- Dec 14, 2009
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..While I in some ways could possibly agree with the spirit of your post, there are some things that just hurt my soul:
*Tumbling- I can't speak for every country, but comparing gymnasts in the Olympics to being able to learn to tumble for cheer is, to me, like apples and oranges. It seems very naive to assume that just because someone has a gymnastics gym somewhere in their country, that they will be churning out level 5 tumbling right from the get-go. Isn't that why WE OURSELVES created 4.2? Senior restricted 5? How many posts are on here about athletes who excel at stunting but struggle with tumbling? How many posts are by people ranting and raving at sub-standard coaches trying to push kids into stuff they're not ready for? We don't know WHAT sort of coaching is available/they can afford..plus the majority of the int'l kids are older, coming from MUCH smaller countries than ours. And we invented 4.2 for people JUST LIKE THEM. Are they vastly improving? Sure. But who's the closest to us? Canada. And they're a larger country with easier access to what we offer cheer-wise. When's the last time you saw a UK, Irish, or South African Olympic gymnastics team? (No offense to any of those people- I love and respect all of you, as you know :)).
*Stunting- An area that I'd say they're catching up to us the fastest. Why? Because for MANY people (and lots of us on here can attest to): it's easier to learn to stunt and stunt well than tumble. You're also, however, suggesting they just teach themselves. Which may not be bad for an elevator, but can cause bad technique and injuries when we're going for the harder stuff like full-ups. Especially if they don't have a good mat to fall on if they aren't sturdy.
*Jumps- Fair enough. Although technique like Rays and SOT is clearly a special brand of something..
*Dance- You clearly didn't look at the Large Senior scores. Just 'cause you can 'dance', doesn't mean it scores well. They can dance, I'm sure. But choreo (which again, either costs some cash/requires someone who knows what they're doing OR taking choreo from another team, which is frown upon here) isn't all that simple, or their wouldn't have been a 4-pt dance spread between the top 3 teams..
*Coaches- Good coaches are hard to come by in AMERICA, plain and simple. This is improving, I'm sure. But I don't wanna know how many bad coaches exist elsewhere, we've got plenty enough here as is.
My point being: It's very easy to brush it off and say, 'Well, WE developed this sport ourselves so you should just be able to teach yourselves as well!' But this is NOWHERE NEAR comparable to soccer in the sense that the rules/skills for soccer are very simple. Pass, run, score, defend. WAY more people can kick a ball than throw a decent tuck jump. Now the intricacies and technique require mastery, but even if we're not the best at soccer, we still teach it to our 5 year olds. Until other countries (besides Canada) are getting the mass numbers enrolled in cheer at a young age like we are, it's pretty arrogant (in my opinion) to just say 'Learn it or deal.' As many of them have said: They know they're not perfectly on par with us skill-wise, and they're ok with that. They're happy to learn and grow, which they do by watching us and drawing up interest in their own countries by talking about Worlds. But I think we often take for granted the ease of access to facilities and equipment. It may not be the be-all-end-all, but MAN does it make a difference. You ever try to teach yourself a back handspring on the grass? No? I ended up nearly snapping my neck. Don't suggest it.
It is also common knowledge people sign things without reading them.
Just a random thought... I'm pretty sure the reason Bangkok wasn't at ICU or Worlds last year had to do with those Volcano eruptions and not being able to leave their country and NOT b/c of anything else last year...
Oh no! Absolutely not. It is supposed to let you know that there was not one intelligent thought in your post.
Bangkok compete level 5? I highly doubt that would happen. I'm also almost 100% sure that they didn't come to Worlds at all last year, whether it had to do with the volcano eruption or not.Bangkok was at Worlds last year. Check the International Open 5 division!!!
Bangkok compete level 5? I highly doubt that would happen. I'm also almost 100% sure that they didn't come to Worlds at all last year, whether it had to do with the volcano eruption or not.
..I played soccer for 12 years. A year on all-star, and a couple years watching my brother/sister play allstar (all that running up and down a field isn't my thing) :) But I stand by what I said- soccer is easier to learn the basics of than cheer is, and I think it requires a similar type of athleticism as to other sports we as a country excel at. We have a much greater soccer presence here (percentage-wise) than other countries have for cheer in THEIR respective countries.Sorry for hurting your soul :confused: but Everyone starts somewhere, so you are telling me that we need to hold their hand till they get better? I think different. One person made up a skill in the US such as hurkey did... Everyone saw it and learned it on their own... whats different.
and obviously you had nothing to do with soccer b/c there is way way way more to it than you posted...
I stand by my post and i got some shimmy's so other must feel the same! Thanks for shimmy-ing! LOL
cheerislove8 said:Bangkok compete level 5? I highly doubt that would happen. I'm also almost 100% sure that they didn't come to Worlds at all last year, whether it had to do with the volcano eruption or not.
The rules people in the warmup room, all dressed in black USASF shirts with Safety Judge on the sleeve, were there to let coaches know about anything in their routine(s) that broke the General or Level 5/6 Rules. When notifying the coaches they had to be able to cite the exact rule broken, in case the coach asked, and be able to show it to them in the rules books. Referencing the book is something that had to be done, not because of a lack of knowledge, but because of the procedures they were asked to follow. Anything noticed, grey area, "performance error", changed in the warmup room or not, was relayed to the rules people at the scoring table. From that point it was in the scoring tables' hands because deductions were only given based on what was done on the main floor.
They people in the warmup room were also asked to let the coaches know what would be considered Out of Bounds for the weekend. They were not there to ensure a team had the correct number or composition of participants, to check any participant's age, or any of the other things it's been stated or implied they didn't do. Maybe they'll have additional responsibilities next Worlds, but didn't for Worlds 2011.
Our team was screwed over by these so called USASF safety judges at Worlds...still upset and bitter to tell the story but they are worthless in my eyes.....
Last year's team was not the same as this years. The Level 6 team hasn't been there in 2 years. I remember there being a rumor last year that they weren't allowed to come because of all the political unrest that was taking place in Thailand at the time. Don't know how true that was because there was another Thai team in attendance, but that's what I heard.
so i ask again, what do we do and how do we move forward? what action can fix this vs dwelling on what everyone percieves as the wrongs done. it happened, and that wont change, lets make positive steps forward.