Using Age Vs Grade Level

[Deleted member 15]

True. Gotta open my mind a bit.

And stop being elitist.

 

[amandalab]

this past year i have noticed that a lot of teams take tiny girls and put them onto a senior level team. personally i think that's unfair and is kind of like cheating. you can have a girl who is eight years old go up in the air and get thrown around easily. i think it's annoying because then you will see other teams with real senior age girls getting put up in the air and it's much harder. i think the judges need to be strict with the ages so that it's fair competition.

 

[CGAcheer]

US lacrosse uses age.....

One of the main reasons that age is used is to ensure that athletes are matched up again equal opponents. You don't want a kid that is 3 years older going against a kid in soccer, that much of a difference could cause injuries or an unfair advantage. For example: my son started school as early as possible, there is a kid in his grade that started K late and then was held back a year...he's almost 2 years older than him. My son plays U-11 lacrosse, that kid plays U-13....if they played in the same (based off of grade level) the other kid would flatten my kid, because he's almost 2 years older and that much bigger. Using age groups more closely ensures that the playing field will be level.

I think the ages in cheer need to be tweaked....I can't stand seeing a level 5 team with super seniors basing tiny 12 year olds. I think it's an unfair advantage (older, more experienced, stronger bases with a tiny flyer), and I also think that it's developmentally inappropriate to put a 12 year old on a team with people who can vote.

This is always the argument, on our Sr 3 team with ages ranging from 16 to 12, our flyers are 2 15 yr olds, 1 14 yr old, 1 13 and one 12 year old. One of our 12 year olds is our strongest backspot.

Does anyone have a problem with 12 year olds basing 15 year olds?

 

[bobbijean13]

What if you have a 16 year old who is in 7th grade cause they were left back 3 times? (it happens)

 

[Level5Mom]

I am not a fan of going back to grades for divisions. I feel that we need to stop changing the age grid. Other sports don't change their age grids every few years.......USA hockey goes by age and has for as long as I can remember and I think has had the same age divisions since my husband played. Adjust divisions with the times, but find an age grid that works and then leave it alone. JMO.

 

[indiglow]

I am NOT suggesting that we change the age grid or go back to grades. If you notice in the original post, I was around when they changed from grades to age. In fact I like the ages vs grades, BUT what I wanted to know was the WHYS and the BENEFITS/NEGATIVES.

1. Why do they (the power that be) use age as a cut off rather than grade in school?

2. What do other competitive travel sports use?

3. What are the benefits of using age as the cut off? What are the negatives of using age as a cut off?

4. What would be the benefits of going back to grade level as the cut off? What would be the negatives of using grade levels?






I am also not saying we should change the age grid! But I also know it will be unfair to a select group of kids no matter what method is used.


Side Note:
Competitive dance does some crazier things than cheer IMO. One being that they use an age average. For example you could have ages 6-19 in your production number (minimum 20 kids) and they add all their ages up, divide by the number of kids, and voila - their age category. Might be 14 yrs old average, might be 11 yrs old average. Then they have Novice, Intermediate, Advance, in each age group (similar ISH concept to our levels 1-5) It is crazy but it works for them....not saying cheer should do this at all! Just how another competitive "sport" does things.

 

[cheer8]

Keep the age and keep senior age 18 and under for levels 1- open 5! It helps the small gyms stay in business! and there is alot more small gyms than large! Example- when you have a youth, and Junior 1, 2, 3 or 4 teams in the gym and you have 1 to 5 kids in youth age level that throw fulls! Where do you put them? On a senior open 5 right? So small gyms need the 18 and under rule! Thank GOD for this rule!

 

[powerXbaby]

Yeah, it doesn't really work for people who skip grades. I ended up graduating at 16 because I skipped two grades. That's usually an incentive to start your career, but if you have to stop cheering when you graduate, you might not want to skip those grades even though it might benefit you.

I like the age scale much better. I can super super super senior because of my age if i wanted to haha

 

[indiglow]

Yeah, it doesn't really work for people who skip grades. I ended up graduating at 16 because I skipped two grades. That's usually an incentive to start your career, but if you have to stop cheering when you graduate, you might not want to skip those grades even though it might benefit you.

I like the age scale much better. I can super super super senior because of my age if i wanted to haha

So this means you could cheer AS as a JR in college correct? Which would put you with your "college" experiences on a team with a just turned 12 7th grader correct? I think somebody posted about not feeling like the could fit in on a international team at 17 with all those "college" kids so I wonder how the 12 yr old (and their family) would feel if their kid was on a team with a bunch of "college" kids (albeit still eligible under the current age settings.)

I really have no set opinion on the 12 yr olds on sr teams. I am not in this situation nor have I been in this situation, I am just curious how the 12 yr old feels. We hear a lot from the super seniors on this board, are there any parents of 12 yr olds in this type of situation on here? How do they feel?

 

[OakleyXO89]

I like age grids, as must people have stated using grades can be unrealistic at times. i think the cheer industry needs to take a deep look at some of the age grids in other sports, see whats been working, and come up with something that is best suited for our industry and stick to it. cheer is prob more difficult than any other sport to put together a proper age grid because you are not specifically looking at one gender. putting an 18 year old girl and 12 year old girl on the same team is different from putting an 18 year old boy on the same team with a 12 year old girl. Along with the development within the same gender on topics that might come up in a conversation or language that might be used between ages not just between athletes but between a coach and how they talk to their team as a whole.

 

[stateallstar_jesse]

i"ve been on teams that "pull up" younger girls with higher skill levels to fly on an older team. (and i know that this does not go for all or even MOST gyms) but those o us that were "older" (15-18) were extremely careful of what we said even in just telling stories about boyfriends, weekends, etc. i've seen a couple small small gyms with maybe 30 athletes total, and their 5 oldest being 17 they have to have a senior team. they might also have a youth/junior team for the 15 or so 14 or 12 & under girls, but they might only be able to have one or two practice times (due to money or whatever) so its much more practical for everyone to be on one large senior team together.

 

[Katybugmom]

I am NOT suggesting that we change the age grid or go back to grades. If you notice in the original post, I was around when they changed from grades to age. In fact I like the ages vs grades, BUT what I wanted to know was the WHYS and the BENEFITS/NEGATIVES.

1. Why do they (the power that be) use age as a cut off rather than grade in school?

2. What do other competitive travel sports use?

3. What are the benefits of using age as the cut off? What are the negatives of using age as a cut off?

4. What would be the benefits of going back to grade level as the cut off? What would be the negatives of using grade levels?

1. Now that many people homeschool- they don't have a "grade" so what would they do?
3. Age benefits because it is consistent.

I am also not saying we should change the age grid! But I also know it will be unfair to a select group of kids no matter what method is used.

Side Note:
Competitive dance does some crazier things than cheer IMO. One being that they use an age average. For example you could have ages 6-19 in your production number (minimum 20 kids) and they add all their ages up, divide by the number of kids, and voila - their age category. Might be 14 yrs old average, might be 11 yrs old average. Then they have Novice, Intermediate, Advance, in each age group (similar ISH concept to our levels 1-5) It is crazy but it works for them....not saying cheer should do this at all! Just how another competitive "sport" does things.

 

[katiealiceEMCA]

it'd be better if the age cut of was a month or so before worlds... becuase for the people that have birthday's the day after the cut of day of Aug. 26th.. it's so annoying haha

 

[Deleted member 15]

it'd be better if the age cut of was a month or so before worlds... becuase for the people that have birthday's the day after the cut of day of Aug. 26th.. it's so annoying haha

No matter which day is selected there will be people with birthday the day after that will complain about it.

 

[katiealiceEMCA]

that's true, but they should make the cut of day later in my opinion, but i do know what you mean x