All-Star 2012-2013 Age Grid For Worlds Teams

[p.o.k.]

Well it looks as though this is a dumbing down of the sport so any one can be any level they want. Yes this will make it more believeable -as a real sport. Not everyone can be a level 5 tumbler or cheerleader it is a difficult pill to swallow but is the truth. You really do not need to have cheerleaders with great amazing tumbling skills to be ambassodors for the sport either. I may be a bit emotional but I have a kid that is just devastated going into worlds with this news. She feels there is nothing to look forward to. This is directly from the USASF letter.

This business killer for some gym owners.

 

[p.o.k.]

o

I want to know how any one is going to enforce having shirts on over your uniform?

The shirt and boot police.

 

[hopskipandjump]

Egad! You mean we then would have to actually track when the athlete got injured, what they were doing, where they trained to start working that skill or not, were they conditioned for that skill, where they doing it under appropriate supervision and with permission? Were they just told to chuck it because they needed it in the routine and that it would get better in time? Or to throw it or they would be kicked off the team or put on a lower level team?

I actually do my best to track all injuries in my gym. I can look at our level 5 team and tell you that if they are wearing a brace it is not due to initial injury doing fulls, doubles or bounding passes. Usually they got hurt doing something much easier that they were thinking about, or in the case of a few who had injuries/disabilities prior to becoming a cheerleader and the braces help them deal with that issue. Same goes for all of our teams and their appropriate skill level. I need to know if it is something we are doing wrong that we need to fix either in our instruction or with the staff. I can say without reservation that the majority of our injuries this year did not happen in our gym but during school cheer practice, soccer practice, falling down the stairs, tumbling in the grass at home, tumbling on the trampoline at home, or in the home gym down in the basement. They get hurt at home or elsewhere, then come to the gym and don't tell anyone, aggravate it again and now it becomes a gym injury.

yojaehs is right. Fix and train coaches and as Mclovin said hit teams hard on the score sheet for under-rotated fulls, doubles. If it is a tucked or piked full instead of a layout, deduction. IMO adding the Restricted 5 division is enough of an industry fix to address the training/competing issue. Now add the deductions as mentioned and you will start to see a difference. Of course the fans will be upset because in reality they are the ones calling to see all these crazy bounding skills, standing doubles, etc. Never heard one judge wowed by a standing double. I know the argument that we are not trying to be like gymnastics and those skills add to the performance excitement of cheerleading but we cant have it both ways. We are giving too much credit for ugly skills. This then becomes another reason cheer coaches feel they have no option but to put them in a routine to be competitive on that part of the score sheet.

What are "we" really trying to do, and who are "we" really trying to please? I know what my answer would be but then I would sound too much like a cheer conspiracy theorist.

 

[hopskipandjump]

Egad! You mean we then would have to actually track when the athlete got injured, what they were doing, where they trained to start working that skill or not, were they conditioned for that skill, where they doing it under appropriate supervision and with permission? Were they just told to chuck it because they needed it in the routine and that it would get better in time? Or to throw it or they would be kicked off the team or put on a lower level team?

I actually do my best to track all injuries in my gym. I can look at our level 5 team and tell you that if they are wearing a brace it is not due to initial injury doing fulls, doubles or bounding passes. Usually they got hurt doing something much easier that they were thinking about, or in the case of a few who had injuries/disabilities prior to becoming a cheerleader and the braces help them deal with that issue. Same goes for all of our teams and their appropriate skill level. I need to know if it is something we are doing wrong that we need to fix either in our instruction or with the staff. I can say without reservation that the majority of our injuries this year did not happen in our gym but during school cheer practice, soccer practice, falling down the stairs, tumbling in the grass at home, tumbling on the trampoline at home, or in the home gym down in the basement. They get hurt at home or elsewhere, then come to the gym and don't tell anyone, aggravate it again and now it becomes a gym injury.

yojaehs is right. Fix and train coaches and as Mclovin said hit teams hard on the score sheet for under-rotated fulls, doubles. If it is a tucked or piked full instead of a layout, deduction. IMO adding the Restricted 5 division is enough of an industry fix to address the training/competing issue. Now add the deductions as mentioned and you will start to see a difference. Of course the fans will be upset because in reality they are the ones calling to see all these crazy bounding skills, standing doubles, etc. Never heard one judge wowed by a standing double. I know the argument that we are not trying to be like gymnastics and those skills add to the performance excitement of cheerleading but we cant have it both ways. We are giving too much credit for ugly skills. This then becomes another reason cheer coaches feel they have no option but to put them in a routine to be competitive on that part of the score sheet.

What are "we" really trying to do, and who are "we" really trying to please? I know what my answer would be but then I would sound too much like a cheer conspiracy theorist.

I have to know, what is your answer for who we are trying to please?

 

[p.o.k.]

Where is the out rage people - I wonder why there is not more complaining.

 

[Kitch22]

Although certainly not as big an issue as the tumbling.... anybody checked out the uniform/coverup policies. The only thing I have a TINY problem with is asking girls not to wear pajama pants/boots, etc when arriving at a competition. Idk. I get the point of want to legitimize the sport, and I think that's great. But that just seems a little too particular. My daughter has also played softball, son plays many sports. At a tournament, you don't see ALL the players in full uniform ALL day. Now, certainly completely changing clothes in public is totally inappropriate, but slipping on a pair of comfy pants after awards late at night and getting ready for the ride home, I think is okay. I get that we can have black warmup pants or something like that. I don't know. It just hits me as a little picky. And maybe is one of those things like someone said before, punishing all for the actions of a few. Last comp there was a girl walking around ALL day in sports bra and skirt.....

I know it seems like a silly thing, but it does do a lot for legitimising the sport and making it seem more professional. I've attended elite level dance and gymnastics competitions where your studio/team can be deducted uniform points off the mat from the time you arrive. We had some fantastic warm up suits that were great looking but also very comfy for when you wanted to shuck the costume/leotard.