Athletic Championships in Atlanta will be the first competition in the US that will be giving away bids (Nov 18-19). They will give 2 paid bids, 4 at-large bids, and 2 Int'l at-large bids. I would imagine this will improve attendance at this usually low attended competition.
What teams will be attending?
Here is the list of Level 5 teams that attended last year:
Small All Girl: Cheer Savannah Senoritas
Large All Girl: Georgia All Stars
Small Coed: Thunder All Stars (1st) Stingray All Stars
Wow, I'm thinking that's pretty early in the season to be awarding bids. Perfect case of early bird gets the worm ... those who have been practicing early, getting their routines down pat will have a major advantage over those teams who are just now ramping up.
If someone can confirm, it seems the teams in the south (Texas, Georgia, Florida,etc) seem to do their coreography in the summer which puts them way ahead of most teams in California that seem to wait until Aug/Sept to begin coreography.
Any opinions on these two approaches? Especially those from California.
The reason those teams start earlier because their competitive year is different. School has started or will start very soon for those kids, so their summer started earlier. Everything is just moved up for them. I think the sooner you get to know the material though, the better. Most teams across the country don't peak until about January/February, including the big name gyms. You guys never see them until Dallas or cheersport, but if you go to their regionals, they don't look the same at all.
I start my choreography in the summer because it gives the teams time to work on it and be less stressed. It also gives our teams the time to improve on skills. I think its a great thing to do. This Cali coach is a summer started also!
We start early as well, and it makes a huge difference from the years we did not. There's less pressure, the kids know the skills they have to achieve for the routine, and work harder to get them because there is a set goal. We also don't have to add in last-minute practices, because we're ready way ahead of time.
