All-Star Small Gym Divisions

[aggie1983]

I think small gym isn't fair. The gyms with 75 kids, can work just as hard as us with 200.

Sigh......I'm afraid you missed the point we ( if I may be so presumptuous as to include cupieqt) were trying to make.

 

[cheer8]

We are a small gym and love competing against the large gyms... It shows us and the kids how hard we need to keep working... and we have won against large gyms more than we have gotten 2nd or below!!!! but...

I see some small gyms point but my small gym will compete against anyone Win or Lose!

 

[CGAcheer]

Not to second guess your coaches, but it sounds like that could have been a very strong level 2 team

 

[CGAcheer]

@aggie1983 meant to tag you in the previous post but the phone didn't want to let me.

I don't think you should decide the level of a team based off of 6 talented kids when the other 14 clearly fit the level below, if you want to be competitive.

 

[cupieqt]

I only compete my teams at their strongest level. We had 19 kids with solid level 2 skills last year. 2 of them had shaky standing tumbling so they didn't do the bwo bhs section. We beat all sized gyms last year in youth level 2. I still thank God for the small gym divisions. Bc we ARE still a small gym.
And when we aren't anymore (bc we are awesome and will be a large gym in a few years) I will support the new and upcoming gyms that need that small division to give them even a (slightly better) chance to place higher than they probably would if they had to go against a large gyms team.

Either that or maybe us small gym coaches just need to get off our lazy butts and actually teach these kids something instead of trying to fake our way through competitions and levels.

 

[aggie1983]

@CGAcheer you're right about being a strong level 2, but our coaches wanted to push the girls and give them the opportunity to see if they met the challenge. And they did rise to the challenge beautifully - winning 4 of their comps, including NCA against 11 teams and UCA against 13.
I absolutely see the point people have about challenging your team to compete against the larger gyms. But again, our coaches challenged our girls by putting a mostly level 2 team (at the beginning of the summer) into a level 3 division and motivating them to work to get to that level 3 overall. How in the world is that a cop out? But how could anyone expect them to have faired well against large gym level 3 teams that were across the board level 3s at the beginning of the season and were simply improving the skills they already had, or working on level 4 skills.
All I'm asking is that people respect the small gym divisions and not look down their noses at them - it isn't a way for a team to avoid competition( though I will acknowledge some might use it as such). In our case, as in many others I would suspect, it is a way to stretch your team to meet a challenge while giving them a chance to be competitive and not go into a comp knowing they can't hope to be competitive. I'm done and won't post on this anymore - I just really believe most who belong to large gyms do not realize the challenges a small gym faces in trying to build a strong competitive program that will attract and keep good athletes - especially when there is a powerhouse gym 35 minutes away. Just as competitive cheer asks for respect from the overall sports community, please respect the small gyms that are striving to build their programs.

 

[cheerislife1]

my senior level 3 team has kids on our team that dont have any tumbling at all, some have level 4 and even level 5 skills, and some just have level 3 skills. but we dont have enough kids in our gym to field teams for all these kids. but we have been very succesful in the senior 3 division against gyms alot bigger thna ours. i just dont think that small gyms should be speperated against large gyms. if you win a competition you want to know that you beat the best of the best teams in your division.

 

[peytonnmariee]

if you play by the rules its always fair. ive seen large gyms get beat by teams that had less kids than them. its possible......

happen to us..us gym of 70 kids beat cea, rays, ace...HUGE GYMS!

 

[hopskipandjump]

There are so many times I wish I would have pulled out of the small gym division after watching some of the larger gym division teams for my lower level teams. That is where a small gym has no advantage or disadvantage in my humble opinion.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I know Cherokee from Green Bay had something to say about this on the Rules Webcast when they were talking about small gyms..I wish it was taped and we could still access it. It was very well thought out..

 

[The Sixth]

In order to attract talented kids to build these teams you have to be a winning program so that takes excellent coaching, strategic team placement and careful competition/division selections. Thank God for the small gym division! It gives us a better chance while we fight and claw each year to make progress with what we have!!

To me, you've hit the nail on the head.......except in support against the argument for small gym! You're exactly right, a gym needs to develop a solid program....but,*regardless of size*. Once you have a good product, you will attract the talent.

I'm against the small gym classification, if for no other reason than over saturation of existing divisions. That and nothing seems more awkward to me, than hearing them announce two champions at a competition.

 

[Num1Stunta]

To me, you've hit the nail on the head.......except in support against the argument for small gym! You're exactly right, a gym needs to develop a solid program....but,*regardless of size*. Once you have a good product, you will attract the talent.

That is absolutely true... I cannot stress the team composition aspect of it enough. A friend of mine started a gym last year, and had 60 kids tryout. She put them into 6 different teams, some using crossovers, but ultimately none had more than 12 kids. She had mini 1, youth 1, junior 2, senior 1, senior 3, senior 4... they all showed nearly full team tumbling and maxed out on scoresheets everywhere else. This is the key! They did a lot of winning. Her program doubled in size this year, and they already have their own gym- in an area that isnt very affluent, I found that to be incredible!

Small gyms don't need their own division if they comprise their teams correctly. IMO

 

[bobbi]

I would like to get in on this conversation =) I am from a small gym. And one of the things we are dealing with, and I am sure that anyone else in a small gym deals with is that its hard to retain talent with a big gym near by. Why is this? Because sometimes ( not always) bigger seems better. Now in regards to competitions this happens as well. The visual effects that are formed with a large team can be very convincing, the bigger the better. Additionally as explained before when your from a small gym you work with what you have and do your best. So IMO opinion I am glad it exsists, because it is indeed there for a reason, however, if your a small gym and want to compete against a powerhouse, I am pretty sure there are no rules against you doing this as well.

 

[NEliteSteven]

I know Cherokee from Green Bay had something to say about this on the Rules Webcast when they were talking about small gyms..I wish it was taped and we could still access it. It was very well thought out..

It seemed to me like she was just preaching about how she had the balls to go against big gyms and wanted a pat on the back. It sort of rubbed me the wrong way.
I know UCA just puts you in small gym whether you ask or not, so it's frustrating when people say others use small gym as a cop out. We were in small gym, and would've been just fine being put in with the large gym division, the more competition the better.

 

[sabriinaa]

small gyms just dont have so many girls to pick from to form there teams, so alot of times they will have lower difficultly in tumbleing and such since they dont have so many people to pick from. also alot of gyms that are small gym dont like it but some competition brands just put them in the small gym division based on how many teams they have. but that is what grand champs are for isnt it. or just look at the score sheet and see what you have gotten based on scores against the large gym division.