Dec 29-30 in Nashville TN, WCA will be giving 2 Paid Bids, 4 At Large Bids, and 1 Int'l At Large Bid. Below are teams listed on the schedule going for the bids. There are 9 teams going for 7 bids. Cheer Extreme Large Sr has unpaid bid and Cheer Extreme Small Coed has paid bid already. Looks like all these teams will get a bid. Not bad odds.
SMALL SENIOR LV5 -Pep Club (Lexington KY) -ACE Athletics (Cincinnati OH) -Cheer Extreme - (Raliegh NC)
All these teams are good from what I've heard. So although it is a small competition and everyone will get a bid, I think it will still be a great race for those 2 paid bids. Hope someone can keep us informed.
Anyone have info on Pep Club? Aren't they the gym that has a lot of the Dunbar High School kids? And they are National Champions. Someone correct me if I've got it all wrong.
Worlds Watcher wrote: All these teams are good from what I've heard. So although it is a small competition and everyone will get a bid, I think it will still be a great race for those 2 paid bids. Hope someone can keep us informed.
Anyone have info on Pep Club? Aren't they the gym that has a lot of the Dunbar High School kids? And they are National Champions. Someone correct me if I've got it all wrong.
You are correct about the Dunbar kids at Pep Club. but I haven't seen the all star version this year, so I can't tell you anything about how they will perform.
ACE Athletics and ACE of Alabama aren't related. ACE Athletics in Ohio was formed before Alabama. It was actually named after ACE Steel Company (not 100% positive on the name) that donated a large warehouse for the gym to get started.
ACE of Alabama was form in 1999 as Alabama Cheer Elite, but rarely uses that name anymore.
I couldn't believe how few teams are scheduled to be at WCA this year. I just knew after they announced that they had joined USASF and were giving World's bids that the teams would increase.
Anyway, ACE and CEA are friendly, but fierce rivals. We'll have 10 teams there and CEA will have 20 or so. The Gaylord should be rocking.
I'll be reading ProX to get all the updates. Good luck. And next year that competition should see an increase, once gym owners realize this great opportunity. And we've heard it is beautiful there during this time of year.
I can't imagine why a competition company would schedule major events like this during the holiday season. But it sounds like they've had good attendance in previous years since they have 2 paid bids to give out.
I've seen attendance increase at competitions for Worlds bids but it usually takes a year or two. Isn't it the objective of cheer companies to offer bids to help increase the attendance? So if attendance drops again, maybe they need to rethink the dates of the event.
Good luck to your teams ACEDAD for those paid bids at WCA.
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I can't imagine why a competition company would schedule major events like this during the holiday season. But it sounds like they've had good attendance in previous years since they have 2 paid bids to give out.
I've seen attendance increase at competitions for Worlds bids but it usually takes a year or two. Isn't it the objective of cheer companies to offer bids to help increase the attendance? So if attendance drops again, maybe they need to rethink the dates of the event.
Good luck to your teams ACEDAD for those paid bids at WCA.
When I first attended WCA several years ago, my daughter was cheering at Kentucky Elite. This competition was very tough at that time. With KE, Georgia, Memphis Elite, Charlotte All Stars and others, it was pretty incredible. Now, ACE of Alabama, Cheer Extreme and ACE of Ohio are the only big programs attending.
As far as the dates, they've been doing it for 21 years, so I really don't think it is the dates. Even a couple years ago, the attendance was very good. But they waited so long to join USASF, that everyone made other plans and just bypassed them. I haven't counted, but as long as they have 100+ teams, they'll get to keep the two paid bids. That's the only thing that'll save it, I believe.
Well, WCA (although a bit smaller than in past years) was a very tight competition.
I won't be able to give you a complete run down on results, but I'll mention some highlights.
The paid bids went to ACE Alabama large coed and Cheer Extreme large seniors. I know that Cheer Extreme large coed, ACE Alabama small coed and ACE Athletics (Ohio) small senior got at large bids.
ACE Athletics (Ohio) dominated the dance awards.
ACE Alabama took 9 teams and got 7 firsts and 2 seconds. Also got 2 Grand Champion awards.
Cheer Extreme took 14 teams and got 11 firsts and 3 seconds (I think these are right, but don't hold me to them). They also got 2 Grand Champion awards, that I know of.
It was a very intense comp and I hope it starts growing again next year.