All-Star Flyers

Quotation said:

My example was by no means meant to be inclusive to every possible scenario regarding availability of positions on whatever team or the individual maturity of one particular child and their ability to get along with their teammates. The point i'm trying to make is that junior or youth aged kids shouldn't be pulled up to senior teams to fly before they're ready, when there are senior girls who could do those positions just as well, if not better. of course there are going to be exceptions to every possible scenario that anyone could come up with, but those few exceptions do not invalidate the main point.

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Quotation said:

bottom ages only exist for senior and open teams, and the bottom age for a senior team is still youth age. The only reason for the bottom age to be so low is for small gyms who don't have enough athletes from one age group to form a team. Everyone can agree that a team of all ten year olds should be competing in a youth division, but if we add one fifteen year old does it suddenly become senior? what about if there are two fifteen year olds? three? where do we draw the line between what is a youth and what is a junior or senior team? The point of my entire argument is that the age divisions are poorly divided, which leads to athletes being placed on a team that they shouldn't be on with kids that are much older than them.

(although if anyone wants to hear my ideas for how age grids should be divided i've got a couple extra hours to kill, we can argue it out on here, or even make a new thread! )

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cheer25mom said:

But many times it simply isn't true that senior aged girls can do the job better. As Blue Cat said, size is the most important consideration, wether we like it or not. If both flyers know what they are doing, the smaller flyer is almost always the one that wins out because it is simply easier to hit with her. It's the honest truth. My CP will be happy to tell you that from a base's point of view. If both flyers can hold their weight and hit the body positions, she can do more with the lighter flyer. It isn't the exception but rather the rule.


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Quotation said:

again, if all else is equal then, yes the smaller girl would probably be the better choice, my whole point is that if there is an appropriately leveled youth or junior team, a younger child should be placed there, not a senior team. if the younger child is considered a good enough flyer to move up an age division, then there is no reason that they shouldn't be given a flying position on a team with girls closer to their age. let the best junior aged flyer get the spots on junior teams, and the best senior aged flyers get the spots on senior aged teams.

Also I totally agree with using the average age to determine division, it just seems like common sense and honestly i'm surprised we don't see more people pushing for this to be a rule in future seasons. this way of determining age will also allow smaller gyms to be more competitive in their age divisions, for example a team of 16 year olds and 11 year olds can compete as a junior, instead of as a senior against kids that are much older than half of the team.

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BlueCat said:

If you take all of the best bases on a team and put them together, nearly anyone could fly on that group. Of course, then all of your other groups (and the team's score) suffer immensely.

One can argue all day long about what is "fair" regarding who gets to fly. Unfortunately for some, physics doesn't care one bit about what is "fair". (For that matter, neither does the scoresheet.) Regardless of how you think it "ought" to be, the reality is that being incredibly small is a MASSIVE advantage when it comes to flying. It isn't the only thing that matters, but it is pretty far ahead of the next most important thing. It is like speed for a wide receiver, or height for a center in basketball.

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Quotation said:

i think the real issue is being overlooked here. a lot of the comments are about how it makes sense to have the smaller girls flying and the bigger girls basing, which is true, it wouldn't make sense to have the small girls basing people that are heavier than them. the issue is when girls that are technically too young for a senior team are placed there just to fly, especially when there is an appropriate level youth or junior team that they could be placed on.

for example: let's say there are two girls, girl A is 15 and has been a flyer for three years, while girl B is 10 and has been basing for two years and flying for one. both have level 4 skills and the gym has a junior and a senior 4. logically girl A would fly on s4 and girl B would either base or fly on j4, but instead both girls are placed on s4 with girl A basing and girl B flying, despite girl A having more experience as a flyer.

this scenario is hardly fair to anyone, girl A is taken out of a position she has lots of experience in and is expected to learn how to base so that girl B is guaranteed a flying position, and girl B is placed on a team with people much older than her, who she likely won't bond with as well as she would on a junior team.

and even if the gym only has a j3 and a s4, I still think that kids should be placed in their appropriate age groups, otherwise is there even any reason to have age groups?

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LateKate3 said:

So are you saying that a younger girl (10) should be held down on a level 3 team if she clearly has level 4 or 5 skills based on her age? My 10 yr old just made a sr coed 5r team...she is age eligible, has all of the skills required in both tumbling and stunting. There isn't a jr 5r team or a youth 5r team for that matter. But it sounds as if though you believe she should be put on a youth or jr team based on age, even though she is the hardest working 10 year old I know. She has trained, pushed herself and set/achieved lofty goals. Holding her back isn't helping her, it would hurt her. And putting her on a sr team at the very bottom end of the age grid isn't hurting her either, it is helping her. Will she fly? Absolutely, she is the smallest on the team...but does that mean she doesn't deserve to be there??

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PoofQueen said:

I feel like sometimes, though younger girls can't handle the pressure of flying on a higher level team. I'm not speaking for your CP because I don't know her but I've found that a lot of the time, just sticking little girls on higher level teams because they can tumble doesn't mean they'll be ready for the stunts, and high pressure of a l5 or even l4 team sometimes.

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cheer25mom said:

But often times they are ,and they thrive on that pressure. My CP is only level 2, but she is a kid who does her best work under pressure. She thrives on the adrenaline. It totally depends on the kid and their personality.

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PoofQueen said:

I know, I'm not saying it's all kids by any means. It is all about the athlete's personality, but I know plenty of little flyers who's parents want them to move up, but they can't handle the pressure of a senior team or junior team. Just my opinion.

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