All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

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How long is your staff training that you guys do annually?

We have done various types of retreats and "training" in the past, but there hasn't been a consistent duration. The most recent training camp for staff was 3 days.
 
We put athletes on teams because they will make the team better, not necessarily because they are elite at every skill. (Analogy - the kicker on a football team usually isn't nearly as big as the linemen nor as fast as the cornerbacks.)

The flip side of that, however, is that if you need 3 flyers and you have 4 athletes trying out for that spot, 3 of which have double fulls and the other cannot do a standing back, that 4th athlete would need to be significantly better at flying for it to be worth it to sacrifice the spot to someone who has doesn't have the skills needed in other parts of the routine. Complicating this is the fact that many parents grossly overestimate how "unique" their child's abilities are. They may feel that their child is a dramatically better flyer than girls X, Y, & Z, when that may not necessarily be true.

Also, being tiny is a major advantage to being a flyer. Fair or not, physics simply doesn't care. Size is certainly not the only factor, but anyone that says it isn't one of the main factors is simply not stating the truth. Girls who are tiny for their age at 12-13-14 are typically smaller than older girls - even if those girls are still small for their age and not "big" by normal human standards. Flyers who are used to getting by on being tiny can lose that advantage as they grow normally. If those girls don't learn to base or back spot ("find a foot"), they may find themselves having difficulty making the roster they want. What got them added to that team in the first place can be the very thing that knocks them out a few years later when another tiny 12-13 year-old (what they were 2-3 years ago) gets moved to the team to fly.

You can argue all day long about whether that is fair or whether it SHOULD be that way. The simple fact is that it IS that way. The push for elite teams to have more and more difficult stunts means that "normal" sized flyers are becoming rarer by the season.

One benefit to getting taller - you become a much better back spot. Being tall (more specifically - having a higher reach) is to back spotting what being tiny is to flying. Physics works to your advantage. Fortunately, there is a spot in a stunt group for nearly any body type.

I think this is probably the definition of what CP said the coach said someone has "little girl syndrome" the other day at practice. :D

My CP is a base.
 
I think this is probably the definition of what CP said the coach said someone has "little girl syndrome" the other day at practice. :D

My CP is a base.

I have always known "little girl syndrome" to be the tiny flyer that doesn't learn to stay tight or jump when stunting. Especially co-ed flyers. These girls get by being tiny and being "manhandled" by their bases. They are the ones with poor body lines and always look wobbly when in extended stunts. I do know of a few tiny flyers who have avoided this but it has a lot to do with them being perfectionists and really focusing on basics -- that and learning to stunt with guys who were willing to take the time on the basics rather than jumping ahead to tossing the girls in the hardest stuff possible because of their size.
 
I have always known "little girl syndrome" to be the tiny flyer that doesn't learn to stay tight or jump when stunting. Especially co-ed flyers. These girls get by being tiny and being "manhandled" by their bases. They are the ones with poor body lines and always look wobbly when in extended stunts. I do know of a few tiny flyers who have avoided this but it has a lot to do with them being perfectionists and really focusing on basics -- that and learning to stunt with guys who were willing to take the time on the basics rather than jumping ahead to tossing the girls in the hardest stuff possible because of their size.
That's what I thought it was too, I heard it was "having really little fliers that are easy to stunt with but since they are so easy to lift they lack technique, muscle/body control and get hurt more often because they don't have as nice of technique". That definition was from a guy on a coed team. I had never heard of it before until this year after 8 years cheering.
 
So @BlueCat what does Cheer Athletics think of this Champions League comp.??? and im taking a guess and saying they wont be attending. just curious.
 
im super depressed that i missed out on the CA Pro Shop sale, so many shirts i wanted that are no longer available. But when will Cheer Athletics be coming out with the 2013/2014 season shirts. anyone possibly know?
 
So @BlueCat what does Cheer Athletics think of this Champions League comp.??? and im taking a guess and saying they wont be attending. just curious.
I hope they are! This is shaping up to be amazing with the teams announced so far! CA belongs in this absolutely. Whatever it is, won't be complete without CA. #fingerscrossed


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So @BlueCat what does Cheer Athletics think of this Champions League comp.??? and im taking a guess and saying they wont be attending. just curious.

There is much concern out there among gym owners about the current balance of power in the industry, so this type of concept certainly has appeal on its surface. We were heavily involved in the initial discussions, but opted out because of concerns over the particulars of the league ownership and setup.

CA was involved in the first Worlds, and later wished we had paid closer attention to the setup of the USASF before we so eagerly jumped on board. (In selling itself, USASF kind of glossed over some of it's structure and details and focused on how fun "Worlds" would be.) The result of that has made us very leery of immediately rushing in to something new before fully understanding the implications. For better or worse, when we started getting a "hard sell" and felt real pressure to start using our (and my) name to promote the event to others, the league took on a much different vibe for us.

I'm sure the event will be fun for whichever teams actually end up going. There is much about the event to like. If it continues after the first year AND some of the underlying structure issues can be worked out, we may be interested in attending in the future (if invited.)
 
There is much concern out there among gym owners about the current balance of power in the industry, so this type of concept certainly has appeal on its surface. We were heavily involved in the initial discussions, but opted out because of concerns over the particulars of the league ownership and setup.

CA was involved in the first Worlds, and later wished we had paid closer attention to the setup of the USASF before we so eagerly jumped on board. (In selling itself, USASF kind of glossed over some of it's structure and details and focused on how fun "Worlds" would be.) The result of that has made us very leery of immediately rushing in to something new before fully understanding the implications. For better or worse, when we started getting a "hard sell" and felt real pressure to start using our (and my) name to promote the event to others, the league took on a much different vibe for us.

I'm sure the event will be fun for whichever teams actually end up going. There is much about the event to like. If it continues after the first year AND some of the underlying structure issues can be worked out, we may be interested in attending in the future (if invited.)


that's a valid reason BUT WHAT IS IT ABOUT? How does it work? How come only gym owners know what is it about?
 
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