All-Star 2012-2013 Age Grid For Worlds Teams

[cheermommaRN]

Bring back Junior Worlds. Then you can raise Senior to any age you want. PROBLEM SOLVED.

I agree. I used to be all "Arrrr no juniors at Worlds...blah blah blah" but if they keep raising the age for seniors and kids keep joining at younger ages...eventually they will have to bring Juniors back to Worlds and label it an "Elite" competition. Or divide it into two different events, have Junior Worlds one weekend and then Senior Worlds later. That would probably be difficult for some gyms that have Jr 5 and Sr 5 teams but like I said, the talent level is getting higher at a younger age.

 

[WCMAN]

I agree. I used to be all "Arrrr no juniors at Worlds...blah blah blah" but if they keep raising the age for seniors and kids keep joining at younger ages...eventually they will have to bring Juniors back to Worlds and label it an "Elite" competition. Or divide it into two different events, have Junior Worlds one weekend and then Senior Worlds later. That would probably be difficult for some gyms that have Jr 5 and Sr 5 teams but like I said, the talent level is getting higher at a younger age.

All for the junior Worlds comeback. Just zero crossovers.... if your competing at Sr.Worlds then you cannot compete at juniors...its one or the other.

 

[ztaprincess]

I don't think that just because they raise the age for senior teams it means juniors should be back at worlds. While I loved seeing the junior teams at worlds, I think it needs to be left to senior teams only.
I would really like to see Senior teams at 14-18 and the International division at 16+ (level 6 remaining at 17+). This puts the Senior division more inline with actual high school kids without following school cutoff dates exactly.

 

[Rudags]

I don't think that just because they raise the age for senior teams it means juniors should be back at worlds. While I loved seeing the junior teams at worlds, I think it needs to be left to senior teams only.
I would really like to see Senior teams at 14-18 and the International division at 16+ (level 6 remaining at 17+). This puts the Senior division more inline with actual high school kids without following school cutoff dates exactly.

Id rather see Top Junior teams at Worlds instead of not so ready Small Senior teams. If they don't change up number of bids and allow Junior teams at Worlds - I think it would start getting closer to "best of the best"

I agree - NO CROSSOVERS!

 

[xpressjag]

Why limit Sm Sr to 12? Sm Sr and Sm Coed are the LARGEST divisions at Worlds, it makes ZERO sense to change that number. High schools are broken down like that because there are MANY less athletes to choose from for their team. Here is what will happen if you make a Sm Sr 12 or 16, the "Large" gym will take their best 12/16 and then someone will want small to be 9 bc they still can't compete. I think EP's are doing the RIGHT thing for these small teams and breaking down scores to grids to TRY and be as fair as possible. Yes, there are some really good teams that have 12, 13, 14 etc. that are really good but is this a MAJOR issue across the country? Also, if we are going to talk about "business" it definitely makes WAY more sense to have teams LARGER than SMALLER!

Every gym wants large teams, but I'm just telling you the reality. Most of the decisions based upon what will benefit either the event producer or some of the major gyms in the country. By saying major, I don't just mean large gyms, just gyms with very vocal gym owners who will eventually get their point across. I'm just speaking up for those gyms I see at events who are just being crushed by large gyms every which direction you turn. What I don't get is all gyms should want other gyms to prosper because it CREATES competition. The more you ignore the needs of small gyms, the more you will see competitions with not enough competition. I just think the USASF should consider making small at least 16 and under or just developing a REAL small gym division at competitions. Of course whatever is decided all gyms will deal with, but ideally I think its important to voice your opinion.

 

[PghxCheer2]

Especially if they ever brought it back to Worlds, I would love to see them put a bottom age on Junior 5. A huge argument for ridding the youth 5 division of doubles was for safety concerns, yet how many of those same owners have put 10 year olds on junior 5 and let them compete doubles? If you are going to argue that it's unsafe for them to do it in youth 5, then maybe junior 5 needs a bottom age. I think getting rid of doubles in youth 5, and a bottom age of 10 or 11 for Junior 5 could be good. I think Jags, Lites, and Cells deserve Worlds more than Janky Allstars with 8 fulls that only get 3/4 the way around in small senior/small coed. But in the same breath, seeing tiny little 7-8 y/o feti (fetuses?) next to 14 y/o senior world's alternates was ridiculous. I'm only for bringing Juniors back if we DON'T add more bids overall, and they put a bottom age on the division.

 

[PghxCheer2]

Boooo, my 4 minutes is up. I also wanted to add, I'm all for bringing division numbers down. I think setting small at 16ish, medium at 24ish, and large at 30ish would be good numbers. I think it would help spread out the talent without one division ending up drastically underfilled. It's obviously just an idea, but I think a lot of people have spoken out before with similar ideas.

 

[newcheerdad]

JulieP

Her senior 3 team gives teams of 20 a run for their money. Just sayin

I didn't see the sr 3 team at Wisconsin Dells the other weekend, but the other teams in that gym were tough competition. Wouldn't have pegged it for a "small gym" at all.

 

[Ashay]

I also heard this "Rumor" this morning as I was driving to the gym. Also was told from a "higher up" that its not official but then was told by another "Higher up" that they didnt hear of anything changing. So who to believe? I really really hope it doesnt change at least for the 2012-2013 season. I also thought the rules and age grid were a two year deal. If it does change there will be a ton of sad children and mad coaches.

 

[bestbackspot]

I think lowering the age will help regulate the sport. It will bring more talent to the senior teams, because they will actually have to lift senior level flyers. I also think that it is so much pressure for a 12 year old (usually in 7th grade?) If they are gifted enough to have that talent at such a young age, let them be on juniors for one more year to mature into that talent.

 

[ztaprincess]

Id rather see Top Junior teams at Worlds instead of not so ready Small Senior teams. If they don't change up number of bids and allow Junior teams at Worlds - I think it would start getting closer to "best of the best"

I agree - NO CROSSOVERS!

I too would rather see the top junior teams at worlds over no so ready senior teams, but instead of adding juniors back at worlds I would rather them lessen the number of bids and make it to where in order to get a bid you have to be judged on the worlds scoresheet for your division (plus have a miniumum required score).

 

[Mclovin]

I am completely against raising the age above 12. Why? 1) Small gyms will struggle to hang; 2) every year the necessity to have harder stunts, inverted entries, etc. puts an increased amount of pressure on these HIGH SCHOOL AGED kids. What are we expecting from them?? Asking 14-18 year olds to perform inverted entries and double ups, etc. with kids their own size is ASKING for an increase in injuries. Heck, college boys don't lift girls that big. One of our true senior aged fliers is a 117 pounds and was told by a very popular college that she was 2 pounds too heavy to even try out there. I just don't get it. Everyone complains that the bottom age needs to be raised but then we want to fix the problem with injuries...we can't have it both ways. Gone are the days of 14-15 year old fliers doing straight up stunts. So IMO our industry has two choices...1) limit what stunts are allowed, including entries or 2) leave the bottom age alone. I would vote for #2...

As far as tumbling goes, I am against limiting that as well. Our athletes need conditioning. Period. We need truly certified, well trained tumbling coaches. We need gym owners who put their foot down and refuse to allow athletes to be progressed too quickly. And I will also go back to what I said previously in other threads about under rotated fulls and doubles...give MAJOR deductions for this and I would bet my life that you will see a major decrease in injuries. That is my feeling on these two topics.

 

[Hodiestoe]

Coming from other sports into cheerleading so late on, the one thing I couldn't understand is the age guidelines. I've always coached sports that have an upper and lower age bracket and I jsut feel that cheer needs this as well, for all the reasons pointed out above.I do feel that there needs to be some overlap for smaller gyms who can't survive without crossovers, but I would welcome new guidance along the lines of this, with 2 years of overlap for each age bracket.

• Senior 13-18
• Junior 10-15
• Youth 7-12
• Mini ?-8

 

[kristenthegreat]

I'm for upping the age bracket, mostly because I feel like these sort of things can be self-regulating (much like under rotation). It's not like only certain gyms will be unable to have 12 year olds and everybody else will. Plus, I'm of the opinion that if 1, just 1 year age difference makes THAT much of an emphasis on your team..is your team REALLY a senior team? Or is it senior-junior? I don't think there are THAT many teams filled with 12 year olds. One athlete here or there..

 

[Mclovin]

I'm for upping the age bracket, mostly because I feel like these sort of things can be self-regulating (much like under rotation). It's not like only certain gyms will be unable to have 12 year olds and everybody else will. Plus, I'm of the opinion that if 1, just 1 year age difference makes THAT much of an emphasis on your team..is your team REALLY a senior team? Or is it senior-junior? I don't think there are THAT many teams filled with 12 year olds. One athlete here or there..

I think the trend is that you are having true senior aged bases with true junior aged fliers. Or a good half or more of the fliers are junior aged. Which I think is necessary for the way stunts are being pushed to be harder and harder every year. You can only expect high school aged kids to be able to do so much without putting an undue risk of injury upon them.