All-Star “Limited” Divisions at Worlds?

[FloridaFlya]

I must have missed a few chapters here…

May somebody please explain to me what the “limited” divisions are exactly and what the requirements are?

I’ve not seen a limited division until Cheer Match just posted for their Global Match and now see on USASFs site that there were bids given in limited divisions. Please help this confused retiree!

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Short answer: Limited division is for teams who are the only Worlds team out of their gym.

Gyms with more than one worlds team are not eligible.

Ex: Florida Top Dog Rain is one I think.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I struggle with this division because I don’t necessarily think being the only team out of your gym puts you at a guaranteed disadvantage compared to other teams? It can but I don’t think it always does.

I also don’t think you are necessarily unsuccessful as a team because you have been in a division with larger programs and haven’t globed or won Worlds. Does that make sense?

There are D1 gym teams in limited or at least on the limited bid that have definitely held their own and against the heavy-hitters in their original division. Ex: top 5s at major comps, globing, etc.

 

[Knowcheering]

The “Limited” divisions are fake secondary divisions that allow you to hide from the division that you’ve been competing in all season and call yourself “World Champion” without having to compete against your division. It’s a slap in the face towards all the teams who will be working towards earning good Worlds placements the honest way, in their actual division, who do not have this option of “taking the easy way out”. I think I’m more appalled by the “Limited” division than anything that has happened regarding cheer rules/regulations in the past 20 years. It’s simply phony.

I MIGHT be more accepting of these divisions if they were for D2 gyms only and clearly labeled as such, but instead, a gym of 300+ athletes is hiding in this division. We might as well make separate divisions for teams with red uniforms and blue uniforms next.

I also have a problem with the name of these divisions- there’s no clear distinction between these lower tier divisions and the actual Worlds divisions. “Limited Coed” just sounds like you have fewer male athletes; in fact, that’s what that term actually used to mean in cheerleading. It should be more clear that these are HEAVILY restricted divisions that allow gyms to literally hide from the actual World Championships. (they also encourage gyms to axe their Level 6 teams so they can get down to one Lvl 6 team only instead of add more!)

I looked at the list of teams entered- mostly D2 gyms I’ve barely seen, but also Cheerville Anarchy. Really??? They are literally one of the favorites in their actual division, so why would they need to hide? At the same time, if they don’t enter this Limited division, the “World title” will be won by “Random XYC Stars” and that feels tragic to me too. Cheer has sunk to a new low with the creation of these divisions.

 

[Knowcheering]

Are the World Cup Suns at an advantage in Medium All Girl because there are multiple Worlds teams at their gym? No, they’re at a disadvantage, because the majority of talent gets placed on other teams in their gym. I would say most gyms with multiple World teams tend to have a “main team” or two, and then their other teams might be more secondary- a natural occurrence when you’re spreading the talent out across several teams.

If these “Limited” divisions must exist, they should be for D2 gyms only. Any larger gym claiming to be “Limited” is literally just hiding from the real competition.

 

[caffeineandglitter]

MORE divisions??? Yikes.

 

[cheermomforever]

Short answer: Limited division is for teams who are the only Worlds team out of their gym.

Gyms with more than one worlds team are not eligible.

Ex: Florida Top Dog Rain is one I think.

They should not be limited……they have been around for years and have succeeded in the reg division…limited should be for small/new gyms.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I’ve included the list below. They definitely include some teams who have held their own in traditional divisions, and one who has won Worlds in a regular division before if my memory serves me correctly:

The Cheerleading Worlds | Bid Recipients

The United States All Star Federation and the International All Star Federation host just two competitions a year-The Cheerleading Worlds™ and The Dance Worlds™. Event producers of premier championships sponsor their best teams to compete at these international competitions. Cheer and dance...

thecheerleadingworlds.net

 

[Tator tots]

The more divisions they add to make everyone feel good, the less this looks like a sport. Just let the teams perform, give everyone participation trophy and call it a day

 

[luv2cheer92]

I’ve included the list below. They definitely include some teams who have held their own in traditional divisions, and one who has won Worlds in a regular division before if my memory serves me correctly:

The Cheerleading Worlds | Bid Recipients

The United States All Star Federation and the International All Star Federation host just two competitions a year-The Cheerleading Worlds™ and The Dance Worlds™. Event producers of premier championships sponsor their best teams to compete at these international competitions. Cheer and dance...

thecheerleadingworlds.net

I see a couple teams that have globed, but I don't see anybody that has won.
But also not sure how accurate that list is, there are teams that are definitely not the only Worlds team at that gym.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I see a couple teams that have globed, but I don't see anybody that has won.
But also not sure how accurate that list is, there are teams that are definitely not the only Worlds team at that gym.

Didn’t anarchy win once? Or am I just imagining it? Maybe it was NCA that I’m thinking about?

 

[luv2cheer92]

Didn’t anarchy win once? Or am I just imagining it? Maybe it was NCA that I’m thinking about?

They've gotten 2nd and 3rd. They have not won NCA either.

 

[Knowcheering]

Didn’t anarchy win once? Or am I just imagining it? Maybe it was NCA that I’m thinking about?

Cheerville Anarchy was 2nd in 2019. They also have a chance to place top 2 again this year, which makes it even more sad that they'd be avoiding their division and entering "Limited" instead. What type of message does this send kids--- join a competitive sport, but then do whatever you can to avoid the competition? Take whatever bogus route possible to a World title instead of trying to work your way up to it? Compare this to Rain Athletics Aqua--- amazing team that has worked hard for years trying to build up towards top 3 at Worlds. THAT is what Worlds is about, it's not about handing everyone a World Champion title like a recreation league.

I can't fully fault Anarchy though, because the rule makers are the ones allowing teams to pick and choose which teams they want to avoid at Worlds (laughable to even think about). Whose bright idea was it to reward teams with a World title for running away from their actual division? I wouldn't mind so much if there was actually something different about these divisions, like "Extra EXTRA small" or something. But the only difference in these divisions is they're used for the purpose of hiding from the division they've been competing in all season.

We don't need "Limited" divisions for small/new gyms either. There's a place for gyms who don't have a Worlds caliber Level 6 team- it's called Level 5.

 

[FloridaFlya]

Doesn’t South Jersey Storm also have Lady Reign? So why would Avalanche be limited?

 

[catlady]

There's actual psychology on

Cheerville Anarchy was 2nd in 2019. They also have a chance to place top 2 again this year, which makes it even more sad that they'd be avoiding their division and entering "Limited" instead. What type of message does this send kids--- join a competitive sport, but then do whatever you can to avoid the competition? Take whatever bogus route possible to a World title instead of trying to work your way up to it? Compare this to Rain Athletics Aqua--- amazing team that has worked hard for years trying to build up towards top 3 at Worlds. THAT is what Worlds is about, it's not about handing everyone a World Champion title like a recreation league.

I can't fully fault Anarchy though, because the rule makers are the ones allowing teams to pick and choose which teams they want to avoid at Worlds (laughable to even think about). Whose bright idea was it to reward teams with a World title for running away from their actual division? I wouldn't mind so much if there was actually something different about these divisions, like "Extra EXTRA small" or something. But the only difference in these divisions is they're used for the purpose of hiding from the division they've been competing in all season.

We don't need "Limited" divisions for small/new gyms either. There's a place for gyms who don't have a Worlds caliber Level 6 team- it's called Level 5.

Devils advocate...
Some of the smallest divisions are what I would consider some of the hardest and most entertaining, and not every gym can field the size or talent. Sr. Lg. Co. had 3 teams last year, Sr. Lg. had 4 teams. L7 Intl Open Sm Co had 5 teams, and L7 Intl Open had 4 teams.

While some consider NT not "World's Worthy," Intl Open NT is one of the most competitive divisions with a total of 72 teams. Understandably, they divided that into A & B divisions to be able to have score integrity. Intl Open NT Coed had 33 teams. Fun fact, NT was almost 28% of the teams that attended World's last year.

While I understand the "everyone gets a trophy" argument, only 5% of the teams went home with rings. Basically, standard bell curve when it comes to "outstanding" ranking and textbook in providing sufficient dopamine to keep athletes motivated, working hard, and returning.

Filling venues to capacity is a huge part of an EP's responsibility to 1) get the venue and 2) keep cost down. Obviously, additional divisions can help provide that avenue. The other option is to go deeper into a few divisions and then parents will question paying for Disney World when their kid's team was in 10th place or lower every competition, and fans will just question how they made it there.

Lastly, it's on gym owners if they're trying to avoid competition, that pretty much screams, "I don't have faith in my product or my athlete, but look, I get a banner on the wall."