All-Star Champions League Updates ( Movie Spoilers )

[quitthedrama]

Obviously, I'm on the "this prom thing is ridiculous" side of the fence. And the whole red carpet thing was absurd. To every gym or parent that I saw posting red carpet videos on Facebook: please don't EVER come on here again and say you're against the whole cheerlebrity thing.

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so yeah, I'm that facebook friend. Sorry you feel that way, but my CPs are in no way cheerlebrities and never will be, and that is more than good in my book. I get why some people look at it this way, and I wasn't loving the "Prom/red carpet" idea when I first heard about it. I didn't post that video so that my kids would be famous to my small friend base - I would have posted that same video if it were from a regular high school prom or non cheer event. And to all of the other people complaining about how awful this event was, it may sound cliche, but you really had to be there. My kids had the time of their lives and met so many new friends and celebrated the sport they love this weekend. It wasn't a prom more than a reception to honor the selected teams - I hate that they chose to use the word Prom. I do agree with the posters that said they had an issue with the lack of information about the event. Yes, the event ran late, but for a first time competition, I thought it was overall amazing. Don't forget - the lights went out at Worlds too - a decade or more after they started hosting Worlds. Stuff happens. I personally thought it was pretty cool that TGLC was so hot they fried the electrical system!
For all of you complaining about everything else - most are talking out of both sides of your mouth. You want to see a competition that offers better scoring that breaks down the elements of a routine. Champions League did that. They judged the difficulty in the first performance. They judged the execution on the second performance. They counted each skill and applied ratios. I think that is brilliant. We want an alternative to the Varsity monopoly. We got that. We complain that Cheer Time Revolution and there crazy4$$ moms are the posterchild of the cheerleading world. Nfinity is trying to bring real life competition to the big screen and make it main stream. Where else are they going to film in a true competition environment but at a competition? I didn't see a single parent being filmed (I am praying they didn't film the audience when my kids were performing:oops:). I wasn't a fan of the live stream and I hope there are only the interviews and a small piece of the dance that is put in the movie. Things did run late last night - my kids competed after 11. They survived. There was one judging panel for every team. They needed time in between teams to make sure the judging was right. The movie made things go a bit slower. I am willing to bet that will improve next year. We are so used to multiple judging panels and saying there isn't a true grand champ that we expect there to not be any time in between teams with one panel. Champions League didn't break down the teams by division - various twitter accounts did that, so you can't blame the EP. I do wish awards had been done differently and each team was recognized. Hopefully that will change next year. I had no problems with teams competing twice in one day. The teams that competed were unbelievable. People said few teams hit, but really most teams that didn't "hit" had small issues and were still jaw dropping! Not that I am a judge, but I thought the judging was pretty much right on - I can't say anyone got robbed despite what a certain team was saying all over twitter and in the lobby of the hotel instead of being grateful they took home money for their charity. To that team - you didn't seem to get the point of the competition, so perhaps you should stay home next year. You very poorly represented your gym. On the upside, with that exception I saw so much good sportsmanship this weekend. Teams congratulating each other getting off the mat, wishing each other good luck. I saw more hugs and high fives this weekend then ever. World Cup Starlites were the best sports of the weekend - you saw them cheer for every single team last night! There were kinks, but overall it was a great event, and I think it could be a real turning point for our industry!

 

[addicted2cheer]

The practice round was to determine your raw score. meaning they looked at your difficulty. I was told you could not score higher than what you scored in the practice round.

I personally LOVE this idea.. the practice round was used to define your routine.. much like an ice skaing or gymnastics routine has a raw score. The way I understand it it the first round was used to see EXACTLY what it was your team was doing in a routine.. how many switch kick double baskets, difficulty of stunts, how many are doing the difficult stunts, how many combo and straight doubles, etc... Then the 2nd round was used to see how close to that raw score you could get by execution of your routine. are your doubles, fully rotated, Did you execute those stunts, etc.. I like it because it truly looks a bit deeper into the skills each team is throwing and helps to remove a lot of the fluff and smoke and mirrors some teams do. Not really any teams that compete at this competition but others in general. I would love if they started doing this more at regular comps. I like the idea of taking out huge point spans for "energy" or overall feel of routine.. intangible things that can be used to really sway judges scores perhaps in an unfair way.

 

[GreatWhite92]

How many times have I heard that we need to be more like gymnastics and figure skating and have raw scores and here we have just that and people still complain that they don't like it.....

 

[addicted2cheer]

How many times have I heard that we need to be more like gymnastics and figure skating and have raw scores and here we have just that and people still complain that they don't like it.....

can I get an Amen?? exactly what I just said. Love this concept! :)

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I will say that the more I read, the more I think I like the idea of predetermined difficult a la gymnastics.

It would eliminate the "HOW DID THEIR RAW SCORE CHANGE BY SO MANY POINTS BETWEEN DAYS?!" hootenanny that seems to really confuse people.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I also wanted to note that I did not comment on the "feel" of the event, event timing, etc. because I wasn't there.

As far as the competing late part, I've had kids go on plenty late at other comps. Like 10 PM with 2 hour drive home.

 

[L5cheermom]

I think that it is important at this point to go back to the genesis of this movement - because it potentially is a movement - to revolutionize the sport that many of you have dedicated your lives to and we parents have financed. The impetus for this competition was the USASF rule changes back in 2012 that came as a shock to gym owners and industry leaders. Remember the image guidelines? No flamboyant displays? The death of the double double? There was a feeling that the very foundation of this sport, the gym owners, were being steamrolled by a bureaucracy that didn't have their best interests in mind. Many like minded gym owners united under the ASGA and met. At that time Tate Chalk gave a wonderful, motivational speech that served to ignite the idea for developing something like this. You can view this speech in two parts here is the first part.



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[L5cheermom]

And here is the second.

I personally am proud that these people have followed through with this mission. I hate that I wasn't there to be a part of it. Was it perfect? Probably not. Can there be improvements for subsequent years? I'm sure. Can it potentially empower the gym owners to stand up to the powers that be because they could someday have an alternative to Worlds? I think so.


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[ErinS]

I feel like most of these complaints (about the competition not the prom) here and in the other CL thread are from people who weren't there. I've seen posts from people saying it made no sense or that it was awful....and they WERENT THERE. They saw the same cheer updates tweets the rest of us (who weren't there) saw

It got me to the point where I went ahead and dropped my $14.25 on tickets to the movie on Thursday because clearly I need to see for myself what everyone else has already rendered judgement on.


But for the most part...most of us need to be quiet until at least 10pm est on Thursday, April 10th....then complaining can resume



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[L5cheermom]

I love the idea of the prom. What needs to be remembered is that for the kids that compete at this level their competition are some of their closest friends even though they only see them a few times a year. They have a unique set of experiences that their schoolmates cannot appreciate. It is not just prom that they miss out on. It is social opportunities all year long. Having the opportunity to socialize In this way is a great reward for all the sacrifices that they make all year. I applaud Nfinity and the other sponsors for giving them this.


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[BowsnBling]

Three things I have learned from this thread:
1. People find fault and blame in everything that happens.
2. You clearly can't make everyone happy.
3. Posters on here need to learn to use paragraphs.

 

[12stepCheermom]

I'll be interested to see the movie and how they put it all together. For the people complaining kids weren't hitting...im totally not understanding that. Yes some had minor issues but on the whole every team just put on a show. It was awesome to watch. And I did actually turn around to watch The Smoed coaches at one point after they crushed their pyramid.... They made my night! Pure joy!

In some sense (to me) it didn't feel like a competition because everyone was cheering on everyone. People around me (and myself included) talked about how they didn't care if they won, they just wanted their kids to hit and put on a show and they all did that. The sportsmanship was amazing. It was all about just enjoying good, high quality, cheerleading from amazing teams.

The cameramen needed a little cheer education though. I actually think I saw Tate Chalk (maybe him might not have been, but it was someone official from the cheer side of this) in a movie guys face about it. The two guys at the corners of the mats with their big cameras repeatedly shot video from ON the mat during the routines. At one point the partner camera guy with them pulled a cameraman off the mat before it turned tragic. He was filming toward the back (which is what he was focused on) and a tumbling pass was coming right at him from the corner.

We actually joked with an athlete when they were waiting on the on deck circle (our seats were literally right next to it so that was cool. It was neat to say "good luck X and have them literally look right at you and say thanks with a high five as they went to take the mat) that she needed to watch out for the boom camera that was moving right in the path of her (rather well known) tumbling pass. She looked over and said "I am actually a little worried about that honestly" my dh told her, "go for it, they're insured" to which she shrugged and said "not my problem." And smiled as they left the circle to take the floor. That was the most down to earth kid. Cool as a cucumber given the circumstances. I was much impressed.

I saw the cameramen a bit like UCA spotters on the floor I tend to think are more dangerous than not when they don't know the routines. Except these guys had heavy equipment and didn't know much of anything about cheerleading. They were cameramen. But it all worked out. That being said...I bet they got some incredible footage being right there in the action .


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[mstealtoyou]

Well, quitthedrama just won the internet!!! Nothing else needs to be said!

We were thrilled with the whole weekend. Sure, things need to be re-thought or tweaked but what inaugural event doesn't??? Heck, Worlds has had 10 years to get it right and still hasn't. I'll come back in 10 years and see how CL's doing.

Any event where kids, teams and parents have options is something I will support. I hope we're invited back next season!!'


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[cheernerd5678]

@12stepCheermom since you mentioned it and were right by it, how did the on deck circle work? I kept seeing pics and it made me curious. Did they stand there where they could see the team going before them? that would make me so nervous


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[AScheer]

I had no idea the results were going to be made public before the movie is released. I've already purchased 6 tickets for the movie and the results adjust popped into my newsfeed via Inside Cheerleader. I'm so mad!

I have been avoiding twitter, instagram and the CL spoilers thread for this very reason! I know virtually nothing because I don't want to know everything before I go see my $12 movie!