High School Uca Camp? What Did You Think?

[Deleted member 15407]

Okay so this isn't high school, its Rec cheer, just had no place to put it...

We recently had 3 UCA girls come to our gym/school for a 2 day youth camp (Come at 9am, leave 3 pm, come back the next day)
I was wondering if anyone else had a UCA camp as well and what are your opinions?
As an 8 year cheerleader, I hated it. They made us learn thigh stands even though over 3/4 of our team has cheered before.
They also taught us basketball cheers even though we ONLY cheer for football.
The dance was so easy and just....kiddish!
Yes, we have PeeWees on our team, but they left by that time.
Overall it was a bad experience... my 8th time :/
Just curious if other programs do this camp and if it was more difficult/better for them?

 

[cheerforeverever]

There are different camp offerings, such as UCA elite camps that teach more advanced stunts and start off at a faster pace. With the standard UCA camps however, as with NCA camps, they start with the basics and cannot legally let a team progress to more difficult stunts until you adequately check off the basics with correct technique (thigh stand, shoulder sit, prep, etc.). Especially since you had a youth camp, the dances and cheers will be geared more towards the younger age, as the youth curriculum is created so that all ages that fall within "youth" can learn them without too much difficulty. As for teaching basketball chants when you only cheer for football, they probably just taught the standard youth curriculum each day. The Instructor in charge of your camp should have been in contact with your head coach before the first day of camp however, where the coach could have clarified what they wanted taught/ any special things to know for your home camp. I hope that helps some with understanding... A home camp is quite a different pace than a resident camp. Also, a youth camp is quite different from a normal camp and additionally an elite camp.

 

[Deleted member 15407]

There are different camp offerings, such as UCA elite camps that teach more advanced stunts and start off at a faster pace. With the standard UCA camps however, as with NCA camps, they start with the basics and cannot legally let a team progress to more difficult stunts until you adequately check off the basics with correct technique (thigh stand, shoulder sit, prep, etc.). Especially since you had a youth camp, the dances and cheers will be geared more towards the younger age, as the youth curriculum is created so that all ages that fall within "youth" can learn them without too much difficulty. As for teaching basketball chants when you only cheer for football, they probably just taught the standard youth curriculum each day. The Instructor in charge of your camp should have been in contact with your head coach before the first day of camp however, where the coach could have clarified what they wanted taught/ any special things to know for your home camp. I hope that helps some with understanding... A home camp is quite a different pace than a resident camp. Also, a youth camp is quite different from a normal camp and additionally an elite camp.

All your statements were very true, its just very frustrating to us. We have 3-5 girls who have never cheered before, but are very athletic and caught on quick. Just not the best experience for anyone really...

 

[pacheermama2]

We did UCA about 2 yrs ago for our youth (1st grade - 6th grade) and that 1st yr was great. There were alot of new girls and you are right there were thigh stands and cartwheels. After that we went with a competition coach that taught our squad and she really pushed the girls and has given us 2 awesome camps!!! We have more tumblers and our flyers are pretty good! She could very quickly tell what the girls were going to be able to do. Maybe if you did their more elite camp that would have been what you were looking for.

 

[cheer coach k]

I took my high school team to a UCA camp last year, and would never do it again. Nothing against UCA at all, but I just felt like for all the money we spent, we didn't learn anything new. They seemed to focus way more on the spirit aspect (not saying that isn't important, but we were there to stunt, since it was an "elite" stunt camp) and it was just very sophomoric for my team of girls.

This year (and forever from now on) I used SpiritFX. They came in and did an AMAZING skills camp, and taught an amazing dance. You can contact @UltimateRudags for info, as he runs these camps. The girls learned so many new things and truly enjoyed this camp experience! I highly recommend using an outside source when it comes to teams that are a little more advanced.

 

[ONE44cheer]

I took my high school team to a UCA camp last year, and would never do it again. Nothing against UCA at all, but I just felt like for all the money we spent, we didn't learn anything new. They seemed to focus way more on the spirit aspect (not saying that isn't important, but we were there to stunt, since it was an "elite" stunt camp) and it was just very sophomoric for my team of girls.

This year (and forever from now on) I used SpiritFX. They came in and did an AMAZING skills camp, and taught an amazing dance. You can contact @UltimateRudags for info, as he runs these camps. The girls learned so many new things and truly enjoyed this camp experience! I highly recommend using an outside source when it comes to teams that are a little more advanced.

Have you tried the Ultimate Stunt Camp that UCA offers?

 

[cheer coach k]

Have you tried the Ultimate Stunt Camp that UCA offers?

Yes as well as ironman. UCA camps just aren't the right style for us. In house camps that focus solely on what we want, just seem to be a better fit.

Like I said, nothing against UCA, it's just not for us!

 

[cheer coach k]

Sorry, the Owner of Spirit FX changed his user name on here so if you want more info PM Rudags and he can get you set up with an amazon camp that is custom designed for your team!

 

[coach.elle]

My sideline team went to a uca resort camp and had SO much fun. It was just the right about of fun and learning. We came in with a pyramid already done to add to the extreme routine. That made it really stress free. My kids could focus on having fun and bonding with their teammates.

There were 2 sides to my camp, the regular side (which we were on) and the stunt and performance side. The stunt side didn't seem to be having any fun at all. ALL they did was practice their routine to music, for like 3 hours a day.

We'll be going back to this camp with my sideline only cheerleaders. I'll be bringing my comp teams to Kentucky elite camp! I feel it's important to expose them to the best teams in the country early, so they don't seem so threatening in Orlando.

 

[sportygal2012]

I'm a middle school cheerleader and my 8th grade squad had a BLAST at camp. Our camp was at Great Wolf Lodge. If you guys at already cheered before then you guys should have tried to qualify for a different level of stunts. We all qualified for Elite stunts (straight up lib). And we learned mostly football cheers lol. And maybe my team is a slow learner but we couldn't get the hip hop routine. The extreme routine yeah that was pretty easy. Overall we improved a lot and we were one of the youngest groups there. You should ask your coach what type of camp you went too.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Overall, away camp for bonding for high school is the way to go in my opinion. However, not for all. I prefer taking my kids away instead of having them home where the distractions of home can come into the picture (I got scheduled to work, my daughter/son has a dentist appt/late b/c of traffic, etc).

My varsity will be doing "elite" camp, as we have 4 solid straight up libs, my JV will not, however, they will enjoy camp no matter what the circumstance They are a happy bunch.

Home camps from UCA are really not their specialty. Instead of home camps persay, have stunt clinics, etc. Also "youth" is extremely different. Since you are a cheerleader, you have to realize your coach may have never done this structure before and didn't know what to ask for. A friend of mine in our distrct is doing a 2 day camp w/ UCA and has already spoken w/ them AND the head instructor they are sending and is explaining exactly what she needs and wants. SHe has tailored it to really be a stunt technique camp/minimal material, etc.

This is all from experience!