members on the team mid-season. It wasn't safe for them to continue competing at the higher level, because a couple crossovers that came in were not experienced at that level yet and the girls just recovering from injury/illness couldn't throw that level tumbling/stunts. It was a safety issue on the floor. The flu season hit us hard, and it took a month to get back to our regular level.

#3 - this would encourage poor sportsmanship at competitions. It's unenforceable.

NOSEBAG · Senior Member

Anonymous wrote:

NOSEBAG wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NOSEBAG wrote:

I would like the USASF to add a new rule that states all gyms should declare their teams level by a certain date. Gyms could compete all of Nov. and Dec.and maybe the first week of January.
This would give gym owners/coaches enough time to see if they have placed their teams in the right divisions. Then toward nationals we will not see teams dropping down a level just so they can win.

I agree, with this one.

this sounds great!

Ok - this works in theory, but what about two different scenarios:

1 - you compete at a certain level November/December, and then you may have injury/illness of team members, or some leave for personal/financial reasons mid year and you need to cross over or pull up from a lower level squad? The squad may then need to drop down to compete at a lower level.

2 - you start the season November/December at a certain level, and wow - tumbling and stunts get amazingly better mid year and you decide to try the team out at a higher level mid-year.

Oh, and by the way, who at USASF would have the time to micro-manage thousands of squads from all over the country to check every division at every single competition to make sure xyz cheer from podunk where-ever didn't go up or down a level at any given competition after December 31, 2008? It won't happen.

For # 1 My answer would be tough love "deal with it" (no disrespect to you intended) I just think there has to be a line drawn period,

#2 The rules should state that it's okay to move up a level providing their is a team to compete against but you can not move back down ever.

#3 If this is a USASF rule it would be the responsibility of the competition company to enforce it. Trust me if a rival gym sees that their most hated enemy is in violation of this rule they will report them and it would be easy to prove. All they would have to do is look at the last perf. order of the last comp attended.

#1 - this is just wrong - we had to pull a team down a level due to having to replace a few members on the team mid-season. It wasn't safe for them to continue competing at the higher level, because a couple crossovers that came in were not experienced at that level yet and the girls just recovering from injury/illness couldn't throw that level tumbling/stunts. It was a safety issue on the floor. The flu season hit us hard, and it took a month to get back to our regular level.

#3 - this would encourage poor sportsmanship at competitions. It's unenforceable.

# 1 YES IT WOULD BE UNFAIR TO SOME THAT HAD LEGIT REASONS. but where are we going to draw the line ? It's even more unfair for teams that have worked hard all year long in their respective division only to be sandbagged in "THEIR" division at nationals.

# 2 It wont cause poor sportsmanship as long as everybody follows the rules then no complaints will be lodged and besides that the only poor sports would be from the team that was dropping down for the easy win.

Date: Thu May 8 6:48 PM, 2008

I like to compare it to other sports, like baseball teams, football teams. If you have a season plagued with injuries, you just have to deal with it, right?? You don't get to take your team and drop them down to a lesser league. You still have to go out there and do the best with what you have. It's hard to take our sport seriously when we have the freedom to pick and choose which level we decide we want to be in at any given time.

Date: Thu May 8 7:22 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

I like to compare it to other sports, like baseball teams, football teams. If you have a season plagued with injuries, you just have to deal with it, right?? You don't get to take your team and drop them down to a lesser league. You still have to go out there and do the best with what you have. It's hard to take our sport seriously when we have the freedom to pick and choose which level we decide we want to be in at any given time.

I completely agree with this!! aww

ACEDAD · GURU

Anonymous wrote:

I like to compare it to other sports, like baseball teams, football teams. If you have a season plagued with injuries, you just have to deal with it, right?? You don't get to take your team and drop them down to a lesser league. You still have to go out there and do the best with what you have. It's hard to take our sport seriously when we have the freedom to pick and choose which level we decide we want to be in at any given time.

However, unlike other sports, cheerleading does not have substitutes sitting on the sidelines, learning the routines and waiting for an opportunity to step in. EVERYONE is choreographed in the routine. That's a big difference.

Date: Thu May 8 11:23 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

i know a gym that lost a lot of their true level 5 cheerleaders for that reason this season and last season too. i am a parent of one of the level 5 teams that left that gym because our daughter was a true level 5 and worked hard for years to get those skills and half her team couldn't even do a tuck yet the gym was in a fantasy world thinking they could go to worlds this way, what a disappointment for all of them, needless to say we are no longer at that gym.

I am sure that team was better off without you on the team.

I agree, moms like you just think about winning and not everything else in between.

Date: Thu May 8 11:24 PM, 2008

Anonymous wrote:

No need to get nasty. I agree with the original post, cheerleaders should be placed on teams according to their level and not for any other reason. Let's keep this nice and wish everyone a fantastic season this year!

Not nasty just agreeing! biggrin