All-Star Warmup Standards

[garretttt]

oh gosh, i still remember having warmups in a parking lot...where people parked lol. i would love there to be a rule for this.

 

[King]

Think about this, if the warmup times are NOT enough what do people do? They go warmup on their own on unsafe surfaces. SO as a coach you are put in a difficult situation. Do you warm up your team with what you have which may not be enough to correctly execute the routine and risk injury OR do you go warm up your team on unsafe surfaces so you have enough time, but risk the unsafe surface if you drop?

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Is there any way that there could be minimum requirements set up for athletic trainers? I always have pre-wrap and tape, kleenex, first aid kit, etc but there are always times when you need more. 2 out of our first 3 competitions had huge gushing bloody nose problems. One of them wasn't even in warmup- a girl on my junior team (who apparently just gets bloody noses sometimes) started gushing blood when they were doing hair and makeup. Thankfully they were able to quickly locate EP staff to get ice and more tissues, etc. We had a mini get bopped in the nose at a competition, and the coach was able to get kleenex and stuff out of her bag but it wasn't enough. The EP staff in warmup took almost 10 minutes to get help, and this was after there was no water or trainer in the warmup area. Really?

As a parent, I had no idea that this was even an issue at some competitions. This is extremely concerning. I have always (falsely) assumed that there was a qualified first responder or athletic trainer on staff at these events.

 

[GeorgiaCheerleader]

oh gosh, i still remember having warmups in a parking lot...where people parked lol. i would love there to be a rule for this.

haha me too. BASKET TOSSES specifically.
imagine if the flyer traveled...oh lord.

 

[xpressjag]

Is there any way that there could be minimum requirements set up for athletic trainers? I always have pre-wrap and tape, kleenex, first aid kit, etc but there are always times when you need more. 2 out of our first 3 competitions had huge gushing bloody nose problems. One of them wasn't even in warmup- a girl on my junior team (who apparently just gets bloody noses sometimes) started gushing blood when they were doing hair and makeup. Thankfully they were able to quickly locate EP staff to get ice and more tissues, etc. We had a mini get bopped in the nose at a competition, and the coach was able to get kleenex and stuff out of her bag but it wasn't enough. The EP staff in warmup took almost 10 minutes to get help, and this was after there was no water or trainer in the warmup area. Really?

Julie, I LOVE this. I would be happy if the competition all had trainers and the trainers were actually at their stations. I don't understand why cheerleading companies don't have these things readily available. We are doing stunting and tumbling harder than ever and their should be trained medical staff available. I would say for these LARGE national events to have several trainers there.

 

[BlueCat]

Think about this, if the warmup times are NOT enough what do people do? They go warmup on their own on unsafe surfaces. SO as a coach you are put in a difficult situation. Do you warm up your team with what you have which may not be enough to correctly execute the routine and risk injury OR do you go warm up your team on unsafe surfaces so you have enough time, but risk the unsafe surface if you drop?

This is true at one of the biggest events of the season. Coaches are forced to pick between the lesser of two evils, so to speak.

 

[ssccxnce]

Along with the tumbling one, there needs to be a minimum high restriction. I remember tumbling warmup being down a hallway with low ceilings. And that's just not safe. You couldn't throw anything more than a handspring.

lol i went to a competition in sandusky ohio and the first warm up we had there was a huge glass chandelier in the middle of the ceiling

 

[cheererinIL]

We had 30 seconds between warm up and compete time today- it was just awful. The "tumble warm up" was a quarter of a strip of mat. It was just completely awful. This was a competition run by ICCA, who is second in Illinois to our high school organization for competitions. It makes me nervous that this is a company who has a long history and this wasn't ther first rodeo- I can't imagine what a small, regional EP might have for warm ups in allstar.

 

[kickdblcj]

I know all warmup areas are different but I was thinking about this again yesterday. What if there were some basic requirements that all warmup situations must meet, but still gave the flexibility for Eps to create the area however needed? So in this example as long as the EP's warmup is the same or MORE than what is asked for that is fine.

My idea was:

All warmups must be at least 12 minutes on skill related mats (you can't say stretching is part of the warmup mats).

All warmups must include a full floor (9 panels) for at least 4 minutes.

All warmups must include two tumbling spring strips (I forget the length of a full floor diagonal but that length) with side mats sloping down.

No warmup will be allowed to put any less than 3 mats together on flat floor for warmup.

All warmup stations may not be less than 4 minutes.

This would allow Cheersport to have its hour long warmup but also everyone else to adjust. Any thoughts?



Oh, and while we are at it, all spring floors (whether in warmups or competing) must have an extra half foot after out of bounds and padded sloping sides.

This would be amazing!

 

[AshleyErin]

lol i went to a competition in sandusky ohio and the first warm up we had there was a huge glass chandelier in the middle of the ceiling

Oh my, my team couldn't even do our pyramid because of that...and because the stunt area wasn't wide enough for any of our back-to-front transitions

 

[cupieqt]

All of the events we attend have good warm ups. My biggest complaint is to be rushed with only 3 minutes per mat (today we had 6 at the Mega Jam in Baton Rouge). The runners up are 1. having warm up staff not making sure rotations are timely and 2. Not having cold water available (water was hot today--yuck).

Ok so that may seem petty considering there are people warming up in freaking parking lots. I haven't returned to a competition with a poor warm up since 2004. If warm ups aren't TOP notch, I always let the EP's know about it. Jamfest, UCA nationals in Disneyworld, WSA and Cheersport Atlanta have the best warm ups I've ever experienced (never competed at Worlds or NCA).
Mega Jam was awesome today--great mats/floor, plenty of space and time. Great staff.

 

[ssccxnce]

Oh my, my team couldn't even do our pyramid because of that...and because the stunt area wasn't wide enough for any of our back-to-front transitions

yeah not so safe i must say

 

[AllstarObsession]

All of the events we attend have good warm ups. My biggest complaint is to be rushed with only 3 minutes per mat (today we had 6 at the Mega Jam in Baton Rouge). The runners up are 1. having warm up staff not making sure rotations are timely and 2. Not having cold water available (water was hot today--yuck).

Ok so that may seem petty considering there are people warming up in freaking parking lots. I haven't returned to a competition with a poor warm up since 2004. If warm ups aren't TOP notch, I always let the EP's know about it. Jamfest, UCA nationals in Disneyworld, WSA and Cheersport Atlanta have the best warm ups I've ever experienced (never competed at Worlds or NCA).
Mega Jam was awesome today--great mats/floor, plenty of space and time. Great staff.

i loved NCA warmups. I remember being behind senior elite in the practice day and having noooo idea who they were and generally missing a great opportunity.:banghead:

 

[King]

My favorite is actually Allstar Challenges BUTBT.

Of course I also think there should be set times between teams and mandatory break for judges every set number of teams.

 

[socratesofcheer]

I believe there was a proposal sent to the USASF after the NACCC Doral meeting for EPs to have minimum standards for warm up rooms.

I'm not sure what came of it. If anything?

NCA has the best warm up IMO.
- 7 minutes stunt
- 7 minutes spring strip
- 7 minutes full spring floor