All-Star Not All Star Related But I Need Thoughts

[twincheermom]

Tomorrow is new judge training so I would say no.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I would say, within the past few years: Dracut, Whitman Hanson, Burlington, Shepherd Hill, Leominster, Bridgewater Raynham, Ipswich, Grafton

^Thats just my opinion, I'm sure other people in MA will have different opinions

I am not from there, but I have heard of Burlington, WH, and Dracut from NCA/UCA.

I believe it was Dracut that came into NCA having never competed there and won their division, right?

 

[quitthedrama]

I am not from there, but I have heard of Burlington, WH, and Dracut from NCA/UCA.

I believe it was Dracut that came into NCA having never competed there and won their division, right?

Won their division and they were also grand champs. Which is huge, especially since Mass doesn't allow practices to start until the 3rd week in August!

"You are only responsible for being honest, not for someone else's reaction to your honesty."

 

[EWalsh1029]

I am not from there, but I have heard of Burlington, WH, and Dracut from NCA/UCA.

I believe it was Dracut that came into NCA having never competed there and won their division, right?

Yes!

Dracuts first year there; won their division & grand champs!

Burlington won NCA I believe in the early 2000's

Whitman Hanson placed 4th this year at NCA & I believe it was their first year attending as wel.

 

[cheerisloving]

In VA, we divide the districts/conferences by school size as well. Not sure about other states, but within those divisions, Coed and All Girl compete against each other. Doesn't always seem fair, but it's the way it's always been. We have some "coed powerhouse" high school teams that win each year, but it hasn't stopped our team from working hard to compete against them.

VA just had an alignment change about 2 years ago (my senior year) and it's success showed. In football we were playing schools with smaller programs like ours, we were winning more. In basketball we were one of the more competitive schools even in the old divisions and shined even more in our new one. Cheer meant we weren't competing against huge schools with crazy tumbling. I still think that VA should adopt an intermediate/advance division because their are a lot of good teams being held back by tumbling which is hard to 'grow' when different parts of the state don't have gyms to practice at.

 

[FamousxMindset]

VA just had an alignment change about 2 years ago (my senior year) and it's success showed. In football we were playing schools with smaller programs like ours, we were winning more. In basketball we were one of the more competitive schools even in the old divisions and shined even more in our new one. Cheer meant we weren't competing against huge schools with crazy tumbling. I still think that VA should adopt an intermediate/advance division because their are a lot of good teams being held back by tumbling which is hard to 'grow' when different parts of the state don't have gyms to practice at.

I'm from VA and I'm completely disagree with the last part lol. Every year in the past programs were building on tumbling, and becoming better in general. The state basically told the weaker teams "don't worry about getting better, you'll still get a trophy in your own B grade division". I've been with programs who went from 15% squad tumbling to 85% squad tumbling without large gyms in their backyard it isn't easy but competitive sports aren't supposed to be. I don't mind the idea of the state adopting a Non-Tumbling division though.

 

[cheerisloving]

I'm from VA and I'm completely disagree with the last part lol. Every year in the past programs were building on tumbling, and becoming better in general. The state basically told the weaker teams "don't worry about getting better, you'll still get a trophy in your own B grade division". I've been with programs who went from 15% squad tumbling to 85% squad tumbling without large gyms in their backyard it isn't easy but competitive sports aren't supposed to be. I don't mind the idea of the state adopting a Non-Tumbling division though.

I've seen teams gain squad tumbling, I guess I think it's going to take forever for some programs to really be competitive. Especially now that squad back handsprings are the minimum, I don't think any team in my area has anything near squad tucks. My gripe with HS cheer in VA is that the state is so different and my end of the state (NoVA) is really just starting a culture where girls know that they can't cheer on Varsity without tumbling, and we are just now starting to see gyms for teams to tumble at. Before, HS were getting girls who had gymnastics backgrounds who decided to cheer in HS or teams closer to some of the more establish gyms to tumble at.

 

[FamousxMindset]

I've seen teams gain squad tumbling, I guess I think it's going to take forever for some programs to really be competitive. Especially now that squad back handsprings are the minimum, I don't think any team in my area has anything near squad tucks. My gripe with HS cheer in VA is that the state is so different and my end of the state (NoVA) is really just starting a culture where girls know that they can't cheer on Varsity without tumbling, and we are just now starting to see gyms for teams to tumble at. Before, HS were getting girls who had gymnastics backgrounds who decided to cheer in HS or teams closer to some of the more establish gyms to tumble at.

My only 'real' gripe would be with inconsistent scoring ESPECIALLY when very simple rubrics are put into place and are completely disregarded by judging panels. I imagine VA cheer becoming extremely competitive in the upcoming years, I started to see so many squads with almost squad tucks, thats a huge jump from where we were say 5 years ago.

 

[Fiercecheermom]

My only 'real' gripe would be with inconsistent scoring ESPECIALLY when very simple rubrics are put into place and are completely disregarded by judging panels. I imagine VA cheer becoming extremely competitive in the upcoming years, I started to see so many squads with almost squad tucks, thats a huge jump from where we were say 5 years ago.

THIS!!!! In the past, the judging has been RIDICULOUS. Coaches are having to go over the score sheets so carefully to make sure that they get the points they DESERVE and then have to fight to get those points added to the score sheet. More than once we have had to refer to video play black LOL. Hopefully with the change in the rubric this year, we will see some positive changes in judging as well this season. There is definitely a big difference between school teams even within the same conferences. Our Varsity team has full squad BHS, 3/4 standing/running tucks/layouts/fulls. It wasn't always this way, but we just happen to be on a "cycle" that our team has a lot of current/past All Stars on the team. Our current coach joined our school 3 years ago and has implemented a plan to make our JV team competitive so that when they move onto our Varsity team they bring technique, spirit, and strength. Most of our JV team have BHS and a few have tucks. I have seen over the past few years that more girls are trying out and being happy to make our JV squad because they are talented as well. I think this is a great way to grow a program and make your Varsity team more competitive each year.

 

[Official OWECheer]

I'm from VA and I'm completely disagree with the last part lol. Every year in the past programs were building on tumbling, and becoming better in general. The state basically told the weaker teams "don't worry about getting better, you'll still get a trophy in your own B grade division". I've been with programs who went from 15% squad tumbling to 85% squad tumbling without large gyms in their backyard it isn't easy but competitive sports aren't supposed to be. I don't mind the idea of the state adopting a Non-Tumbling division though.

That's relieving to hear.

 

[FamousxMindset]

THIS!!!! In the past, the judging has been RIDICULOUS. Coaches are having to go over the score sheets so carefully to make sure that they get the points they DESERVE and then have to fight to get those points added to the score sheet. More than once we have had to refer to video play black LOL. Hopefully with the change in the rubric this year, we will see some positive changes in judging as well this season. There is definitely a big difference between school teams even within the same conferences. Our Varsity team has full squad BHS, 3/4 standing/running tucks/layouts/fulls. It wasn't always this way, but we just happen to be on a "cycle" that our team has a lot of current/past All Stars on the team. Our current coach joined our school 3 years ago and has implemented a plan to make our JV team competitive so that when they move onto our Varsity team they bring technique, spirit, and strength. Most of our JV team have BHS and a few have tucks. I have seen over the past few years that more girls are trying out and being happy to make our JV squad because they are talented as well. I think this is a great way to grow a program and make your Varsity team more competitive each year.

THIS IS WHAT WILL KEEP A PROGRAM STRONG SEASON AFTER SEASON. I never understood why other schools don't put even more effort to their JV teams, most of these kids will become your varsity squad. I actually preferred working with my JV girls, they were eager and willing to work. Stonebridge JV is honestly better than most Varsity squads in the state.

 

[Fiercecheermom]

THIS IS WHAT WILL KEEP A PROGRAM STRONG SEASON AFTER SEASON. I never understood why other schools don't put even more effort to their JV teams, most of these kids will become your varsity squad. I actually preferred working with my JV girls, they were eager and willing to work. Stonebridge JV is honestly better than most Varsity squads in the state.

They have been good over the years. I would LOVE to see our JV compete against them this year.

 

[FamousxMindset]

They have been good over the years. I would LOVE to see our JV compete against them this year.

I wish there were official state ran comps for JV programs, I hate VA lol.

 

[cheerisloving]

My only 'real' gripe would be with inconsistent scoring ESPECIALLY when very simple rubrics are put into place and are completely disregarded by judging panels. I imagine VA cheer becoming extremely competitive in the upcoming years, I started to see so many squads with almost squad tucks, thats a huge jump from where we were say 5 years ago.

Definetly.

Our Varsity team has full squad BHS, 3/4 standing/running tucks/layouts/fulls. It wasn't always this way, but we just happen to be on a "cycle" that our team has a lot of current/past All Stars on the team. Our current coach joined our school 3 years ago and has implemented a plan to make our JV team competitive so that when they move onto our Varsity team they bring technique, spirit, and strength. Most of our JV team have BHS and a few have tucks. I have seen over the past few years that more girls are trying out and being happy to make our JV squad because they are talented as well. I think this is a great way to grow a program and make your Varsity team more competitive each year.

I agree with you both! I think in my four years on Varsity and even the seasons since I've graduated, I think there's been some 'scandal' on the scoring. I've seen ties, recounts and truly mind boggling placements. I know my HS is now starting to make our JV competitive for the sake of having experience before the Varsity level, because right now, unless you have the AS background you don't have any idea what to expect on the comp floor.

 

[Cheer007]

Yes!

Dracuts first year there; won their division & grand champs!

Burlington won NCA I believe in the early 2000's

Whitman Hanson placed 4th this year at NCA & I believe it was their first year attending as wel.

If MSSAA were to "select" the best 8 teams based on scores, during State Finals this past 2015 year, the top 8 were:
1. Dracut 208.1
2. Bridgewater Raynham 204.5
3. Whitman-Hanson 204.4
4. Billerica 201.6
5. Rockland 200.3
6. Waltham 197.5
7. Burlington 197.4
8. Shrewsbury 193.5
Assuming this is All Girl Division.
If you go back to 2014 scores, the majority of these 8 teams placed in top 10 also.