All-Star Cheersport 2022

[catlady]

I just remember when my girls did gymnastics for a short time, they could not move up until the perfected BW & FW on both sides, back-handstand extension rolls, etc. The progression was very slow, focused on perfection, and you weren't allowed to skip skills. In Cheer I have seen the opposites, such as kids struggling with back-handsprings working on back-tucks.

That's how our extremely short lived gymnastics experience was. However, gymnastic parent friend said spondylolysis has changed the mentality of a lot of gyms if an athlete isn't inherently shoulder flexible. She said they will continue to work on shoulder flexibility and strength, but won't make that athlete do bwo's and fwo's to prevent lower back fractures.

Level 1 is truly its own beast, I give those athletes a lot of respect.

 

[cachoi]

I've coached at two different gyms who have/had a really strong prep program because of what it now takes to be competitive in level 1. Beginners and kids that only had rec experience were automatically on prep or if you were not a beginner but still did not have all level 1 tumbling consistent with 4/5 stars technique. It was normal to have kids on prep for multiple seasons if their tumbling or stunting skills were not competition ready. A handful of kids were exceptions if their age didn't work with what prep divisions we could make that season, the kid was a tree and travel J1 needed a backspot, they wanted to stay prep to have time for other activities, etc.

I always had a handful of prep kids with back handsprings and even one with a tuck but averaging in the rest of the team's skills and experience, level 1 was our median. I don't know the kids on Shadow personally but it seems hard to believe they have either just all been kicking it on level 1 for 10 years and don't have any other higher level skills to field a different division or even with their percentage of crossovers added to their kids that have no other level to go to still equals out to level 1.

A few seasons ago, my last gym in TN added "limited travel" as an option since we had so many kids who had done prep for 2-3+ years and were bored but at the same time, they were not ready/wanted to do a full travel team and have it take over their entire life like with adding extra practices, re-doing choreography, traveling across the country to chase bids, etc. They have 1-2 out of state comps but nothing requiring air travel or missed days of school. Full travel does 3-4 out of state comps and their entire season's goal is a bid to whatever event in Florida they can get.

 

[Knowcheering]

Most of the kids on Zodiac Allstars Shadow cross over to other higher level teams. Those teams do ok at UK competitions, but definitely don't have that same wow factor as Shadow.

Their level 5 team Pink came second at IASF virtual worlds in September. They put out a decent routine, but one that probably wouldn't globe in a normal year. Interestingly, they were the only UK team to enter virtual Worlds. Most teams were only a couple of weeks into full team practices after covid restrictions on training, particularly for over 18s.

Pink have never been to Worlds. Most of the athletes are on Shadow and with crossover rules they've focused on the Summit.

Thanks for the info. So this Level 1 team is filled with Level 5 kids, I figured that. Anyone who thinks it's remotely fair for a Level 1 team to have to compete against Level 5 kids doing 36 tick tocks in a Level 1 routine, I just don't know what to tell you. I'd classify it as cheating, cheating that they would be less like to get away with if they were from the US and it was more publicized as to how they operate. It's a shame their routine is going viral, because as nice as it was to watch, it's just more incentive to continue forming bogus rosters. Any team that has had to compete against them must feel so disheartened-- not because the team is so good, but because the team is so wrong. They're just taking the easiest road possible to an NCA title.

The ultimate debate is what is "true" level. One gym is going to argue beginner athletes are "true" level one. Another gym is going to argue you aren't "true" level one until you have perfected every skill with near perfect technique (gymnastics mentality).

It's one thing to stay in Level 1 to perfect your skills. It's another to fill a Level 1 team with Level 5 athletes. In gymnastics, once you move up a level (not necessarily with perfect skills, just with a good enough score), you are done with that level. Levels 8s are not allowed to compete severely watered down skills for years in Level 3 just because they feel like it.

Sure, not all Level 5 cheerleaders could do Level 1 skills well even with a lot of practice. But in this case, you can see the obvious advantage of using kids who are more advanced/coordinated/athletic/seasoned/etc in a Level 1 routine.

 

[Keep_Believing]

I get why some people might not like it, but they are following the rules. So, it's not cheating.

 

[Knowcheering]

They may be technically following the rules, but they really are just taking advantage of a lack of rules in cheer. It's up to individual gyms to play fair and do the right thing.

And also, maybe the gym's Level 5 team would be better if the kids weren't wasting so much time on their Level 1 stunts? It really is a disservice to those kids to cross them down to Level 1. I'm not sure what NCA can do to stop teams from doing this though. There's a Jr 1 team at NCA from England that scored through the roof too, so it just seems to be a thing there to blatantly stack and prioritize Level 1.

 

[NJ Coach]

I coached a team that was going to be competing against a half year team at cheersport. The said team was created by an in house tryout of their high level kids already on teams. The purpose of said team was to win an NCA jacket. There was a minor uproar when it all happened, but they were well within the rules. Was I happy about it? Absolutely not. But there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. This happens every year. All over the US. It's not something new. They are a U19 level 1 team. I don't even know how many of them exist. But, having lived this life before, I'm simply going to enjoy the incredible technique that team puts on the floor. It's rare to see cheerleading done so well, no matter the level.