Here in the US, there has been much debate about whether the IASF / USASF should continue to offer the International Junior Level 5 Divisions at The Cheerleading Worlds. The Board of Directors has taken time to deliberate on the controversy and have made a decision to mutually benefit the All Star community, domesticly and internationally.
Senior Level 5 (and only Level 5) are ages 12-18. Juniors are ages 14 and under. Many US teams petitioned against the division being competitive at Worlds because of the age of the athletes. However with over 40 countries who are still growing the sport and a few international bids already awarded it would be detrimental to the international all star community. The Board of Directors came to a solution that limits the US teams and eliminates the "competitive conflict" for US members while still allowing for competition accross the World and the continued excitement of our amazing sport.
The decision to keep the International Junior Divisions came from input at various international meetings and our from our international leaders. Much of this interaction was during, and following, the 2009 Worlds and Coaches Conference. As a majority, the representatives from the international community felt it was critical to continue offering Worlds International divisions for the development and growth of cheerleading in their countries.
The "International Divisions" were originally created for all countries throughout the World, not just the U.S. Although they have had the largest overall participation, the U.S. is one country out of the 30 plus that have participated over the past years. However, here in the U.S., where the industry is already developed, many of the event Producers and gyms are not in favor of Junior Cheer teams competing at Worlds because it may create a negative impact to the growth of this sport domestically.
After the announcement of the inclusion of Junior divisions for the 2010 event, there was a significant enough amount of push back from a variety of entities here in the U.S. to cause the decision to be reviewed.
The USASF Board of Directors met today to discuss the issues around this contentious topic. Given that some countries have already awarded bids for the 2010 Cheerleading Worlds event and that the announcement of divisions was made public, it seemed most logical to look at a compromise that would restrict the U.S. involvement in Junior divisions while still making the division available for other countries.
Ultimately, the Board has agreed upon the following parameters for awarding 2010 Cheerleading Worlds bids specifically to U.S. Junior Level 5 teams:
I. US Tier 1 and 2 Companies WILL NOT be permitted to award "any" of their allocated 2010 Cheerleading Worlds Bids to "any" Junior Level 5 teams.
2. Any U.S. Junior Level 5 team that would like to receive a 2010 Cheerleading Worlds bid to compete in either the International Junior or International Junior Coed Division may still do so, but only by video submission . They will have to submit a video of their routine by January 15, 2010.
3. The USASF Selection Committee will select a Worlds caliber judging panel to select the top 3 U.S. teams in each of the International Junior Divisions to representthe U.S. at the 2010 Cheerleading Worlds. These teams will be awarded At LargeBids on or before February 1, 2010.
4. All additional video qualification details will be written in The 2010 Cheerleading Worlds General Information posted on the usasf.net website in early July.
After weighing out all of the pros and cons, the USASF Board of Directors feels that this new selection process for awarding At Large bids to the U.S. Junior teams is the best compromise because:
1. U.S. event producers will not offer Juniors Worlds Bids... which, many do not want to do anyway!
WHY? a. The high costs associated with it for young athletes followed by the effect they have experienced from some parents not wanting to keep their kids in the gyms after spending so much money going to events to earn a bid and attending Worlds. b. There will be less of a burn out effect and the younger kids will stick around because they will have something to look forward to on a Senior team. c. Some feel the Worlds is an unhealthy environment with the younger cheer teams mixed with the senior aged and young adult athletes. 2. There would be a maximum of 6 U.S. Junior teams at Worlds versus the 42 we had this year. This will have a very positive financial impact for many those teams who have traveled to Worlds Bid qualifiers and to the Worlds.
3. Gyms that want to send a Junior team to Worlds have the choice to compete by video entryand not feel forced to go to Worlds after they receive a Worlds bid at a U.S. qualifying event.
4. There will be an opportunity for U.S. Junior Teams at Worlds for the other countries to compete against, which is what the International teams "really" want.
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IM THE BEST AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
So does that mean that all of the gym owners that complained about the jrs getting bids to worlds won't be submitting a video? And so that would mean like 90% of the gyms in the US, such as Ace allstars won't be submitting a bid? Ok so that is great because the rest of us will!
"So does that mean that all of the gym owners that complained about the jrs getting bids to worlds won't be submitting a video? And so that would mean like 90% of the gyms in the US, such as Ace allstars won't be submitting a bid? Ok so that is great because the rest of us will!"
I assume this was directed at me (what happened to the quote button??), so I'll jump in.
I've been pretty clear in my stance that I don't think juniors should be at worlds or should ever have been at worlds.
But ACE has taken the junior coed team the past couple of years and might submit a video. I don't know. I have NO ownership in ACE. Happy makes all of those decisions.
If your gym, and the parents are going for it, why would you comment in the negative. There are kids in Jrs that are very determined to go to Worlds, more so than some Srs.
Why would they do this after we have had tryouts and told parents that we would try and get a bid with these juniors for Worlds.
YOU DON'T CHANGE AFTER TRYOUTS! STUPID ON THEIR PART! OUR TEAMS ARE SET, HONESTLY SOMETIMES THEY THINK AFTER THE FACT. NOT BEFORE! SORT OF LIKE GOVERNMENT! RIDICULOUS!
If your gym, and the parents are going for it, why would you comment in the negative. There are kids in Jrs that are very determined to go to Worlds, more so than some Srs.
Why would they do this after we have had tryouts and told parents that we would try and get a bid with these juniors for Worlds.
YOU DON'T CHANGE AFTER TRYOUTS! STUPID ON THEIR PART! OUR TEAMS ARE SET, HONESTLY SOMETIMES THEY THINK AFTER THE FACT. NOT BEFORE! SORT OF LIKE GOVERNMENT! RIDICULOUS!
USASF keeps making mistake after mistake! I think their goal is to piss as many people off as possible. Good luck at worlds USASF!!!! You are gonna need it!!!!
USASF keeps making mistake after mistake! I think their goal is to piss as many people off as possible. Good luck at worlds USASF!!!! You are gonna need it!!!!
