I always enjoy Nelson's thoughts and even though I do not know you, I respect your honest oppinions. Nelson, why is it that you are holding your Sr black team to level 2 until they have "progressed correctly to level 3" when over half of your Sr Maroon team has not successfully progressed to level 5, but they are still on that team? Wouldn't that mean you need 3 small teams and the chance to get those other Sr Maroon cheerleaders to their correct level?
I know most of the level 5 teams in CA have a few cheerleaders carry the weight of their teammates who have only a standing backhandspring. But, if it is essential for one team to advance correctly, why isn't it for the other? I know most CA teams wouldn't compete in Level 2, they would just have weaker tumbling in level 3 or even 4 so they can do the harder stunts. I wouldn't doubt your Sr Black team will win in level 2. I can already tell you they will be clean, and not very many teams compete at that level anyway.
Good Question. I probably didn't make myself very clear on the issue. I hope this can help clear it:
For our Senior Black team, the team as a whole right now is at Level 2. Will they stay Level 2? I highly doubt it as they are already on the verge of moving on to Level 3. I exepect them to be Level 3 very soon, but as I mentioned before, it will be up to the kids on how quickly they progress. Individually however, there are a handful of those kids on that Senior Black team that are past what is considered Level 2 tumbling. In that sense then yes, unfortunately that handful may be held back for the time being in terms of tumbling. But I truly believe that it will benefit those kids, as many of them will see their basic technique become much stronger (as I already have).
For our Senior Maroon team, the team at a whole can compete Level 5. Are they stunting at Level 5 at this very moment? No, but only because I won't let them. They are definitely capable of it, I have no doubt about it. But as I'd rather see a cleaner and stronger technical team in January then doubles in October, I'm still focusing on their technique. Individually, the range of those kids in terms of tumbling is very wide. We have kids that range from Level 2 to Level 5. But, as this is a team sport and not invidual, we are going with where the Team should compete, that being Level 5.
So the next question, why not three teams, or why not put some of the lower level tumblers on Senior Black? This is where the kids and parents have to trust my decisions. Everyone was placed on their specific team for a very specific reason. Since I'm not going to go down the list of each kid and explain why, nor should I have to, I'm just going to leave it at that.
Lastly, I want to make it clear that I'm not competing Senior Black to sandbag. I know that wasn't your meaning at all, I just wanted to put that out. As I mentioned, the goal is for this team to progress correctly to the next level, which they will do when they are ready.
I hope that helps! I appreciate that you read my thoughts!
I'm sorry you don't see it. You mentioned you didn't know who I was, I'm taking it you've never been inside this gym. Sometimes, it's hard to put into words why something is done. I'm going to take this as one of those times, although I felt pretty clear on it. However, I guess you just have to see the teams (the key word being teams, not individuals) in person to understand the difference between a team that will take time to develop and a team that has the ability to develop quicker. Either way, explaining that will never make as much sense until you see both teams practice.
Lastly, the decisions I make are for the better of the program and for the kids. They are not always what I personally want. The bottom line is that cheergyms.com and their gyms, such as Motions, are a business and decisions are made with our customers and the success of our business in mind.
