I will leave with what started me down this whole path of thinking... the term backspot and spotter. I was called 4 years ago by a coach I knew to come and be an expert in a court case (they settled out of court and it never went past the original phone call). Per the coaches description the quickly assembled group for a high school (or middle school I can't remember which) was, at half time, putting together their best athletes to build a lib straight cradle to do during the third quarter. While warming up and going for the cradle (per the story) during the pop the flyer leaned to the outside and went three feet to the left and landed her butt on the concrete. She either fractured or severely bruised her tail bone and had some medical payments and pain and suffering they were looking for.
I specifically remember to this day the coach saying 'We had a backspot on it so there was a spotter, they can't say I was being unsafe right?'.
Cheerleading has a strong sense of tradition, for all the good and bad of it. The good being our ins, secret sayings, squad bonding, and the things that drive us to be teams, gyms, and programs in general. But the bad being the way we do things is because THAT is they way they have always been done.
However the term backspot arose (and at this point it doesn't matter) the person on the back of the stunt is a base. They are in no way shape or form a spotter. That coach that called me had been lulled into a false sense of security (not to mention idiocy) by thinking the backspot on the stunt meant the stunt was spotted. But can we blame her? We have continued the misnomer OF the backspot. In fact we have built extremely weird and wacky rules in assisted single based stunts. If the person on the side grabs 6 inches up or down with their left hand onto the ankle or wrist they are suddenly a spotter.... and the stunt is safer? If someone were to actually take a coach to court and claim that all I would have to do (as part of the prosecution) is point to the fact that the people not involved in any skills or on any team but are only there to help save flyers if they fall and stand at the back of the mat are also referred to, thought of, and mentioned as spotters. The SAME term. The term HAS to change to not only make more sense but to save our own butts. It is important. It is inevitable this situation will rear its head (I feel like it probably already has somewhere).
When the term base is applied to all athletes that lift up a stunt you soon realize THAT is why the numbers @
BlueCat and I have come up with. There is a a reason and a purpose and lots of thought put into it. And every single number on that list of requirements is inclusive. There is no reason if 3 athletes are required to be attentive to a stunt that all 3 cannot be involved in the stunt itself. There is a reason we changed the amount of athletes needed for a level 1 knee stunt or a level 2 prep one leg. Thinking through it the numbers were NOT changed because it allowed gyms to put up more stunts. Those numbers were changed because it is a reasonable amount of athletes to execute those skills nationwide with no issues. And as del go through, pick apart, and really study the numbers there won't be a single number on that grid that is suggested that has not taken into consideration the unfortunate possibilities and how to minimize them while allowing teams to be their most effective.
When I first started working at Rays 6 years ago an saw Top Gun win their first worlds I actually said 'they are about to scare everyone out of the division'. Look what happened.
I said the same thing about large senior. Look what happened.
I said there needed to be an athlete registration system, came up with the idea, and it eventually got through to the USASF. Look what happened.
I harped on why the number 30 for a division would take off... and look what happened.
Now for the most important one: If we don't change the name of backspotters and spotters and bases and fix the grid to appropriately apply to everyone on our own... a catastrophe will force us to do it ourselves. Setting back cheer and our image for years to come.