Full paid bids should only go to teams that take first. If you take second at a competition to a team that has already received a bid then you should only get a partial and if you take third then you are now an at large. In no way did that 3rd or 4th place team earn the right to a full paid bid.
or.. If you have received a bid regardless of the type paid partial or at large then you can not try to compete for it again. Say if Idaho All Star Elite gets a partial bid at competition in Idaho then they can not go to Oregon to try for a partial or a full paid.
then.. There should be boundaries or a split down the US. No one west of the split can go and compete on the east of the split and so on. This would make it a more even representation at worlds.
For those keeping count …
( 1 ) AL, AR, CO, CT, KS, MA, MI, NE, NH, OH, SC ( 2 ) IL, IN, MD, OK, PA, TN, VA, WA, WV ( 4 ) NC, AZ ( 5 ) KY ( 6 ) NJ, FL ( 7 ) GA ( 11 ) CA ( 24 ) TX
I have more to add.. But I guess I should go back to work..
I agree - I don't think bids should be able to be "handed down". It dilutes the competition. If you get the bid, you get the bid, if you don't, you don't.
then.. There should be boundaries or a split down the US. No one west of the split can go and compete on the east of the split and so on. This would make it a more even representation at worlds.
I dont think that cheerleading across the US should be split at all! we all have talent, but the west coast doesnt take it as seriously. we just need to catch up, but all our talent is the same and we all have the same advantages and disadvantages, so why split it?
Well I agree and Disagree, I think that if this is in the case of like NCA where the bid falls down to the same division you should have to beat a certain score to get it......But like at Gssa where you have 4 diffrent divisions go against each other, I mean we went against an all girl team which has a chance to win worlds and then i have a small coed team that has a chance to win worlds.......In a case where there are 4 diffrent divisions going against each other I think its cool......
My main thing is i think there should be a certain score you should have to receive to get a bid.... I mean saying first place deserves and second doesnt thats hard cause like I tell my kids "its any given sunday". If you have 2 great teams that always go back and forth beating eachother i mean whose to say which is gonna win on worlds weekend sunday.....But if you have a team that can't make the score of say 85% then you know what there is no need to go.....
At the 2000 summer olympics there was a young man from a really small, poor african country that qualified to the olympics as a swimmer to compete in the 100 M freestyle simply because no one else from his country even asked to compete. He "trained" by swimming laps in a 10M pool at a hotel whenever he had spare time (which wasn't often). Watching him swim was painful, he didn't have technique or speed at all. In fact it took him minutes longer to finish the race than the next slowest person. By the end he was so tired he could barely lift his arms out of the water and he struggled immensely just to reach the wall.
Did this man's lack of ability "ruin" the olympics in any way? Did he make it "less important" for the people who won? No, he didn't. He came to the olympics for himself and for his country, he knew he had NO chance of challenging anyone for a medal, but he wanted to experience the olympics.
No matter what sport there are ALWAYS going to people that are not up to the level of "the best" that make it to that ultimate competition. In basketball if a team is in a weak conference they could win that conference and make it to the playoffs and still be miles behind the first place team. Does that mean they deserve it any less? No, they did what they were required to to get to the playoffs, win their division...no matter how easy or hard that is. Does that make the NBA title game less meaningful? No, again it has no bearing on it. Let's not forget that regardless of whether you think a team "deserves" to go to worlds, they have fulfilled the requirement and have worked very hard to get there. You are not going to get hurt because a team that does not have as much talent as some other teams goes to worlds. It does not make a difference. So let these teams enjoy their experience and let them represent their program to the best of their abilities, whether they got their bid by winning a division that no one else was in or by their bid getting passed down 6 teams to them. It doesn't matter, let's just leave these kids alone and let them go if they want to go.
**I'm not comparing any programs or teams that got bids to a "small, poor, African country", nor am I saying that these teams do not have technique or that they have a "lack of ability"...please just take my story for what it is and not read into it too deeply.**
As a coach who is in this paticular situation, there are some points I agree with and some I don't agree with.
I'm not exactly a fan of bids being "handed down". Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with our bid and I wouldn't want to give it away, but it really isn't as fufilling as if we had won the bid hands down. However, I know that many of these companies pay for these bids and when a team wins a bid from them its an opportunity for them to have someone represent their company at the World's event. So, I completely understand why bids are "handed down".
I would rather see that if a team didn't win a paid bid outright that instead of going straight to finals they go through the prelims first. I think that might be a bit more fair and make a bit more sense to all of us who look deeply into this World's competition.
As for At Large bids and Partial bids, perhaps developing a Prelim, Semi and Finals competition we can sort through this whole thing. If you are "handed down" a Partial or At Large bid, you have to compete in Prelims. Semis are for teams with out right Partial and At Large bids as well as teams with Paid bids that were not won out right. Finals is for teams that make it through those divisions as well as teams with Paid Bids.
I'm pretty sure that all of the teams that went to worlds last year with a partial or at large bid had to go through a prelim compeittion. All of those teams ended up going to the finals. I as a spectator was a little disappointed that it was so easy for each team to make it to the finals. This is supposed to be the best of the best. Some of those teams deserved it but others did not. Personally I would like to see teams have to win the bid in their own state and have a certain number of teams from represent each state. Is this wrong? This is a "World's" competition. I don't feel the "World" is represented. On another note, Congratulations to the California teams who made. Win or loose, you are all already winners for making it regardless of how you obtained your bid (handed down or not). This is all new so I am sure there will be many changes in the future so that World's becomes a fair process.
Cheerleading doesn't work like that. It doesn't go by a STATE or region. There are way to many organizations in cheerleading for it to be so limited. Its pretty basic. There are a set of organizations offering bids and if you want to receive one, then attend the competition offering them. I think USASF should set a limit on how many bids it gives out TOTAL each year. When you look at the list of people who are going, they are all pretty strong and established programs. There wasn't one program that I saw on the list for this season that is "I can't believe there going" status.
There wasn't really an "easy" bid given out, regardless of what people say on these boards. Even USA was pretty competitive. Califronia All Stars, Champion, West Coast Mavercks, Dynasty, American and Desert Storm are all wonderful programs.
The only thing I don't like is that cheergyms across the country are putting together special teams to compete at certain nationals and they are not a regular team. Why not put together this type of team in the beginning instead of trying to do a special team? I think its easier on parents, coaches and athletes. I also think that you should attend worlds if you really think your program will be competitive. If your kids don't have the drive, then don't put all that effort. It might be paid for your kids and coaches to go, but not the fans and support groups.
i think that everyone who gets a bid deserves it one way or another prelims everyone should have to go through and only the top ten teams should make finals that would make it more of the best even tho if you place tenth in prelims teh chances of you wimming worlds is very slim atleast you will have the top ten best teams int eh world in every division
