All-Star Cheersport 2013 Sportsmanship

[WCMAN]

My CP and her good friend from Brandon Allstars ...

 

[blunchin]

I accidently ran into 2 girls and got the comment "they really do think they run this place" i even apologized for running into to them.

When you're at a big gym, people really do judge you over the stupidiest things. A lady even COMPLAINED to my mom that one of our teams was SOOOOOOOO rude because we PURPOSELY competed at cheersport to scare her daughters team....................................................................................................................................................................................yes we brought 24 teams to cheersport to scare ONE team............

like last year a certain gym that told my team "you all still did great" after we got 10th place, had some parents this year be really snotty to my old gym. I'm just saying don't judge a gym by a group of parents or what you THINK someone is saying. Just because someone gives your team a dirty look doesnt mean they think you cheated or bribed the judges.

big programs have feelings too! people forget that..

 

[NJ Coach]

big programs have feelings too! people forget that..

and as I told you sunday night, your kids could not have been more gracious at awards.

Overall, we had a great experience with sportsmanship. Shout out to the SOT J2 moms, sweet ladies!

 

[catlady]

Well since I'm the only one talking about sandbagging I should probably clarify... My kids aren't new to this. My 12 y/o is in her 7th season, my 14 y/o is in his fourth. They're also very knowledgeable about the sport. It's not like I pointed it out.

I actually wasn't directing this toward you and I'm truly sorry and apologize if you took it that way. Currently there are several parents referring to sandbagging, biased judging, and confusing scoring at Cheersport on several threads. I, personally, feel it serves no purpose other than to minimize a win or a loss that all of these kids/teams work extremely hard for.

A level one mom from our gym shared your sentiment as to why level one crossovers needed to throw their backtucks in the warm up area. She said it served no purpose other than to intimidate the other teams. I will agree with the two of you on that issue. As long as they are going to allow multi level crossovers, they should be limited to throwing the level skill they are going to be competing in the warm up room. I think this is an issue gym owners and coaches need to discuss with the EP's.

 

[12stepCheermom]

I actually wasn't directing this toward you and I'm truly sorry and apologize if you took it that way. Currently there are several parents referring to sandbagging, biased judging, and confusing scoring at Cheersport on several threads. I, personally, feel it serves no purpose other than to minimize a win or a loss that all of these kids/teams work extremely hard for.

A level one mom from our gym shared your sentiment as to why level one crossovers needed to throw their backtucks in the warm up area. She said it served no purpose other than to intimidate the other teams. I will agree with the two of you on that issue. As long as they are going to allow multi level crossovers, they should be limited to throwing the level skill they are going to be competing in the warm up room. I think this is an issue gym owners and coaches need to discuss with the EP's.

I definitely think the coaches should limit their warm up tumbling if only for muscle memory. Allowing them to warm up skills above the level they're about to compete is not wise. These kids were level 5, they're used to level 5 and in the case of the one team...they didn't win (I'm sure) because they did throw an illegal pass. They connected two punch fronts which is legal at 5 but illegal at 3. If you're warming it up, you should warm up what you need to throw in the routine, not what you CAN throw.

I know last year my daughter filled in for an injury on a level 2 team one practice before competition (she was level 4). The most worried I was about her was the toe touch PAUSE back handspring. She hasn't paused between those skills in a year and if she connected it = safety deduction = last place. I was scared to death she wouldn't pause. So was she.

Aside from the intimidation thing, it's just not smart to practice something that can get you (essentially) DQ'd.

That happened at a beach competition two years ago where a whole team dropped a level (we'd competed against them at level four twice in the season where they were competitive but they dropped to level 3 for this competition and went against a different one if our teams)... You could tell last pass remembered in mid-air to pull their knees and tuck rather than layout but it was clearly an OMG moment for both of those boys who had been throwing that pass as a layout all season. They looked like deer in headlights when they landed.

 

[newcheerdad]

FWIW, we don't go to Cheersport (too far), but in terms of "sandbagging", I have a somewhat different view of the subject this year now that we dropped some of our gym's down a level during the season. We have a few kids that can throw tumbling at a higher level than the team they're on. (and sometimes throw that tumbling on teams that they crossover on) But there were decisions made during the season that it was in the best interest of the entire team - not just the few top performers - to drop a level.

Has it worked out? For the most part. The teams in question are far more competitive now than they were earlier in the year. But I would hope that if one of these kids happens to throw a higher-level tumbling pass in warmups that it's not interpreted as some kind of intimidation tactic. I can pretty much guarantee you that it isn't.

Look, it's one thing if an entire team is competitive in one division and then suddenly drops down a level for a single major competition. I can see where people might be frustrated by that. But I've learned this year that not every instance of "sandbagging" is what it seems.

 

[stuntjumptumble]

I accidently ran into 2 girls and got the comment "they really do think they run this place" i even apologized for running into to them.

When you're at a big gym, people really do judge you over the stupidiest things. A lady even COMPLAINED to my mom that one of our teams was SOOOOOOOO rude because we PURPOSELY competed at cheersport to scare her daughters team....................................................................................................................................................................................yes we brought 24 teams to cheersport to scare ONE team............

like last year a certain gym that told my team "you all still did great" after we got 10th place, had some parents this year be really snotty to my old gym. I'm just saying don't judge a gym by a group of parents or what you THINK someone is saying. Just because someone gives your team a dirty look doesnt mean they think you cheated or bribed the judges.

THIS. It's like those of us at big gyms are open to so much more criticism. When I first moved to my gym, one of my friends said "oh but they're all snobby and have no sportsmanship" which is not true! Being at a big gym doesn't mean any of that....so annoying

 

[allstarmama]

I was so impressed at the sportsmanship at Cheersport. This was my team's first year ever going to compete so as a small gym we only had myself, the other coach, and some loyal parents who made the trip to stand in front and cheer for us. After making friends in the warm up room on day one, day two one of their team moms got ALL of their fans to come cheer for us so we had a full crowd. It was simply amazing!

Shout out to Full House All Stars <3

Full House deserves the shout out. My CP is new to Full House and is on their Coed4. This attitude starts at the top...the owners and coaches practice what they preach! Unfortunately, my CP has been injured (distal tibia fracture) since December and only competed once with her team before her injury. I cannot tell you how amazing the coaches and team have been to her. I've never experienced anything like it. Much to CP's dismay we opted not to travel to Atlanta for Cheersport because of the expense. She was absolutely devastated that she wouldn't be there to support her team. Her coaches vowed to make her feel like she was there and boy did they ever. On Saturday I opened my Facebook to find a photo of her stunt group sitting in a circle, all you could see were their sneakers. They had each written her name on the inside of their shoes. The trend continued and on Sunday I opened it up to find a photo of the entire team with outstretched wrists...her name written on each and every one. As we watched the team step onto the floor numerous kids were holding their arms up pointing to their wrists as if to say, "You are here with us!" Incredible! She received calls and face times throughout the weekend. One of her coaches had promised to face time her when her team was ready to perform so she could "be there" with them. Knowing how crazy it can get around warmup/performance time I kind of prepped her as she sat there waiting for the phone to ring. I told her it may be crazy and they might not be able to call. To my surprise the phone rang right on time both days. It amazed me that the coaches and kids could be at the largest competition of the season and doing great to boot could be selfless enough to not get caught up and keep her in their thoughts as much as they did. I have learned a valuable lesson with this gym switch...the sport and the experience is about so much more than winning. Winning is great, in the past she went to the gym, worked her butt off and most of the time won...it felt good but I can honestly say it felt nothing like what it has felt like to be a part of this gym/team. I'd love to see more gyms get props for this rather than the number of banners that hang on their walls!

 

[quitthedrama]

allstarmama - What a great story! We have competed at the same comps as Full House for years and their kids and parents are always great and I have heard so many positive things about their owners! Hope your CP recovers quickly and is back on the mat soon!

 

[Ashley]

I was so impressed at the sportsmanship at Cheersport. This was my team's first year ever going to compete so as a small gym we only had myself, the other coach, and some loyal parents who made the trip to stand in front and cheer for us. After making friends in the warm up room on day one, day two one of their team moms got ALL of their fans to come cheer for us so we had a full crowd. It was simply amazing!

Shout out to Full House All Stars <3

That's my gym, I'll pass your shout out on to them!

 

[cheermomforever]

I was very pleased with the sportsmanship, however, I know there are incidents out there. I hate to say it but, I think the kids are better at letting things roll off their shoulders than the parents with scoring. The kids are fine until they hear their parents talk about "confusing scoring", "biased judges", "sandbagging", etc. I know a few of our parents made comments in our parent room about a gym who has "sandbagged" a Jr. lvl 2 team for the past few years. I hope it was not our gym, our owners would be very upset along with the 99.5% of parents. What some parents have decided is "sandbagging", is actually an allowance so small gyms can build teams from a small number of kids. Agree or disagree, it is not illegal. Cp is at a large gym and often it is new parents that don't understand the logic of the rules. My feelings are, until they change the rules it doesn't help your child or their team to harp about it. The rules on team tumbling and ages changed slightly last year to help accomodate some of the issues people had concerning "sandbagging".

If you noticed a particular gym that had horrible sportsmanship, I would email the owner, I know ours would want the opportunity to address the issue.

Unfortunately Sandbagging is not illegal and we have been told this by a coach who we knew their team did it. As for sportmanship, it happens at all comps- at 1 comp recently a team who was competing after us was in vip line and blocked us from getting to the stage area to watch our team. Not one parent was at the front when they music started, the kids were freaking out along with our coach who competes on the team. We screamed can you please move so we can watch our kids and they looked like we were crazy for asking! Sometimes it is the parents who are in the wrong.

 

[cheermomforever]

FWIW, we don't go to Cheersport (too far), but in terms of "sandbagging", I have a somewhat different view of the subject this year now that we dropped some of our gym's down a level during the season. We have a few kids that can throw tumbling at a higher level than the team they're on. (and sometimes throw that tumbling on teams that they crossover on) But there were decisions made during the season that it was in the best interest of the entire team - not just the few top performers - to drop a level.

Has it worked out? For the most part. The teams in question are far more competitive now than they were earlier in the year. But I would hope that if one of these kids happens to throw a higher-level tumbling pass in warmups that it's not interpreted as some kind of intimidation tactic. I can pretty much guarantee you that it isn't.

Look, it's one thing if an entire team is competitive in one division and then suddenly drops down a level for a single major competition. I can see where people might be frustrated by that. But I've learned this year that not every instance of "sandbagging" is what it seems.

Sandbagging to me is winning level 5 and then competing level 2, which we witnessed. I think that should of been addressed more so than not wearing Uggs at comps!

 

[quietmom]

i have never experienced negativity from athletes at comps, only parents. which i think is very unfortunate because it reflects upon the gym. every comp we are at with this one gym, the parents are so freaking nasty i am to the point now that i hate sitting near them.

That makes me so sad because kids learn from their parents :(

 

[Cheerforme]

That makes me so sad because kids learn from their parents :(

Not sure this fits here - but yesterday at the BATC I witnessed a real"Dance Mom" moment between two moms from the same gym! Right out in the hall between team rooms, these moms started a heated conversation that escalated to hitting and three adults had to pull them apart. I can only imaging what message this is sending to the kids with regard to sprotsmanship, or even human decent behavior. I will NEVER look at that team the same way again though I hope this was an isolated thing for them.

 

[12stepCheermom]

Not sure this fits here - but yesterday at the BATC I witnessed a real"Dance Mom" moment between two moms from the same gym! Right out in the hall between team rooms, these moms started a heated conversation that escalated to hitting and three adults had to pull them apart. I can only imaging what message this is sending to the kids with regard to sprotsmanship, or even human decent behavior. I will NEVER look at that team the same way again though I hope this was an isolated thing for them.

Wow!