At GSSA Nationals, the scoresheet is identical to that of the World's score sheet.

In defense of GSSA, the score sheets this year are much more skill based and not so subjective. They also have been having deduction and legality judges just like most of the other competitions across the country. In my experience, GSSA has always tried to listen to the coaches suggestions and have made changes every year to improve.

Kinda, I probably misread your post because I had to chuckle when you said you got to stand and watch because the people behind you had monitors to look at. They had big screens at American Championships too, but I would never stand in front of folks who actually want to watch it live on stage and not stare at a screen, right? Maybe I missed something there.

You said programs were $5. Did they offer schedules for free? I think that's the key. Nice to have a program if you want one, but you shouldn't have to buy one just to see when your team goes on. You know I don't recall American Championships having programs (at least nobody I knew bought one). But schedules for both days were free, so that was nice. Oh, they gave out nice backpacks to everyone too. But I know what you're thinking there -- let's forget about the backpacks and other stuff and just lessen the comp fee. But at least if you're gonna be forced to pay it anyway, might as well get something out of it, I guess.

Blankets sound nice, I think that's a great participation gift. Would certainly last longer than a t-shirt!

Well, it made a difference in our girls reaction to the performance, seeing their parents jumping up and down. Was it ok by everyone else? Probably not, but they could still see. All I can say is this, MAJORITY of the other gyms did it too..... that's where we got the idea from. Maybe that's the difference between California and the rest of the cheer world???? Maybe they feel as if their parents care more? I doubt it but our kids loved it. They said so. The monitors/big screens were HUGE. You didn't miss a thing. And plus, the seating was such that you could see anyway. But if you want to pick apart my post, maybe you should have gone to Atlanta. You would have known better......

Your coaches should be telling you what time you go on. If they're not, then you need to speak up. The programs were NICE ones for only 5 bucks. You didn't have to buy one to know what time your team went on. But then again, our coach fills us in on such things. Sorry you have to buy one to know.

Backpacks are nice but we already have a gazallion of them after 6 years of cheer. Tshirts? Got a ton of them too. Blankets? Nope! This was the first one!!! So it was nice to get something different! And to get entrance fees cheaper? I don't think they could! It was 25 to get in for BOTH days! And no parking fees even though we didn't need to park. The comp was run ON TIME!!! When they said 3:41 pm..... that meant 3:41 pm. Not a second later! You could sit, ACTUALLY SEE THE TEAM PERFORMING EVEN THOUGH THE EAST COAST TEAMS ACTUALLY CHEERED, JUMPED, SCREAMED, DANCED, ETC. FOR THEIR KIDS and you enjoyed every minute of it! It pumped everyone up like crazy!!!

Want us to keep up Cali? We need to STEP UP. I loved watching CheerForce and Power but even they need to step it up a bit. Hard to imagine but alot of those east/south coast teams are THAT GOOD. Scary, huh???? Maybe it's the water!!!

I wouldn't like people standing/jumping/dancing in front of me either. But I can understand they're doing it for support.

I like having a schedule in my hand. The coaches always tell the teams when they're going on, of course, but that message doesn't always reach us parents/relatives, right? Bottom line, no excuse for comps to not pass out free schedules. And I love the backpacks, they're cool and really came in handy for Disneyland!

Thanks for that! I knew the people who sat behind us could see cause I did it myself right before that. I was trying to give a "picture" to those who didn't attend but i think I wasn't clear enough and came off like I "didn't care about those behind me". You see, that's another problem with California competitions. We all assume that every competition is run badly and planned out badly that everyone other comp must be the same. Like I said earlier, you had to be there to know.

They fit 70,000 people, 11,000 athletes in and NO ONE (not yelling, just stressing cause there's no bold button) was squished, waiting in lines, etc...

The program was full color, beautiful paper and had wonderful photos of the teams, told you where everyone was from and who they brought with them, and so much more!!!! You could get the performance order off of the website days before ( which I printed out before we even left home) There were lots of vendors but I would have liked to see more. But even so, the 10 or so vendors offered TONS of stuff. (not yelling, just no bold button) I was going to get the photo on the green screen but totally forgot. (kicking myself now)

You were allowed to take non flash photos. I wish I could post some here so you could see the enormity of the entire event (is that even a word?) But I can't. I truly hope that the California competitions step up. They need to BADLY. This competition just seriously put them ALL to shame. Even the ones I like!!!

And you're right, life's too short to get upset. That's why I didn't. Remember this.... when you read something, you don't hear the tone or voice that is trying to be portrayed. When something is in CAPS that doesn't mean they are yelling. I don't know how to make it stressed a bit more than my regular type. With 5 kids, yelling is something I have down to a science. I can even yell without raising my voice!!! So you haven't even seen yelling from me, trust me........ ;)

Yes, free schedules would have been really good actually. When I was there, I hadn't even thought if it. I had the printed one with me so it didn't even dawn on me to look for one. But I truthfully think most bought the program anyway. It was only 5 bucks and was super nice. Maybe that's why they didn't give out a schedule. I don't know the thinking behind the decision. Maybe next year!!!

But I don't recall getting a schedule for free other than maybe twice in my daughters cheer career. But it really could be me cause I usually bring my own. And then of course, there I am wondering where that team came from!!! So a free one is a great idea!!!!

Thanks for all the compliments about CHEERSPORT Nationals. We were thrilled to have an increased West Coast presence this year and hopefully that will continue.

We do read the message boards because we want to continue to improve and frankly, we just love competitive cheerleading. Many of our best ideas have come from coaches and athletes who have attended our events. Please let us know what we can do to serve you better. We really do listen and implement the suggestions.

Thanks again.

CHEERSPORT wrote:

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Thanks for all the compliments about CHEERSPORT Nationals. We were thrilled to have an increased West Coast presence this year and hopefully that will continue.

We do read the message boards because we want to continue to improve and frankly, we just love competitive cheerleading. Many of our best ideas have come from coaches and athletes who have attended our events. Please let us know what we can do to serve you better. We really do listen and implement the suggestions.

Thanks again.

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The one and only thing I would like improvement is listing of teams that won paid and unpaid bids. I don't see that anywhere on the web site or in the results posted. I've been trying to gain this information and no one seems to know.