All-Star Worlds Age Change???

[quitthedrama]

The J5 teams at Summit last year were better than mostly all of the at large Worlds teams... What will actually happen is gyms will end up with better looking J5 teams than their Worlds teams. Worlds teams will become a joke. Have you seen most college cheer teams?

What gyms are your J5 teams coming from? Mostly all gyms that have highly competitive worlds teams. Nothing has changed about that in the decade plus that I've been involved. No idea what your comment about college cheer means.
I'd be more concerned about big gyms putting smaller gyms out of business due to expansion and recruiting coaches mid season for the following season than the age change - as that is already happening now and will continue to get worse.

 

[NCCheerMama]

It's hard for folks to believe but there are TOP collegiate squads out there (think your UK, LSU, UCF, etc.) with kids on the team who have actually (*gasp*) never set foot on an all star mat.

Ncsu is a top program. (Top 3 finisher at NCA past 3 years) and some of those kids have never been on an all star team. Some have been but never made it to finals at Worlds. They do have small flyers but my daughter flew and based her freshman year. She does not fly now bc became so muscular. Also in college they condition a lot. And once a week they go to an hour of lifts. They are trained to lift girls. No matter what size. Heck her soohmore year in a stunt she had one girl standing on her shoulders and another girl sitting on top of her! A boy just provided a little support in the back.

 

[Natalia5]

Ncsu is a top program. (Top 3 finisher at NCA past 3 years) and some of those kids have never been on an all star team. Some have been but never made it to finals at Worlds. They do have small flyers but my daughter flew and based her freshman year. She does not fly now bc became so muscular. Also in college they condition a lot. And once a week they go to an hour of lifts. They are trained to lift girls. No matter what size. Heck her soohmore year in a stunt she had one girl standing on her shoulders and another girl sitting on top of her! A boy just provided a little support in the back.

See this ^^^^ perfect example of what great conditioning and proper technique can do. Proper conditioning IMO is something that is lacking in all star cheer. Again, more foundations that should be established from Level 1 now, I am not saying have 8 yo's bench pressing 50 lb weights but how about some age appropriate resistance and strength training? Proper lifting technique, etc? If more conditioning and technique is established from Level 1 and continued throughout their program you may be able to keep some of your best flyers in the air after they hit puberty because you will have trained stronger athletes in general. JS

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

What gyms are your J5 teams coming from? Mostly all gyms that have highly competitive worlds teams. Nothing has changed about that in the decade plus that I've been involved. No idea what your comment about college cheer means.
I'd be more concerned about big gyms putting smaller gyms out of business due to expansion and recruiting coaches mid season for the following season than the age change - as that is already happening now and will continue to get worse.

I was just discussing this with someone.

In 10-20 years, are there going to be just the same 5-10 franchise gyms?

I'd like to think there is always going to be a market for small ones, but who knows.

 

[quitthedrama]

I was just discussing this with someone.

In 10-20 years, are there going to be just the same 5-10 franchise gyms?

I'd like to think there is always going to be a market for small ones, but who knows.

There will likely still be a market, albeit much smaller due to this trend. However, poaching mid season and blindsiding these smaller gyms compounds an already big problem. USASF has release rules and recruiting rules that gym owners largely support. I don't agree with either rule, but given the rule, the same should hold true for employees.

 

[HappyGirls]

Curious to know the logic why an age change for Worlds Teams, but not other Senior teams? Yes, the skills are different but all the points discussed are social issues, not skill issues...so why single out Worlds Teams? I have nothing at stake (my kids are not in the range for Worlds Teams), it just doesn't seem logical.

 

[Lablover]

I would love to hear the actual rationale for the change. Because I can’t think of one that isn’t contradicted by other rules.
1. Physical development. Athletes too young/not physically mature. Yet those same kids (and younger) can compete those skills on j5 teams
2. Age difference between teammates. There’s just as large of a gap on junior team. There are 6-7 year olds on jr teams with 13-14 year old.

 

[Lablover]

And I suspect this will affect small gyms that field worlds teams greatly. Aside from not being able to field a current worlds team because of the age grid change. I think they might lose a lot of their pipeline. The younger kids(9-11) with the level 5 skills will move to a gym that provides j5 or j5r so they can use their current skills since their wait for worlds got years longer.

 

[Keep_Believing]

Curious to know the logic why an age change for Worlds Teams, but not other Senior teams? Yes, the skills are different but all the points discussed are social issues, not skill issues...so why single out Worlds Teams? I have nothing at stake (my kids are not in the range for Worlds Teams), it just doesn't seem logical.

I believe the plan is to slowly raise ages for all senior teams.

 

[mecheermom]

I would love to hear the actual rationale for the change. Because I can’t think of one that isn’t contradicted by other rules.
1. Physical development. Athletes too young/not physically mature. Yet those same kids (and younger) can compete those skills on j5 teams
2. Age difference between teammates. There’s just as large of a gap on junior team. We’ve at 6-7 year olds on jr teams with 13-14 year old.

Good points and valid reasons to raise the minimums on Junior as well. My CP was 9 on a junior team and learned more than she needed to from the Freshmen in high school.




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[Keep_Believing]

Honestly, it reminds me of schools. Big school districts (Makes me think of D1 gyms) keep high schools separate, 9th-12th grade only.

Very small school districts ( Makes me think of small gyms D2) sometimes combines and share resources across grade levels due to circumstances.

 

[LateKate3]

I would love to hear the actual rationale for the change. Because I can’t think of one that isn’t contradicted by other rules.
1. Physical development. Athletes too young/not physically mature. Yet those same kids (and younger) can compete those skills on j5 teams
2. Age difference between teammates. There’s just as large of a gap on junior team. There are 6-7 year olds on jr teams with 13-14 year old.

I agree. I know I am biased because this directly effects my daughter (and would for two years). She was on a mini 1 team at 6, a Jr 2 then 3 team from ages 7-9 at as very small d2 gym, and at 10 a Sr 5R team at a big d1 gym. She was put on the Sr team based on her skills, not her size. I would venture to say the actual number of 12 year olds with true level 5 skills is not that large of a percentage in the big scheme of things...so if the goal is to raise the age limit for senior teams then do that, but why raise the age limit for worlds teams when they are also a Sr team. If a 12 year old has what it takes, in a coaches opinion, to make a worlds team (And again, this probably isn't a huge number) then why make them wait another two years? If anything raise the bottom age of IOC. Ok, rant over. Lol. Whatever happens on the 15th, we will all survive...but that doesn't mean I have to love the changes.

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[Keep_Believing]

I am hoping they raise the IOC ages too, but haven't heard any rumors about that. It's ironic, if they leave IOC the same you will eventually be age eligible for IOC (that has no age limit) due to their unique calendar year before Senior Worlds team (which stops at 19 years old).

 

[DonnaM]

How much of this is motivated by the abuse case and concerns about USAG? I could see the thinking being that world’s teams are more likely to practice more, travel more, and give more chances for younger kids to be there without direct parent supervision, so changing the ages is a way of saying “see, we’re being proactive about this”.

 

[Natalia5]

How much of this is motivated by the abuse case and concerns about USAG? I could see the thinking being that world’s teams are more likely to practice more, travel more, and give more chances for younger kids to be there without direct parent supervision, so changing the ages is a way of saying “see, we’re being proactive about this”.

Good point this could very well be a factor because I must say that I was amazed at how many very young athletes like 6 - 8 year olds that traveled to the Summit with other families. I actually chatted with some "chaperones" during the wait between awards and one said they were there with 16 kids and only 3 had a parent present. All I could say was God bless you honey and I would not want that kind of responsibility. That is too much pressure for me so I would imagine the powers that be might be considering this as a factor to lower the liability factor KWIM.