All-Star Your Definition Of A World's Caliber Team

[4me2Kno]

The other advantage to that would be that if you know you'll be participating in enough events to attend Worlds that you can plan for it in advance, rather than "hoping" that you get a bid. I think you'd see more teams attend Worlds.

And if you want to make paid bids more prestigious, give paid bid winners a bye of some kind. Maybe have three rounds of competition and paid bid winners get a bye into round two - or something like that. The only rule would be that EP's would have to agree to a uniform standard for giving out bids.

They are already doing the 2nd part... Paid and partial paid bids skip prelims and go to semi finals

 

[cheermomfootball]

I think it is all a matter of opinion. Some people may think a certain team is of a higher caliber because of the program it originates from. Some people may decide on certain teams because they have personal favorites or they base it on the coaches or the team's past performances.

If we look at teams that get a bid because the team above them received the bid and already had one at the time of the competition, why is there anything wrong with that? They have still beat out other teams to be in that place for that bid that they received. Even at that, the team that already had the bid might only beat the receiving team by a fraction of point(s). It is a lot like school grades. You can technically say: "The B student has achieved greater results and thus is better academically than a C student." Technically, by only looking at the broad grade of the B versus the C, the answer is Yes. But, if you peel back the onion and look at it closer on the grading scale you can find that the B student may be at 80%, and the C student is at a 79%. When looking at it from that perspective, the 80% on average is only better by 1%. That is nothing on the grander scale. Reality is that they have to separate the grade at some percentage, so it just is what it is. And, in my opinion, it would not be fair to decide who is the better student when they are separated by only 1%. The only way to know again, is by putting them up against each other at a final test. Even then, you may find that they are neck to neck, or one of them may have a terrible day and not do their very best. The same, in my view, holds true for these teams who are competing with narrow margins to spare.

The teams who score high [the A student] get something that the At Large Bid teams do not get. Their trip is paid for; they consequently can worry less about the cost and focus more on practicing. They can spare some money for more help from top choreographers and so forth. However, it is not a guarantee of winning, making the top 5, etc. The At Large Bid teams can come in and do awesome, while the Paid Bid teams can have deductions that will simply cause them not to even place in the top 5. The teams that get bids, paid or not, are the teams worthy of going. The teams who do the best [regardless of the kind of bid] on that final day is the winner. It is up for grabs from the start of the season until the the final day of Worlds.

 

[rockymountainthigh]

It seems to me that some big programs are afraid of a cinderella team coming and taking a big gym's medal.

 

[tucknduck]

I would say if the team earns a paid bid, it's a world calibur team. Simple as that.

 

[Nothanks]

Yes, i believe if a team earned a bid, they deserve to be there, but what about when it comes down to every team in the division has already gotten a bid, and the team with 10 fulls and half squad jump backs is the one who gets it by default? that's where i have the problem...and with bids being passed down...they didn't earn it. if i team declines a bid, it shouldn't go to the next team down.

 

[mkatherine13]

After reading through this thread, it really got me thinking. I'm not extremely knowledgeable about the ins and outs of receiving a bid to Worlds, however, I am familiar with how it works with others sports, such as the USSSA Baseball World Series. It seems that how things are done there could be easily applied to the cheer world, as well.

How well you place at certain competitions earns you a certain amount of points. For example, placing first at a national, state, or super NIT tournament earns you 300 points. (Just a little info for those not familiar with baseball: A Super NIT tournament is equivalent to the larger nationals in cheerleading. Teams from all around the country come to these tournaments.) Placing second at any of those competitions earns you 225 points, placing third earns you 200 points, etc. Lower level tournaments, such as a lower caliber state tournament, earn you fewer points for winning first place. To go to the Elite World Series, you must place first at a Super NIT tournament, which there are only 32 of. The top 32 teams in each age group (which could be changed to divisions to apply to all star cheer) compete.

To edit how this works to accommodate more teams competing at the cheerleading worlds, after the top 32 in each division are decided after all the "NIT-like" competitions are competed, then the next ten teams in each division with the most points are qualified to go to worlds as well. The number of "NIT-like" competitions could be lowered to say 15, and the the next 27 teams with the most points in each division get to go. The top (insert appropriate number here) teams with the most points in each division get the paid bid, the next (insert appropriate number here) get a partial-paid bid, and the rest receive at large bids.

It's obviously not a perfect system, however, it evens out the playing field a little bit, and makes things a little more cut and dry. Of course, the issue would then become classifying tournaments...

But on the topic on which this thread was originally intended, anyone who earns a bid is a world caliber team. Plain and simple. No one should be able to say that so and so doesn't deserve to be there because they did earn a bid, whether you agree with it or not. It's not your place to decide these things. It's the EP's.

 

[PrimeTime]

I don't think you'll ever see a huge drop in the number of teams that are allowed to go to Worlds, there is way too much money at stake. Those gyms that more than likely won't be in the finals are the ones that are basically paying for those larger gym's teams to be there and win. The event producers are able to do those Paid Bids because of the entry fees paid for by a majority that are the Level 1-4 teams and the other level 5 teams. It is definitely fun to watch the best of the best go on but shouldn't Worlds be about more than 20 or so teams total in this country? I think it's exciting to see X gym from you area and see how they do at Worlds even though you know they aren't going to come back with gold. I think if a bid is received then it is up to that gym, athletes and parents on what they want to do with it. There are many teams there that put in the same amount of hard work throughout the season and that should be appreciated as well.

 

[tucknduck]

I think if a bid is received then it is up to that gym, athletes and parents on what they want to do with it. There are many teams there that put in the same amount of hard work throughout the season and that should be appreciated as well.

While I get the money part in that you need these lower level teams and non-paid bid teams to foot the bill the paid bids, I disagree that a bid should be handed down to a team that didn't earn their own bid. It cheapens the Worlds Tournament. As for hard work, I'm sure most teams work very hard but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.

I don't like to see teams in any sport appear at a tournament of champions venue that didn't earn it.

In The Babe Ruth Baseball World Series tournament, the host team gets an automatic berth in the tournament. Even if they get eliminated in the previous round, they can still move on if the next round is at their home complex. This kind of stuff make me shake my head.

Winning builds character. Losing reveals it. Somebody has to make the cut and somebody has to stay home. Nothing wrong with that. Teams that don'tmake the cut will wajt to work that much harder the next time to earn their bid.

 

[PrimeTime]

While I get the money part in that you need these lower level teams and non-paid bid teams to foot the bill the paid bids, I disagree that a bid should be handed down to a team that didn't earn their own bid. It cheapens the Worlds Tournament. As for hard work, I'm sure most teams work very hard but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.

I don't like to see teams in any sport appear at a tournament of champions venue that didn't earn it.

In The Babe Ruth Baseball World Series tournament, the host team gets an automatic berth in the tournament. Even if they get eliminated in the previous round, they can still move on if the next round is at their home complex. This kind of stuff make me shake my head.

Winning builds character. Losing reveals it. Somebody has to make the cut and somebody has to stay home. Nothing wrong with that. Teams that don'tmake the cut will wajt to work that much harder the next time to earn their bid.

I meant more of whether they wanted to go or not and not handing it down to another team. I completely agree with your statement though. My husband's family is big into the Babe Ruth Baseball too and it never made sense to me why they got the automatic bids. I guess cheering isn't the only sport where rules and what not can get confusing.