College College Vs. Competitive

[Clauds !]

Is college cheerleading (competitive college cheering and game cheering) better than, less than, or equal to the normal competitive cheering? What are the things you miss from competitive cheering in previous years when you transitioned to college cheering? What about transitioning from high school cheerleading? Is it all worth it? Is it as good as it seems?

 

[cheerforeverever]

Its not so much of better or worse, but just different. You don't have mommy and daddy there anymore to cook your dinners and take care of you when you're sick or hurt. You have to study way more than you'd ever think you were even capable of doing and still have energy mentally and physically for practices. You get to possibly travel further for games and tournaments and have a family before other kids even meet people on the first day of classes freshmen year because you've already been to camp. Depending on the university you are at, games can be in front of thousands or they can be just like cheering for high school games in front of a small crowd. If you dislike cheering for high school games, then (no surprise ) it may be not be appealing to cheer at college football games and you may want to go the all star route. As far as competing for college, it is more similar to high school nationals but at an elevated level in my opinion. It's far less flashy than allstar, but still fun for college kids and the atmosphere (At least for NCA daytona) is kind of like "well we didnt win but oh well lets go chill on the beach!"haha. Definately difficult and exhausting to balance practices with classes and normal life on your own freshmen year, but it can be worth it if you enjoy cheering at games and have a family there for you when you're apart from your blood family. Just have strong time management skills and don't go crazy freshmen year partying or going out! haha :)
I do miss the "fast lane" of allstar cheer however, because there is always so much competition and energy and flash, and also not having to worry about cooking dinner or doing laundry or cleaning my apartment or doing everything on my own. It was nice to have parents that took care of some of that so I could just focus on cheer practice! Didn't require as much of a balancing act..

 

[Mightymouse34]

Like stated above it depends oh where you go. But regardless I think there is no comparison between all-stars, high school and college cheer. I did all three, and nothing has compared to the experience iv gained and them memory's I've had thus far cheering in college. NCA Daytona was told to me to be the most amazing competition you will ever attend by all my all-star coaches. And they were not exaggerating. Even comparing it to worlds i would choose to go to NCA every single time. The commitment is bigger than all-stars and high school, but i feel the rewards u gain from it out weigh all the sacrifices you have to make, especially if your team is competing for a national title come April. That's just the competitive side of it though.

 

[Rusty]

Curious as to why you posed the question placing Competitive Cheer in juxtaposition to College Cheer?

Were you searching for differences, or was this a competitive comparison?

What are the strengths of Competitive Cheer from your perspective?

Collegiate Cheer can be the absolutely best Cheer experience on the planet as an independent adult, age 18+, offering many more experiences beyond Competitive Cheer. As a member of any significant athletic program such as a Conference can increase your activity to include:
Pep-rallies
Alumni events, which could lead to your first professional career post-College
Travel with your new “Cheer family” and all of the good and bad of different personalities
TV coverage of ballgames with some time dedicated to providing the viewing audience a complete perspective of College games including Cheer & Pom on the sidelines for Men and Women’s sports depending upon the school (at some schools the Women’s sports have larger crowds than the Men)
Larger crowds with greater dedication to the Sport
Uniforms & equipment provided
Scholarships to assist with your education
Academic Assistance through tutors & advisors
Competition based upon a single routine, not a Season of routines
National Championship Title, depending upon which of the 27 Divisions in which you compete

INDEPENDENCE and all of the challenges, which occur as you, truly mutate from child to Adult!

In the end, the differences will determine which is the BEST, … for You!

 

[Kentucky Girl]

There are college squads such as Kentucky, Alabama, UCF, Tennessee, Memphis, LSU, Ohio State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, WKU, Kansas, Morehead State, Delaware, Missouri State, West Georgia, Columbus State, Slippery Rock, and Hawaii that take the time out to compete at the UCA College Nationals. However, there's a down side as the squads may have to sacrifice a basketball game in order to travel to Orlando, Florida.
Now squads that compete at the NCA College Nationals don't have to worry about sacrificing any games simply because it takes place after the college basketball season is over.
It's not easy for college squads to cheer at football and basketball games as well as competing at nationals and pep rallies, but for some of them, it's well worth it!

 

[Rusty]

It's just a simple matter of being focused as Athletes, Coaches to accomplish everything for Football & Basketball & the Collegiate Cheer Competition, which is really only one weekend of competition. Seriously, both can be accomplished when a Coach develops daily, monthly and annual goals dedicated to program success.

Looking at your list you must follow the UCA Nationals closely since you left off the top of the list for the "other Kentucky" program with a serious number of National Championship titles University of Louisville at NCA!

Many great schools participate in these competitions, but these semi-finals and finals according to Judge Stephan Underhill do not represent a Title IX (T9) sport. Considering that all other sports you know are composed of a season of competitions leading to a post-season tournament for example the NCAA Basketball championships for Men & Women competitors, do you really believe the current Collegiate Cheer Competition is a National Championship? Or has the concept developed in 1977 by ICF and seen on CBS as a 90 minute Celebrity special focusing on the entertainers and athletes of the day still the correct format with the only alteration being reduced performance times and performing your routine twice in two days?

Coaches will always prepare their athletes for the competition as is determined by the rules, so when will the rules for the NCA & UCA "NATIONAL" Collegiate Cheer Championships change to align with the definition of a sport, or will the title of the "CHAMPIONSHIP" change due to the lack of a competitive season leading to the 2 "PERFORMANCES" by the teams who qualify to attend? Is the current format really more of an art &/or Performance Award? Consider this, currently you have two organizations sponsoring the competitions, UCA & NCA, and they offer approximately 27 different Divisional National Championship titles each for a total of 54 National Championships. How many National Championship titles are offered in Football or Basketball, ice hockey, etc. Generally, you have 1-2 National titles, which are earned through a season of competitions leading to the post-season competition. Therefore, will Stunt replace UCA & NCA Collegiate competitions, or will they add more titles to the current 54 making the title begin to lose even more prestige?

Let’s stay on topic, … will the name of these games change or will the game change?

Ignore for the moment A&T and Stunt since they do not cover ALL of the competitors attending UCA & NCA current championships, in fact very few of the teams from Stunt and none of the athletes from A&T! So what does a season of “TRADITIONAL” or “SIDELINE” Cheer competition potentially look like? Maybe a season of competitions by interested schools, leading to a Conference competition followed by a post-season conference tournament leading to something like the NCAA Basketball tournament with the top 64 teams in the USA competing for the title of National Champion!

Ever wonder why Cheer athletes aren’t respected by other athletes? Start taking a more critical look at what we call a National Championship, it is apparent something must change!

So ask yourself, are the NCA & UCA current Collegiate Cheer Championships really an athletic competition (YES!), … BUT is it a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP or another type of PERFORMANCE ART?

I’m just saying, …

 

[Kentucky Girl]

Good point, Rusty. When I was watching Kentucky's performance from 1980, the routine consisted mainly of cheers, stunts, and pyramids. In addition, the uniforms were very different back then.
Well, things really have changed an awful lot since the 1980 College Nationals as more colleges have jumped on the cheerleading competition bandwagon with their more complex stunts and pyramids as well as their death-defying basket tosses and fabulous tumbling.