All-Star Competing At Too High Of A Level

[Mamarazzi]

Level 4.2 1/2 with three janky fulls

I love that the adjective "janky" is totally official now! They should have used it in the USASF Rules change stuff instead of "really bad."

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

I love that the adjective "janky" is totally official now! They should have used it in the USASF Rules change stuff instead of "really bad."

LOL...

"really bad" OMFG I had forgotten about that. My 8 year old could have come up with a better descriptor. Do they not own a thesaurus over at headquarters? We should tag the rules guy and see who came up with that one...

 

[Mamarazzi]

LOL...

"really bad" OMFG I had forgotten about that. My 8 year old could have come up with a better descriptor. Do they not own a thesaurus over at headquarters? We should tag the rules guy and see who came up with that one...

I think we should start an official "Cheersaurus!" We can add janky, legit, and nasty! We'll tag The Rules Guy there so they can refer to it as needed ;)

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

I think we should start an official "Cheersaurus!" We can add janky, legit, and nasty! We'll tag The Rules Guy there so they can refer to it as needed ;)

Could you imagine the reaction on the Fierce Board when everyone opened up their 2012-2013 rules guide and janky, legit,nasty, etc. is the verbiage they decided to use? OMG...

 

[allstarLoVEcheer]

Yes, I have brought it up to owner and suggested to go maybe level 2 (since they are senior, level one is hard for their egos :p) but all the owner said was they would get "creamed". I believe that the owner is competing higher so we don't lose our athletes since we are a small gym, like you stated. But being a younger coach I don't want to approach the situation in an immature manner (argue with the owner), but I still want what is best for my athletes.

No one should be ashamed of being level 1, everyone has to start somewhere. There are a ton of amazing senior level 1 teams out there. CA Vegas has one this season and they are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen and are all proud to be level 1 athletes. I would take clean level one skills with good technique over janky level three skills any day.

 

[CGAcheer]

People enjoy winning, whether its level 5 or level 1. You are going to lose more kids by being a hot mess at level 3, gotta build up your program from the bottom.

 

[Mamarazzi]

Could you imagine the reaction on the Fierce Board when everyone opened up their 2012-2013 rules guide and janky, legit,nasty, etc. is the verbiage they decided to use? OMG...

Still beats "really bad," in my book.

 

[icheer8796]

same thing happened at my gym, but with level 4. only a few girls actually had the L4 tumbling skills so we went down to level 3. it's better to be a cleaner lower level team then a hot mess sloppy higher level. being senior level 1 or 2 is nothing to be ashamed of. you can still have an awesome, cute, and creative routine.

 

[WisconsinIsFierce]

Level 4s are really teams with level 5 skills, level 3 have level 4s....it just depends. Like this weekend we are competing at a level 4 which we can do the skills about half the time so to me it's not worth struggling like none other to be a decent level 4 vs. a rocking level 3. As long as you're still challenging the team, you should put them where they will be most successful (to a degree). You can always bump them up later if needed. :)

 

[in10sityNY]

honestly, the best thing we ever did was take a step back and level our teams. When we started we though we would lose the few higher level kids we had if we held them back to the level of the team as a whole. So our first 2 years, our highest level Senior team competed either level 4 or level 5. We did not have full team skills and although we had potential, we didn't progress as a gym because we were always concentrating on trying to get a kick double or get more fulls to hit the scoresheet rather than perfecting the basics. Our 3rd year we made an "extreme" team and it was level 3 but you had to have every level 3 tumbling skill (punch front, r/o bhs tuck, jump to 2 bhs, r/o tuck, aerial). We promised to take them to NCA Dallas and that we would get crop top uniforms (we always had full length) and that each kid had to commit to the team 100%. We actually even conduct an interview for this team so we know that the kids are hard-working, commited kids. (we had a huge problem with commitment in years past). We only had 16 girls that year but we did really well for our level. Everyone loved our full team aerials. The kids kind of freaked out at Dallas LOL but they did great everywhere else. And so started our policy of perfection before progression. We implement this in tumbling, stunting, EVERYTHING. And 3 short years later we went from 4 teams to 9 teams (all different levels). We have Levels 1-6 and even attended worlds last year in the international open coed level 5! Our "Extreme" team is still level 4 but we are hoping for next year to bring them Level 5 or Restricted 5. This was the best thing we ever did and I reccomend just having a heart-to-heart with your kids. Explain to them they should be proud of what they put on the floor. And actually be able to be competitive in their division. You may lose a couple (we lost 2 or 3) but those are the ones that are usually unwilling to go back to basics and whos attitudes you don't want anyway. Show them a video of one of the best sr 2 teams you can think of. I reccomend Sparks or Pro Athletics Large Sr 2 from 10-11. They were GREAT last year. They will be amazed at how impressive a level 2 team can look and be excited to be a GREAT level 2 instead of a very weak level 3. I think if your owner is on board, the kids will be all for it. It's all in the presentation of it. Good Luck and I wish you an amazing season!!!

 

[Koral]

No one should be ashamed of being level 1, everyone has to start somewhere. There are a ton of amazing senior level 1 teams out there. CA Vegas has one this season and they are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen and are all proud to be level 1 athletes. I would take clean level one skills with good technique over janky level three skills any day.

Yah I totally agree with what you're saying and there are no senior 1 teams here either so we could still get the same "glory of winning".

 

[Koral]

As coach, you should put your foot down, even if you are young. No one wants to go on stage looking like a fool and I'm sure the athletes will feel a lot better successfully completing stunts. I don't understand how they'll get creamed at a level they'll be better suited for.

yah I don't understand the "creamed" part as the owner said, but talked to him about it and brought up so many points from this thread. Unfortunately the team I coach isn't going level 1 they're going level 2, but hey it's a start right? lol. Oh I totally agree with the "looking like a fool" part I as a coach would look like a fool as well. No one likes to look at a team and ask what level are? and What is their coach thinking! lol. I hope they'll understand and that'll build their confidence when they start hitting stunts again :)

 

[Koral]

honestly, the best thing we ever did was take a step back and level our teams. When we started we though we would lose the few higher level kids we had if we held them back to the level of the team as a whole. So our first 2 years, our highest level Senior team competed either level 4 or level 5. We did not have full team skills and although we had potential, we didn't progress as a gym because we were always concentrating on trying to get a kick double or get more fulls to hit the scoresheet rather than perfecting the basics. Our 3rd year we made an "extreme" team and it was level 3 but you had to have every level 3 tumbling skill (punch front, r/o bhs tuck, jump to 2 bhs, r/o tuck, aerial). We promised to take them to NCA Dallas and that we would get crop top uniforms (we always had full length) and that each kid had to commit to the team 100%. We actually even conduct an interview for this team so we know that the kids are hard-working, commited kids. (we had a huge problem with commitment in years past). We only had 16 girls that year but we did really well for our level. Everyone loved our full team aerials. The kids kind of freaked out at Dallas LOL but they did great everywhere else. And so started our policy of perfection before progression. We implement this in tumbling, stunting, EVERYTHING. And 3 short years later we went from 4 teams to 9 teams (all different levels). We have Levels 1-6 and even attended worlds last year in the international open coed level 5! Our "Extreme" team is still level 4 but we are hoping for next year to bring them Level 5 or Restricted 5. This was the best thing we ever did and I reccomend just having a heart-to-heart with your kids. Explain to them they should be proud of what they put on the floor. And actually be able to be competitive in their division. You may lose a couple (we lost 2 or 3) but those are the ones that are usually unwilling to go back to basics and whos attitudes you don't want anyway. Show them a video of one of the best sr 2 teams you can think of. I reccomend Sparks or Pro Athletics Large Sr 2 from 10-11. They were GREAT last year. They will be amazed at how impressive a level 2 team can look and be excited to be a GREAT level 2 instead of a very weak level 3. I think if your owner is on board, the kids will be all for it. It's all in the presentation of it. Good Luck and I wish you an amazing season!!!

well said thank you! :)

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Still beats "really bad," in my book.

I am still curious why "poorly executed" wasn't chosen. Hmmm....

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

talked to him about it and brought up so many points from this thread. Unfortunately the team I coach isn't going level 1 they're going level 2, but hey it's a start right? lol.

Congrats! Actually having teams to compete against should be a great motivator for them too!