All-Star Unpopular Opinions

[NJ Coach]

So… they could have not sold out or have been better -

That's not how it happened. A lot of them arguably put out a better product. BUT, when V bought gyms, competing companies lost customers. When V's rebate program increased, competitors lost customers. When V no longer allowed outside vendors to sell at their competitions, smaller companies went out or had no choice but to sell. They eventually grew to have a stranglehold on the market, and many competitors had the choice of selling and being able to stay involved, or just going out. Of course, V laid a whole bunch of them off in the last 2 years, so I think we'll hopefully start seeing stronger competitors again.

 

[CheerItFullOut]

Cheerleading lacks a real governing body that is independent and exists first and foremost for the good of the sport rather than profit. Other sports are run by actual governing bodies- USA Swimming, USA Track & Field, USA Gymnastics. USAG exists first and foremost to keep the sport of gymnastics in the US going- like, they’re not trying to get people to buy leotards, or sign up for camps, or Stay to Play, or have 1000 different competitions under 100 different event producers. I feel like they’re about GYMNASTICS. And cheerleading doesn’t have that. That’s why the monopolistic feel of Varsity is particularly worrisome. The overall concept of having all cheerleading competitions governed by one organization is a good one, but they should be run by something called USA Cheerleading, not a company trying first and foremost to sell uniforms and make money.

I 100% agree with this point- however nobody seems to know - or claim to care to know enough about cheerleading to independently organize governance or real oversight. Cheer has always been this “thing” nobody wants to mess with.
While I don’t want to say Varsity has a place for stepping in and governing the sport- did it do so really because it WANTED to or because there was a need and it was really the only entity that understood it enough to take on the task. This is where I think things get really blurry. When you’re running 90% of events/educational resources and you’re selling 75% of athletic related apparel… at what point when nobody is recognizing, legitimizing and protecting this major asset and it’s stakeholders do you NOT venture into that form of structure.

 

[that_cheer_lover]

Level 1 stunts are so fun to watch! They are just so cute and have good technique!

 

[DonePaying4Cheer]

Diversity in cheer - especially in the flyer position, is sorely lacking...still... in 2022 heading into 2023.

 

[morganontheweekends]

I don’t like the summit ring design.

 

[kayemm]

Level 1 stunts are so fun to watch! They are just so cute and have good technique!

I love level 1 too. I've been working with our U16 level 1 team for four seasons now and it's definitely my favourite level. You can be so creative and still stay within the level rules. It always feels like you can't say this about level 1 but a good and well executed level 1 routine is just as exciting to watch as a level 6/7 routine.

 

[Lizzy]

I don't get the whole buying gifts for the team for every competition 'to show them we are proud of how hard they are working'? I'm already paying for my kid to do an activity she loves- and now I'm supposed to pay for a gift at each competition to reward her for doing an extracurricular activity? I've never encountered this in the other sports my children have done.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Level 1 stunts are so fun to watch! They are just so cute and have good technique!

Junior and Senior 1 have some of the most creative routines in cheer every year.

 

[that_cheer_lover]

Junior and Senior 1 have some of the most creative routines in cheer every year.

fr!

 

[Hotelcalifornia]

Listen to your althete! more times then not they are doing it for the parents and it’s just so sad. Talk to them, love them and for goOdense sakes, be mindful of their growing bodies. Way too many injuries on these kids!

 

[cachoi]

IMO I cannot STAND this trend of hitting a high V so aggressively (because not too many can make aggressive = sharp) but also so incredibly wide that it ends up giving more high T I also think convex (or concave?) low V’s need to go as well

 

[Oldcheerhistory]

I have a couple, will put in separate posts:
Teams need to be leveled more by their stunting skills rather then tumbling. It is great that everyone can do a tuck but I am tired of watching kids fall in stunts they have zero chance of hitting. Sometimes nobody gets hurt but other times people do.

 

[Oldcheerhistory]

Over conditioning and conditioning as a punishment need to be removed completely from the sport. This is not coaching technique and nobody gets better for it, kids do get hurt though. We need to remember these are kid athletes.

 

[NJ Coach]

IMO I cannot STAND this trend of hitting a high V so aggressively (because not too many can make aggressive = sharp) but also so incredibly wide that it ends up giving more high T I also think convex (or concave?) low V’s need to go as well

to go along with this, the over aggressive slap clean. It is anything but clean.

 

[catlady]

to go along with this, the over aggressive slap clean. It is anything but clean.

I'd like to add whatever that overly dramatic jump some are doing at the end of everything. Whatever it is, the face and jump look like a toddler right before they flop on the floor and throw a tantrum.