OK. Read the whole thread (yes, all 38 pages.) And watched all the videos (that part was way more fun than reading most of this...)
I'm no judge...or coach...or anything. But I'm throwing in my 2 cents anyway, for which I will be probably be fried. So here it is: Teal Army, this is mostly a question for you. About a week ago, we all enjoyed 7 pages of bantering back and forth about the legality of parts of SE's routine. The "Teal Army" side of the argument seemed to be, for the most part, that Courtney knows what she is doing and we're all a bunch of jealous haters who sit around looking for reasons to pick on SE. The other side, for the most part, seemed to be "Why is SE wasting time practicing something they know they can't compete, just to be cutting edge??? Seems silly and dangerous...and seems like maybe someone SHOULD point it out." (I've nicely grabbed some quotes from that thread since it's now locked so you don't HAVE TO go searching for it if you don't want to - but you're welcome to. They're down below).
Then this comp and they don't get the paid bid they wanted. And what's the FIRST excuse that's thrown out? Well..."We put that routine together in literally a week!"
So my question is this: Which is it? It IS a good idea to waste time learning a a routine that has illegal elements to perform at a
showcase...or it is a good idea to spend more than a week putting together a legal routine for a very important bid comp (going against 5 other Worlds medalists for 2 paid bids) that is 2 weeks after the showcase?
Yes, I am being a little facetious. Just pointing out that when the teal army comes running out, guns blazing, yelling that we're all just jealous haters and we all say "Um...no...we're just wondering why you're working on illegal stunts for a showcase when you should be working on legal stunts that you CAN compete..." don't be so quick to say, essentially, "Shut up. We know what we're doing." Maybe, just maybe...every once in awhile...someone might be just trying to throw some useful info your way.
Just appears that "the other side" may have been right in this case - if the coach(es) knew it was illegal, it appears it wasn't a good idea to waste time working on it. If they didn't know, then it appears some useful info came out of that thread being posted, as last minute changes were obviously made.
From the illegal elements thread:
--"In every sport I participated in, there were always one or two coaches who seemed to be "smarter" than everyone else, who could get away with things that others could not or would not even try, who would push to bend the rules as far as they could and would only back down if they were pushed back very hard by an equally strong person. IMO Courtney is one of those types of coaches. Not that it is good or bad, just is.
But I also believe that by whatever their major competitions are the elements will either be removed or altered to fit enough of the rules and if there is a grey area, that is where it will try to be placed. I just hope the numerous teams, programs and coaches that follow that program and try so hard to be just like them don't try to do the same thing because they don't have the "pull" of this program and it wont work out to good for them."
--"You do know this was an event for only Cheer Extreme right? X-Evolution...our own awesome, individual, and unique event :)"
--" I am not a coach, and I will defer to Courtney bc I trust her judgement and it seems to me like she knows what's she's doing after all these years."
--"I'm just a nobody excheer mom of a girl who no longer cheers but LOVE to come on here and youtube and watch videos of all these amazing teams. I have this question to pose... Even IF this was a private showcase having nothing to do with the judging or competitive world shouldn't teams only be doing or practicing stunts that are Legal and allowed within the realm of the USASF? Although I don't know all the ins and outs of the USASF and their rules, my understanding of the purpose for them is to establish guidelines within the sport to keep our children safe and not performing stunts and skills that could be more dangerous than what they are already expected to do. I just don't understand how it's only a showcase is an answer for an athlete doing such a dangerous skill. I know how many weeks and weeks it would take my daughter's teams back in the day to master a pyramid I don't know why they would work so hard on skills like that before the season starts if they are not legal. My daughter's teams used to goof around at the end of the season and maybe make up stunts and pyramids at the END of the season but never during the season and always with sanctioned skills."