All-Star Nca Nationals 2021

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I saw Carrier's post about cheating and have so many questions:

Who?
In what divisions?

Edit: well I guess we'll know when the results change!

Trust me, the internet is undefeated in fishing out which teams retract win posts, etc.

 

[KPep]

Of course that would happen. But what kind of message does that send to the athletes? Winning over everything, by any means possible? That is not how life works.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Color me dense but also:

Say Olivia Orange is injured.

What's stopping me from subbing in a junior aged blonde who looks like her?

Or a young coach who is same color blonde?

 

[CoachTamara]

Color me dense but also:

Say Olivia Orange is injured.

What's stopping me from subbing in a junior aged blonde who looks like her?

Nothing except the internet sleuths and crazy moms from the gym down the street.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Nothing except the internet sleuths and crazy moms from the gym down the street.

Think about it.

Look at how some of those videos are filmed. It's not exactly a close up.

Some of the teams are even wearing masks.

What's stopping Chelsea Coach from Shady Athletics from filling in for the injured base who just happens to resemble her or at least be same height and hair color?

It may not work for Those Teams That Are Super Popular because it takes fanpages 5 min to figure out "That is NOT Cindy Cheerlebrity!"

But other teams, you bet.

 

[Sterling von Shimmer]

Think about it.

Look at how some of those videos are filmed. It's not exactly a close up.

Some of the teams are even wearing masks.

What's stopping Chelsea Coach from Shady Athletics from filling in for the injured base who just happens to resemble her or at least be same height and hair color?

It may not work for Those Teams That Are Super Popular because it takes fanpages 5 min to figure out "That is NOT Cindy Cheerlebrity!"

But other teams, you bet.

Just from dealing with alternates on HS teams, I think it might not be as easy as all that? What are the odds that a girl you need to replace 1) has a physical doppelgänger, 2) who is similarly skilled, and 3) available? You could maybe get two out of three of those, but it’d be tough to get all of them. In my experience, it’s hard enough to find an equally skilled athlete to sub in for an injured one. Either she’s great but is tied up on comp day because she’s going to Worlds that weekend, or totally available but only halfway skilled. I can’t imagine having the added pressure of making sure the sub looked like her predecessor as well.

That’s not to say it doesn’t happen. I’m sure it does. But I think it might be more difficult than we think.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Just from dealing with alternates on HS teams, I think it might not be as easy as all that? What are the odds that a girl you need to replace 1) has a physical doppelgänger, 2) who is similarly skilled, and 3) available? You could maybe get two out of three of those, but it’d be tough to get all of them. In my experience, it’s hard enough to find an equally skilled athlete to sub in for an injured one. Either she’s great but is tied up on comp day because she’s going to Worlds that weekend, or totally available but only halfway skilled. I can’t imagine having the added pressure of making sure the sub looked like her predecessor as well.

That’s not to say it doesn’t happen. I’m sure it does. But I think it might be more difficult than we think.

This is true for schools (heck, I only had 4 max ever) but for a large gym, it's probably not as hard as you think, either.

You may not be able to do it in person, no.

But if you have more than one or 2 Worlds teams and a 2 week filming window, it's not farfetched at all.

Example:

(Disclaimer: I am not accusing anyone I just need a Mega Gym for an example.)

CA Plano has Wild, Panthers, Crew, Ladycats, Swoosh, Cheetahs. See also: super talented J6. If I need a brunette base (who is ever looking specifically at bases?) of average height to illegally fill in on Panthers and film at some point, the possibilities are endless. Particularly if that's all the person does in the routine.

See also: Backspots.

Rarely does one even see a backspot's face. Lady Gaga herself could be backing that stunt and you would have no idea.

See also: coaches. No one knows what every single coach at a program looks like. Suzy who just aged off the Worlds team and coaches Minis could totally fill in on her old team.

 

[Sterling von Shimmer]

This is true for schools (heck, I only had 4 max ever) but for a large gym, it's probably not as hard as you think, either.

You may not be able to do it in person, no.

But if you have more than one or 2 Worlds teams and a 2 week filming window, it's not farfetched at all.

Example:

(Disclaimer: I am not accusing anyone I just need a Mega Gym for an example.)

CA Plano has Wild, Panthers, Crew, Ladycats, Swoosh, Cheetahs. See also: super talented J6. If I need a brunette base (who is ever looking specifically at bases?) of average height to illegally fill in on Panthers and film at some point, the possibilities are endless. Particularly if that's all the person does in the routine.

See also: Backspots.

Rarely does one even see a backspot's face. Lady Gaga herself could be backing that stunt and you would have no idea.

See also: coaches. No one knows what every single coach at a program looks like. Suzy who just aged off the Worlds team and coaches Minis could totally fill in on her old team.

Yeah that’s true. It’s just so mind-blowingly difficult for me to imagine an illegal sub. One time before a comp, the best flyer my program ever had — UCLA bound, all that — dislocated her shoulder. She was fine, but it looked like we’d have to replace our center flyer for a bit. A mom approached me and semi-jokingly asked, “If we had to, could we just toss Lauren (the super talented junior coach who’d just graduated from the team a year before) in her place? Would anyone really know?” And I was like, “...Yes. They would know.”

Looking back I don’t even know if that’s true. I don’t know if anyone would’ve noticed. But it just felt so brazen and wrong.

But yeah, nobody sees a base or a backspot unless they’re cheer-famous like the Panthers redhead. It’d be even more difficult on video with the poor lighting since most gyms aren’t built like stages.

On another note, I am a little curious why NCA is only checking roster info and DL’s until after the comp is over?

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Not sure you could have gotten away with it at the time (I find that if you compete with a lot of the same schools, you've seen your division so many times, seen them at games, etc. so they become familiar-ish to you. They are also not 30-36 person teams. Someone in person will notice. Or at least think "wow that's weird I am pretty sure that kid looks familiar.")

But in COVID season in which you wear a mask and are also on video? You'd have to be literally analyzing frame by frame to catch it.

Or have the look of every single team member memorized.

 

[BlueCat]

Ask and you shall receive.

NCA 2021 Google Doc

Can you make that editable for more people? We need to enter the D2 scores. I put in a bunch, but I am getting cross-eyed.

 

[cheermomforever]

this has probably already happened......just not caught.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Can you make that editable for more people? We need to enter the D2 scores. I put in a bunch, but I am getting cross-eyed.

Yes, I just made it editable for anyone with the link. Sorry, had a crazy busy weekend. I will be working on it some tonight as well.

 

[CLynn]

Some of the members stated it was a team decision because it was really hot and humid that day and there’s no A/c in the gym.

No AC? Wow, I am even more impressed with their athleticism if that is possible. I am sure many don't have AC, but if you are in TX, GA, SC, FL and don't I bow down to you...

Nothing except the internet sleuths and crazy moms from the gym down the street.

Exactly. Would not shock me to hear they were alerted by others and then went through the docs.

 

[Keep_Believing]

@Sterling von Shimmer

NCA does not require an ID. I’m guessing if an ID was asked for it was because there was questioning/a cheating accusation was made.

The only comp. that requires a photo ID is worlds. It’s possible summit does now. I have not been to Summit since my kids were little.

 

[Knowcheering]

It says that "several" teams were caught with illegal people. It's sad that this isn't just one random instance. In the internet age, I don't know why you would even try to cheat, even if you're an unethical person. Some gyms have been heavily affected by Covid and you wonder if they're that desperate for fill-ins, but that's obviously no excuse.

Some teams don't seem to be filming their routines in HD, which should be a requirement for virtual comps. I saw at least a couple videos that were quite blurry and I was wondering what type of ancient phone they could possibly be using that wouldn't even record in 720p. But even with a poor video, you could still get caught because many kids are familiar with kids on other teams or have visited their social media profiles, or they might go to school with kids from other teams, or know kids from their previous gyms. Gym switching is pretty common, so it becomes a small world. And people tend to document their entire lives on the internet, so if a kid fills in on another team, they often tell people about it or post a photo about it (and an ineligible kid might not even know they're ineligible because the age grid changes like every 5 seconds). It really doesn't pay to cheat even if you're a shady person-- the odds of getting caught are pretty good, and also how can you sleep at night with that on your conscious. For what, a trophy?