All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

[cheerspirit]

Generally, yes. Alternates pay the same as any other athlete.

Do they also pay competition fess if they never compete?

 

[luv2cheer92]

Do they also pay competition fess if they never compete?

Comp fees are lumped into the monthly tuition price, so yes.

 

[BlueCat]

Do they also pay competition fess if they never compete?

Alternates represent a pretty low percentage of our total. Most teams do not have alternates.

Generally, competitions make you pay for rostered alternates. (You need to roster them to make the eligible to go through the warmup room and for post-season events and the jackets/rings/prizes the events give. The cost isn't different for the gym.) We are pretty up-front about the costs and some athletes choose not to take an alternate position. The ones who do, we try to get them opportunities to take the floor if possible with other teams, etc. In a perfect world, no one would ever get injured or have to miss a practice/event and the tryout numbers would match up exactly with the age grid and allow you to form teams with the right ratio of bases/flyers/backs/etc. In that case, alternates probably wouldn't be a thing. It isn't a perfect system, but we have made it work.

 

[Atxmom]

With all the other CA gyms having a theme/nickname. Is there any theme or reasoning behind Plano team names? Last few years seem to be moving away from traditional cat names but I can’t see a pattern, lightening, swagcats, crew cats, phantom cats, etc

Also I noticed at a comp that Frisco Sr 3 wore half tops, then Plano Sr teams wearing usual program unis? Curious about the discrepancy.

 

[BlueCat]

In theory, Plano teams are named after actual cats (Tigers, Panthers, Jags, Cheetahs, ..). However, we ran out of "good" cat names a long time ago and started using anything "cat" related-ish. "Thundercats" is a better team name that "domestic short haired cat" or "margays".

The theme concept wasn't originally really a thing beyond just generally "cat" names. Around 6 years ago when we opened an expansion gym, we decided that the new locations would start having a more specific theme for their cat names and try to use that in the branding.

Side note: I used to be fairly hard-core about the rules for names, where each one had to be spelled certain way ("cats" vs "katz", etc.), but as we grew to have 100+ teams, I grew to care less as long as the kids liked it.

RE: uniforms - Different gyms/age groups/teams are on different uniform schedules. We typically use a uniform 3-4 years before coming up with a new design. To be honest, I don't remember which years many of the uniforms were initially released, but I think the newer ones are going towards the new rule and some of the older ones are still half tops.

 

[Kiermyc]

In theory, Plano teams are named after actual cats (Tigers, Panthers, Jags, Cheetahs, ..). However, we ran out of "good" cat names a long time ago and started using anything "cat" related-ish. "Thundercats" is a better team name that "domestic short haired cat" or "margays".

The theme concept wasn't originally really a thing beyond just a general "cat" Around 6 years ago when we opened an expansion gym, we decided that the new locations would start having a more specific theme for their cat names and try to use that in the branding.

Side note: I used to be fairly hard-core about the rules for names, where each one had to be spelled certain way ("cats" vs "katz", etc.), but as we grew to have 100+ teams, I grew to care less as long as the kids liked it.

RE: uniforms - Different gyms/age groups/teams are on different uniform schedules. We typically use a uniform 3-4 years before coming up with a new design. To be honest, I don't remember which years many of the uniforms were initially released, but I think the newer ones are going towards the new rule and some of the older ones are still half tops.

So is it true then that all 18 and younger divisions are going to full top? I did notice your new SR team tops were full tops

 

[luv2cheer92]

So is it true then that all 18 and younger divisions are going to full top? I did notice your new SR team tops were full tops

Can't answer the first part, but I know that Plano non-worlds senior teams have had full tops for a good amount of time now, at least back to around 2013/2014 or so at the latest.

 

[BlueCat]

So is it true then that all 18 and younger divisions are going to full top? I did notice your new SR team tops were full tops

Your guess is as good as mine at this point.

 

[Atxmom]

Bluecat...do you have any thoughts on covid-19 and any potential effect on remainder of season?

My husband company and his clients (both very large corporations) are ordering company wide shutdowns. Employees are going to be working from home. Then you hear about the cancellation of music festivals etc. Then I also hear that there’s nothing to worry about, just need to wash hands a lot.

I honestly wonder if it’s smart to send my kid to practice, much less go to another comp. I can’t figure out if some are dramatically overreacting or if we are under reacting.

 

[BlueCat]

Bluecat...do you have any thoughts on covid-19 and any potential effect on remainder of season?

My husband company and his clients (both very large corporations) are ordering company wide shutdowns. Employees are going to be working from home. Then you hear about the cancellation of music festivals etc. Then I also hear that there’s nothing to worry about, just need to wash hands a lot.

I honestly wonder if it’s smart to send my kid to practice, much less go to another comp. I can’t figure out if some are dramatically overreacting or if we are under reacting.

We are paying attention to the developments, but I don't have any unique insight. I don't know if the remaining events (Worlds, Summit) will continue normally, with some restrictions (no audience), or get cancelled.

We will do the usual things (try to disinfect as best we can, encourage good sanitation, etc.) but we don't know any more than anyone else does at this point.

 

[Atxmom]

Bluecat....hypothetical situation under normal conditions for tryouts, if a CA athlete (who has been on several CA teams) was injured during eval period how would that be handled?

For example, if someone had a broken ankle and could not tumble but several coaches were familiar with their skill set would you go ahead and place them on a team contingent on them getting skills back or would you have them wait until they could complete the evaluation?

 

[BlueCat]

Bluecat....hypothetical situation under normal conditions for tryouts, if a CA athlete (who has been on several CA teams) was injured during eval period how would that be handled?

For example, if someone had a broken ankle and could not tumble but several coaches were familiar with their skill set would you go ahead and place them on a team contingent on them getting skills back or would you have them wait until they could complete the evaluation?

It isn't an ideal situation, and it would be handled case by case. In general, though, we tentatively place the athlete on the team we assume they would have made otherwise. When they are back in full form, we let them stay on that team unless they are a mismatch at that point. We would try to have pretty open and honest discussion with athlete and family throughout.

 

[UCFKnights07]

Whats your opinions on the possibilities of worlds being pushed back? Ive heard rumors that they might now try and hold it late this year.
Realistic? Pointless? Or do you think there is a better way to save the season. Or to just move on.

 

[BlueCat]

Whats your opinions on the possibilities of worlds being pushed back? Ive heard rumors that they might now try and hold it late this year.
Realistic? Pointless? Or do you think there is a better way to save the season. Or to just move on.

I don't know the answer. I don't think USASF really has a choice but to try to salvage Worlds. As the shutdown continues further, I don't see how Worlds is realistic for us, however. It is too soon to write the possibility off completely, but we are getting close to that point.

 

[cheermomforever]

When are Wildcats going to be shown in AGT?