- Feb 4, 2010
- 482
- 592
The extra small division with some extra rules, didnt bother anyone or how any other mega gym placed in other divisions. What it did bother is the mega gym who see an easy opportunity to put another trophy on the wall in what they consider an easy division.....
I recall the XS divisions (with Restrictions) bothering a lot of people who believed the "World Champion" label should be for the best-of-the-best, and not for divisions that bar the majority of gyms from even participating. If, say, gymnastics created a new division for Simone Biles because they expected her to win all the gold medals, and then let all the other gymnasts compete for a separate "World Champion" title, it would feel ridiculous wouldn't it?
Also, team sizes have been trending in the smaller direction for years, so the XS divisions filled a need for gyms of any size--- even Mega gyms who may have "leftovers" who don't fit on their Medium Level 6 teams. So the restrictions were lifted, and the XS divisions at Worlds became much more competitive and better quality (the first year was rough-- some of the teams making Finals wouldn't have come close without Restrictions). And no, Mega gyms aren't dominating XS. No mega gym's main team is XS. Pacific Coast Magic won XS last season and they're certainly not a mega gym. They're just a medium-sized regular gym, as are most of the gyms who do well in the XS divisions.
i also saw the extra small division good for those small gyms business, it would have drawn more kids to possibly try out for the smaller gym, knowing they can compete at the bigger competitions and have the possibility of placing. Not only growing the sport, but also helping grow a small business.
Fair enough. So why aren't the new divisions for Small Gyms only (aka D2)? Instead, a large gym can enter provided they only have 1 Worlds team and sandbag the rest of their athletes into Level 5 and below. So are we helping small struggling gyms, or are we helping bigger gyms hide from their actual divisions?
There are so many divisions now that kids who used to go to Worlds and felt accomplished when they placed 20th out of 70 teams now feel defeated unless they win a globe because there are only 10 teams in their division. So now everyone feels like the deserve to win a globe... So we create bogus divisions that a lot of gyms aren't even allowed to enter in order to create bogus champions. Having 2 Worlds teams means you're splitting the talent between 2 teams which is arguably more difficult than if you only had 1 Worlds team. So that's why these new divisions feel bogus to me.
the problem small gyms have that most big/mega gyms dont, is money... More money to hire the best choreographer, more money to have the best music, etc.
Most cheer music these days sounds similar, practically like video game noises, and there's hardly any time in a packed routine for choreography. Most cheerleading dances look similar regardless of who the choreographer is. The amount of money spent on music/choreo isn't having a drastic impact of competitive results. It's inevitable that some gyms will have more money than others; creating more divisions will never change that. Inner city teams have done just as well at times as teams from wealthy areas. I get that small gyms sometimes feel disadvantaged, but these aren't even Small Gym divisions. It feels like they're breaking down divisions in a more random way.
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