All-Star Question, Changing Divisions?

[AllHeartxo3]

So let's say Craptastic Allstars large senior all-girl goes medium this year. They weren't doing very well in large senior, but suddenly they are dominating the medium division. What changes things? How does the simple change in the number of athletes on a team affect how well you do? I can see that making a smaller team lets you have the best of the best from your once large team, but then why didn't you put your team in that division anyway? If you really wanted to do well then why didn't you put your best athletes together on one team, see how many you have, then put yourself in the appropriate division?

 

[nhgurlnh]

Well, you answered your first question. What changes things is that you know have the best 30 girls, if the team becomes medium, from that large team. You've emitted those 6 that maybe don't have a full or jumps to tuck, or aren't the best stunters. The team has a higher ratio of tumbling skills, and can maybe do some more difficult stunting.

To answer why you wouldn't have just gone medium (or small) in the first place- Many coaches would want to give those 6 girls (from large to medium) a chance to rise to the challenge of being on a level 5 team. In the big picture, could they be more successful in another division? Maybe, but many athletes DO rise to this challenge. Last year, I had a team of about 25 girls that were all level 3, and 8 or so that weren't. I made the decision to just go large, placing those 8 girls that, at the time, were not true level 3 athletes, hoping that the 8 that they would understand that they needed to step up and get those skills. I would say that 6 of them, by September, were true level 3. Did we always win? Of course not. But I gave those girls a chance to work really hard to be on a higher level team, and most of them met the challenge. Coaches can take leaps of faith, and in the end, it can make very hard-working athletes.