All-Star Communities Without A L5 Team

[King]

But the quandary is what do you do with that handful of true level 5 athletes while you wait for a dozen or so more kids to catch up? How do you keep them from getting discouraged and moving on. If a gym's highest level team is L4 and that team is full of athletes who aren't going anywhere and not necessarily pushing for L5 skills there really isn't room for advancing kids to even hit that level. It's the cheer equivalent of the glass ceiling. It's really a challenge for small gyms.


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It is and it isn't a bad thing. Once a gym starts having a level 5 team there always seems to be this pressure then that they HAVE to have a level 5 team. The fact that the gyms in the area know they don't have a level 5 competitive team is good because they recognize it would not be successful for them (remember success != winning).

Just realized I did '!=' which means 'does not equal' in programming. Too much programming lately.

 

[kristenthegreat]

It is and it isn't a bad thing. Once a gym starts having a level 5 team there always seems to be this pressure then that they HAVE to have a level 5 team. The fact that the gyms in the area know they don't have a level 5 competitive team is good because they recognize it would not be successful for them (remember success != winning).

Just realized I did '!=' which means 'does not equal' in programming. Too much programming lately.

The scary thing is that from my brief adventures in programming, I totally caught that.

 

[cheerKT]

I actually applaud gyms for NOT fielding them if they do not have a ton of true L5 kids.

Everyone wants the potential financial and PR draw of having a Level 5.

It's easy to slap those two "barely have my full" L5 kids on a team of layouts and call it a 5 team.

It takes a lot more time and patience to let your L4 athletes develop at L4 until they are more well-rounded.

I agree. This is the challenge in the area the OP is referring to. ACX has a gym in that area that's been around a while. They have yet to produce a level 5 team from that area but are getting close. They started out with a decent senior 3 team, progressed to a good senior 3, then went level 4 and have been doing VERY well there. (won NCA and top 3 at Summit with mistakes) I know the gym owner has mentioned many times he has set the plan in motion to have a level 5 by 2015. He set this goal several seasons back. I know there are girls on the team with level 5 skills, but he doesn't want to enter as one of those "barely" level 5 teams that people make fun of. I'm sure it's hard for those girls who will graduate with level 5 skills never getting to compete them, but they can't be too mad since their level 4 kicked so much butt. And no one really leaves to go elsewhere since this is (arguably) the best training/most competitive gym in the area. It really is a tough challenge facing small gyms when it comes to this.

 

[CheerBank]

I wish more gyms would field an R5 rather than jump right to the jank-chasing-a-Worlds-bid-5. It would give kids the level 5 experience, a chance to work the kinks out of their tumbling and stunts while utilizing those hard earned level 5 skills, and to see if they are really ready to take it to the next level. Imho it would be a lot easier for a gym to keep a team as Restricted for several seasons and grow and advance them together than to have an unsuccessful Level 5 and then have to think about taking a step back to a Restricted or even a Level 4.

 

[SmileCat]

I have the opposite issue... Pinellas county (clearwater, FL area) has 3 small coed 5 teams plus a medium all girl.. Plus Brandon which isn't too far depending where you're coming from.

 

[FierceIsTheName]

The closest level 5 gym to me is Connect Allstars, then South Elite, then Natural Venom. Connect is at least an hour away (considering how bad bellevue traffic is...). most kids around here just work their butts off in privates then go to CAS/SE/NV if they can.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I wish more gyms would field an R5 rather than jump right to the jank-chasing-a-Worlds-bid-5. It would give kids the level 5 experience, a chance to work the kinks out of their tumbling and stunts while utilizing those hard earned level 5 skills, and to see if they are really ready to take it to the next level. Imho it would be a lot easier for a gym to keep a team as Restricted for several seasons and grow and advance them together than to have an unsuccessful Level 5 and then have to think about taking a step back to a Restricted or even a Level 4.

Yes.

I think people often forget when forming teams that R5 exists.

It exists to give kids a place to "test run" being L5 for a year or so before jumping into a Worlds team.

Said it before, but not every kid with a full or double is ready for Worlds.

I mean, how often have we looked at a team in Worlds prelims and thought "JESUS BE A RESTRICTED 5!"

Nothing wrong with spending a year or 2 at R5 before making the jump.

 

[OARoyalsbiggestfan]

I live in Jacksonville, FL and back in the day there were two big gyms that fielded multiple level 5 teams, American Allstars and Florida Elite. Both gyms are no longer and now there are a bunch of smaller gyms throughout Jax with a few larger gyms who hold their own (Infinity, 1st Class, and Zone). Even with 1million plus people in Jax there still isn't one gym though with a true level 5 team now. Infinity and 1st Class both fielded a R5 last season but neither had a true L5. Jax is overloaded with talent but we have way to many gyms so the talent is spread out.


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Infinity actually fielded a Med Coed 5 that received a Partial Paid bid to Worlds this past season and I believe they will have one again this season. Coach Terry is an amazing coach.

 

[Ems]

My community is commonly referred to as "The Boonies" of California cheer. I live out towards the coast of California, and the closest "big" gym we have is Cali Livermore and now PCM Vacaville. These are both across the bay from me, and while GoogleMaps says around an hour and a half to two hours for the drive, bay area traffic can easily double that time.

For a lot of cheer families, its too far. My county has one prominent gym, and the highest team is ss level 3. There is enough interest to field several very large rec programs, large high school teams, and several low level (we're talking youth and junior 1 here) gyms, and they all tend to be coached by moms/"I cheered in high school once so I know..." type coaches. There are also several gymnastics gyms with decently high level athletes. However, level 5 is a long ways off for us. In other words, there are a lot of level one, two, and three cheerleaders here, and that's about where it caps off. Everyone else goes to Cali. Having a tuck is a big deal here, let alone a full. Multiple athletes? Forget it.

We have a relatively small California State University here, Sonoma State. From recent Facebook posts, I'm gathering that they're receiving help from aforementioned level 3 gym. Progress, I guess.

My best guess is that cheerleading just isn't taken very seriously around here. No hate at all, because I've been involved with this community for my entire life and never passed the bare minimum of level 4 (if that). I would just love to see some progress!

As someone in the same county, I second this entire post, especially the parts I bolded. Also to add, if your team has solid extended libs (whether it's pop warner or college) that is also a big deal. I don't think I have ever seen a full in this county.
We also have a junior college, but the coaches only have pop-warner experience (because peewees to college is the natural step, right?) and they're mainly dance oriented. But then again, they don't have much to feed into the program, skill-wise. So many of the youth teams and high school teams are coached by "I cheered in high school" moms, who cheered in the same program 20+ years ago, so everyone is just starting off on a bad foot. So unfortunately, until we see good coaching starting at younger levels, getting kids into tumbling and teaching proper technique, I don't see much hope for our county.

 

[cheergirl09]

Infinity actually fielded a Med Coed 5 that received a Partial Paid bid to Worlds this past season and I believe they will have one again this season. Coach Terry is an amazing coach.

That team competed R5 all season with the exception of one or two competitions. I agree though Terry is an amazing coach. The owner of Infinity was actually my first coach when I started in pop warner so I have nothing but respect for that entire program!


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[BowsnBling]

As someone in the same county, I second this entire post, especially the parts I bolded. Also to add, if your team has solid extended libs (whether it's pop warner or college) that is also a big deal. I don't think I have ever seen a full in this county.
We also have a junior college, but the coaches only have pop-warner experience (because peewees to college is the natural step, right?) and they're mainly dance oriented. But then again, they don't have much to feed into the program, skill-wise. So many of the youth teams and high school teams are coached by "I cheered in high school" moms, who cheered in the same program 20+ years ago, so everyone is just starting off on a bad foot. So unfortunately, until we see good coaching starting at younger levels, getting kids into tumbling and teaching proper technique, I don't see much hope for our county.

I have seen multiple fulls in Sonoma County , I coached them all. =) I do agree with you though that at this point the 'premier' gym in your area should have something higher then level 3. Hope things change for you guys!

 

[AndyT_T]

According to the Wiki North Dakota has no cheer gyms at all..

Is there a level 5 team in the Minneapolis area?

 

[TheVipersMom]

I think Pinnacle had a world team in 2009 and I think Stars Vipers (in Schertz, but close enough?) has a level five team, but I don't know if they're a true level five.



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I'm not sure about Pinnacle having a worlds team in 2009...

Stars Vipers has had restricted 5s previously. We had one last year and they were very competitive in the R5 division (2nd at NCA, 1st at UCA) beating large gyms. I know we want a worlds team and there has been talk of that but we are not going to embarrass ourselves. We have doubles and stuff and I feel like they would be a worlds team at most places but our gym is not allowing it unless they feel like they were going to make it to finals or something. I was coming here to say what @SheCheers said as it baffles me that Dallas and Houston have a million worlds teams and we have like none.

I know texas wolverine Allstars had a 5 last season, I don't think they were restricted but should have been. I don't even think they got their hands on any worlds bids although I'm not sure if they tried. Cheer-riffic Falcons had a mediocre r5 team but not sure what success if any they had last season but they have some seriously talented athletes on that team that could help us make a worlds 5 though lol

I feel like the problem with Vipers is we are northeast SA, and for most of SA we would be a pain to get to. I think a few people from the other gyms would definitely make the drive if they knew we would have a worlds team and not a restricted team but for others I see it's just not possible. The talent is here, I feel like personally we have the resources to put a good level 5 team together but we are not in a good location for this since we are outside SA.. On the opposite side of where these level 5 cheerleaders are.


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[SheCheers]

@Kris10boo Now that I think about it, Pinnacle did have their level 6 team, the Pineapples, for a couple of seasons, but i don't think they went to worlds...maybe that is what the OP is referring to?


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[luv2cheer92]

@Kris10boo Now that I think about it, Pinnacle did have their level 6 team, the Pineapples, for a couple of seasons, but i don't think they went to worlds...maybe that is what the OP is referring to?


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Through a quick search in the Worlds VOD there was a Pinnacle Cheer Alphas in 2010 and a Pinnacle Cheer Wolf Pack in IOC5 in 2009. Now I have absolutely no idea if this is the same Pinnacle, it could be a completely different gym.