This question was prompted by another post but I thought it deserved it's own because I think it's a great question. Does order of performance matter in scoring? If it's true judges tend to hold back on earlier performances and score lower, shouldn't they go back when all performances in that division are through and see if they did indeed score too low at first? It seems to me after seeing all the performances it would be fair to then go back and rank them based on comparison, you know? Or stick to the same critera for ALL performances, not giving ANY weight to who goes first vs. who goes last. I know a lot of you are at GSSA so maybe this would be a timely topic to respond to when you return (with Jamz right around the corner).
well, when i judge i consider the level the team is competing in and what skills are appropriate for that level. from there i score on #1 how clean and then on how difficult and creative the routine is. i dont judge one team off the score of another, i judge off what should be in the routine depending on the level they are in.
another thing is do you think that judges take the size of the flyers into consideration when judging? i noticed that the all american team was the only team in the super six without tiny little 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders flying on a SENIOR team. I'm sorry but I just hate seeing that no matter how talented the little ones are. Stunts just look so much less impressive to me when the flyers don't even come up to their bases' shoulders. Of course your baskets are going to be higher and you'll be less likely to drop your stunts or touch down on tumbling because you use less energy lifting up those tiny girls. And by the way no one on my SENIOR team is in a grade lower than 9th grade.
well get this cheer force and all american will be better then any other team around in the years ahead and do you know why. when everyone else is losing their kids and needing to bring in more they are going to have the same kida for the next 5 to 10 years and trust me if you notice something when a team stays together for that long they build a bond that nothing can break and they only grow stronger with eachother so bag on them all you want i think its great and i cant wait to see what they look like 3 4 5 years from now
Our youngest girl on our Senior Team is in 8th grade. She's not smaller than everyone else though. Our girls are about the same height with one exception. One girl is taller but she's in 10th grade. Our coaches don't put younger girls on the older teams for THEM. Not for the gyms sake. Our 8th grader is more mature than most, so she earned her spot. But we have 4th, 5th and 6th graders doing fulls and doubles, even a 5th grader doing a standing full, but she's not on the Senior team. Our coaches care about us more than to put her with 10th graders where their influence on her would be tremendous. We want her to enjoy cheer, not be overwhelmed.
I remember when my child first started allstar cheer. Our parents would come up with reasons why the other team won and why we didn't. Now many seasons later I am still hearing the same arguments only this time my views are different.
If a gym owner only has a limited amount of level 5 senior age kids should he stick them on a level 3 team with other seniors or should he put together a team that is filled with level 5 kids that have a great work ethic and a love of cheerleading.
Some gyms have a tough time pulling in those boys and some gyms it seems the boys are very abundant .
seriously i agree.. especially when its not even a partner stunt but like all girl stunts AND minin flyers..ridic. if u wanna go large coed do as a large coed team should do. no team going to worlds in large coed will stand a chance without all partner stunts.
i agree that it looks bad when all the flyers are really young especially when they aren't up to the same level in stunting/tumbling/sharpness as everyone else. Our youngest on senior coed, i think, is in 6th grade but there are several girls, for example one particular girl in 8th grade who looks younger than all the others and could be mistaken for being sevral years younger than she is. It happens a lot no matter where you go, but especially in cheerleading. Of course its always more impressive to see older girls performing the same skills those younger ones definately deserved their spot on the team for being the athletes they are, not because of their size.
Back to the original topic...order SHOULDN'T matter. but it does. In every single performance sport it makes a difference because the judges almost always start low in order to leave more room for the teams to come. That doesn't mean that the first team is screwed, the best team will usually win and order won't matter, but it is definately an advantage to go last because you leave the last impression on the judges. I'm not saying that any team is "screwed" by going last, or that judges do this intentionally, usually it just happens subconsciously, but it does happen. The one advantage to being the first team is that you are able to set the bar, so to speak, for the rest of the teams in your division.
