Focusing on the Business of Cheerleading & Dance
Heart of Cheer published Age vs. Level – Aren’t They the Same?, clarifying something many misunderstand.
I find great interest when a parent would rather (and I have seen this happen) have their athlete compete on a Senior Level 1 team than a Junior Level 2 team, thinking for some odd reason this makes their athlete “better”. The confusion is great in this area because people keep equating age bracketing with level of ability.
This is the final piece of a 5 part series on increasing competition in All*Star Cheerleading. This one will focus on my recommendations and suggestions that were sent to the USASF as part of the Rules Process for 2013-15 seasons.
Move Coed Divisions on the Age Grid
My first suggestion is to move Coed divisions from the top of the Age Grid and list them in the When to Split Divisions section similar to how Small and Large splits are listed. This would make it so every Junior Level 3 team is competing against each other, regardless of large, small, coed, or all girl, until there are enough Junior Level 3 teams to warrant splitting Junior Level 3.
I intentionally avoided stating how many teams should remain on each side of a split in the official suggestion to avoid clouding the issue with a specific number, but I think it should be raised to 5.
Move Coed Divisions on the Age Grid
Remove Size Based Division Splits in Favor of a Single Team Size
My second suggestion is to remove Small, Medium, and Large divisions in favor of a single division size. Once again I intentionally did not state what size teams should be in the official suggestion to avoid clouding the issue of if there should be a single division size with what size it should be. If it were up to me I would go with 24, but I’ve heard some decent logic behind using 25 instead.
Remove Size Based Division Splits in Favor of a Single Team Size
Increasing Competition Series
This is Part 4 on our series on Increasing Competition in AllStar Cheerleading. This one focuses on the All Girl & Coed options for AllStars. There are several questions asked and none answered, but it raises the questions we need to think about as we head towards rules changes for the next couple of year.
What is the best way to split Coed and All Girl teams? Right now younger divisions, Tiny, Mini, and Youth, don’t split, while Junior and Senior divisions do. Junior and most of Senior have a simple All Girl and Coed split, while Senior Level 5 has All Girl divisions along with Small, Medium, and Large Coed divisions based on the overall team size and the maximum number of males allowed. Is this fair?
At what point should All Girl teams not be put in divisions against Coed teams in the name of fairness? How much impact do guys really have on a routine? Does it vary by age group or level? What have the major scoring systems done to account for this? Have they done enough? What else do you suggest they do?
What can be done regarding All Girl and Coed divisions to increase competition? Should Coed divisions be added to Tiny, Mini, and Youth ages? Should Junior and all Senior divisions have Small, Medium, and Large Coed options? At what point does the desire for competition outweigh the desire for fairness?
Spirit Post Increasing Competition Series: