KikiD22
Cheer Parent
- Dec 14, 2009
- 1,231
- 2,529
So, after some healthy debate with my cheer mom friends on this topic, I'm curious to know the thoughts of those on the Fierceboard. I am going to say to start out, however, that I am in no way bashing this team because I am pretty certain that this was an unfortunate language barrier/miscommunication issue. In fact, I feel kind of bad for them, but more on that in a moment.
At UCA Nationals this past weekend, a team took the floor in the Mini 1 division from Colombia with athletes that were clearly not Mini-aged. To quote one of my not-so-subtle cheer mom friends, "That Mini has bigger boobs than me!" While there were probably 3 athletes that could have been Mini-aged, the remainder looked to be in the 12-16 age range. In case you don't believe me, here is a link to the video from Saturday:
Now here is what we've been debating: Whose responsibility would it have been to prevent this from happening? I am assuming this team was disqualified because they were omitted from the Day 1 standings and did not compete during their time slot on Day 2. That's part of why I feel bad for them. I know how expensive this trip was coming from inside the U.S., so I can't even imagine the expense coming from a foreign country and not even getting to compete both days.
Is it the responsibility of the staff/coaches of the team itself and a "too bad, so sad" situation for entering the wrong division? Or, should some of the responsibility fall onto UCA/Varsity for allowing this team to take the floor in what was clearly the wrong division? Are there/should there be checks in place to prevent this from happening? Keep in mind, this is an international team. One person I discussed it with actually compared it to the Bankok "situation" from Worlds last year.
I personally think it's a little of both. I think that when a program enters a competition, it is their responsibility to know all the rules, regulations, etc. In other words, they need to do their homework. However, I also think that it is the responsibility of the EP to help guide and assist programs to a certain extent, especially in this case in which it is the first year UCA is advertising this event as an "International Championship."
So, I'm curious to know the thoughts of the Fierceboard community on this. Again, I'm not blaming anyone here, because I really think it was an unfortunate error. However, if it could happen so obviously though at a prestigious event like UCA, who's to say it couldn't/isn't happening at other events as well? Discuss.
At UCA Nationals this past weekend, a team took the floor in the Mini 1 division from Colombia with athletes that were clearly not Mini-aged. To quote one of my not-so-subtle cheer mom friends, "That Mini has bigger boobs than me!" While there were probably 3 athletes that could have been Mini-aged, the remainder looked to be in the 12-16 age range. In case you don't believe me, here is a link to the video from Saturday:
Now here is what we've been debating: Whose responsibility would it have been to prevent this from happening? I am assuming this team was disqualified because they were omitted from the Day 1 standings and did not compete during their time slot on Day 2. That's part of why I feel bad for them. I know how expensive this trip was coming from inside the U.S., so I can't even imagine the expense coming from a foreign country and not even getting to compete both days.
Is it the responsibility of the staff/coaches of the team itself and a "too bad, so sad" situation for entering the wrong division? Or, should some of the responsibility fall onto UCA/Varsity for allowing this team to take the floor in what was clearly the wrong division? Are there/should there be checks in place to prevent this from happening? Keep in mind, this is an international team. One person I discussed it with actually compared it to the Bankok "situation" from Worlds last year.
I personally think it's a little of both. I think that when a program enters a competition, it is their responsibility to know all the rules, regulations, etc. In other words, they need to do their homework. However, I also think that it is the responsibility of the EP to help guide and assist programs to a certain extent, especially in this case in which it is the first year UCA is advertising this event as an "International Championship."
So, I'm curious to know the thoughts of the Fierceboard community on this. Again, I'm not blaming anyone here, because I really think it was an unfortunate error. However, if it could happen so obviously though at a prestigious event like UCA, who's to say it couldn't/isn't happening at other events as well? Discuss.
