It's good to be able to refer back to something to see what in your routine can be changed to make you better then the team to beat.

Good stuff! wrote:

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Divas choreography caught my eye big time. Their coed 4 was amazing even with some small mistakes and a little cleaning up left to do but the choreo was great and I expect they'll only get better. There senior 3 was also good choreography but you could tell something went wrong at the beginning of the tumbling section because the rest of that section was messed up. The rest of the routine was good though, very original choreo. Two intricate routines.

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Were these the routines that Shawn Miller did? I'm assuming so, as you could see the similarities in both style and music and other than Motions coed they were the only routines that were particularly eye-catching. There were lot of very clean, boring, and simple routines yesterday, and even with a few mistakes I enjoyed both of these routines!

One question....did anyone get the actual scores? Anyone score in the 90s? Those scores have been hard to find! At jamfests, that is.

Jamz doesn't announce scores or post them, so teams would have to be willing to share theirs with us.

Yes, Shawn Miller did our routines. Coed 4 scored low 90. We had a few issues but did ok for our first comp. All the teams did great and I LOVE Motions new uniforms!!!

I like Motions new uniforms too !!!

1) I don't think anyone is saying it's a crime. I think what they're saying is that it looks sketchy. Plenty of coaches from teams that didn't compete yesterday showed up to watch. It was just the one group that took video. I think if you look at it from the perspective of the teams that were being taped, you might feel a little differently about it. And I agree with the person that said that the way it was being done (several cameras going at once taking several different angles) is what made it look sketchy. Think what you want, but I can see both sides. On one hand, there's nothing wrong with taking video. On the other, the way it was being done didn't give me the impression it was just like a "oh let's go check out our competition so we can show it to our teams" kind of thing. Maybe I'm wrong; we will see, I guess. But I think if you look at it from whatever the opposite perspective is that you have, you can see why it looks "off" to some.

2) I saw a lot of routines yesterday that I really hope step it up in the choreography area. I saw maybe 6 routines total out of all the teams yesterday that didn't make me think "okay, that looked like all the rest of them so far." While there were plenty of routines that hit, most of them made me want to fall asleep halfway through.

3) Kudos to Motions senior coed, they looked great. Can't wait to see whatever upgrades are up your sleeve. Rumor has it you just learned your routine a week or two ago, so I was very impressed. I was just amazed by the tumbling!

4) Kudos to Shawn Miller - the Cheer Diva routines looked great. I'd been waiting to see these since I first heard he was doing them. Being the first performance, there were a couple of mistakes that I could see in each routine, but nothing major and no falls. Two of the four best choreographed routines of the day, in my opinion (along with Motions senior coed and Pyramids small senior level 5). I can't wait to see them in a few months with all the kinks and first-time-performance-nerves worked out. The senior coed level 4 was especially great, I loved the elite sequence. I spent some time talking to one of their coaches and she was very excited to get these routines on the floor. Congrats to them and their girls for taking a risk and making it work!

5) I saw some nice "love" and good sportsmanship going on throughout the day. Teams from different gyms who would have once sidestepped each other in the past were hugging and having a great time. It was really nice to see everyone warm and fuzzy and getting along.

6) Jamz did a good job of keeping everyone organized and on-time. My only complaint was the warm-up arrangement. The panels intended for tumbling were springless, and where most teams would use these to warm up stunts instead and save tumbling for the spring floor time, it was not possible because basketball hoops were over them. So you had 7 or 8 minutes on an essentially useless mat and then only 4 on the full spring floor. A better set-up might be in order; there has to be a better way. Their staff is always super nice, too.

7) Kudos to Sacramento Royals dance teams. I don't normally enjoy watching the dance teams but they were great, especially the older teams. They were very entertaining!

Jamz, morning wrote:

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I just wanted to mention we were there at Jamz for the morning session, and I know we're all talking about all-stars in the afternoon, but I just wanted to acknowledge the Folsom Jr. teams, because they were incredible. Level 4's for most of their teams (maybe all, I can't remember), from youth I to youth IV. Usually you sit through those youth teams and they're not very exciting, but not the case for the Folsom teams. As a matter of fact they could have easily beat some of the all star teams we saw in the afternoon. Great job Folsom!

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A comment about these "Youth" programs in Nor-Cal. Well many of those teams don't treat their kids like youth programs and are going beyond the rules and insurance that govern them. There was about 3 youth programs I saw that barely cheer any games and their focus is on competition. I know that for a FACT. It's actually a disservice to those kids who want to just cheer and have fun, versus having those programs into some hardcore competitive team.

I still dont see the problem with video taping other teams routines and I do not see anything sketchy about it . How do you know if other gyms were not there doing the same thing in cognito.

How many of you went to the jamfest comp a few weeks ago and did the same thing ? Come on now be honest... I saw massive amounts of video taping being done especially during the level 5 divisions. I myself was one of those people.