High School If You Could Magically Have Three Rule Changes...

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Apr 14, 2017
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If you could have three rule changes to high school cheer, what would they be?

Mine:

1. High to high tick tocks in elite section (non-braced)

2. Single-braced inversions (not rolls)

3. More than one trick in baskets

Runner ups:

1. Flyers may support another flyer’s weight in a transition

2. Bracers may be in back of flyers

3. Double downs

Summer on the boards is here. Let’s all daydream before reality kicks in.
 
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High to high ticks are now AACCA legal... but vary state by state legality NFHS

1. Single braced inverts (agree)

2. I think pancake should be illegal (so rather than make something legal, It needs to be illegal... I’ve seen and heard so many horror stories from this... I think the above is WAY safer)

3. This is going to sound crazy... but three high pyramids...I feel they’re way easier and safer than some of the creative two high combinationas some people are trying to execute just to out visualize each other.
 
If you could have three rule changes to high school cheer, what would they be?

Mine:

1. High to high tick tocks in elite section (non-braced) Made legal for AACCA this year. I've been told that by AACCA doing it this year, it will make it easier for NFHS to do so next year. NFHS meets to discuss potential rule changes once a year, and apparently this was on the list for discussion but never made it to the table.

2. Single-braced inversions (not rolls) I'm assuming you mean flips, as the rules currently allow for non-braced inversions prep level and below, and also allow for those to be released to extended with only one bracer. I'm 50/50 on this one. I know WHY everyone wants it, but I think it would leave too much room for unqualified coaches to create dangerous situations for under-prepared athletes. Also, with the current inversion/transition rules, there are plenty of ways for teams to get creative with inversions and transitions. I'd be perfectly OK with them taking braced flips away again if they kept the current rules with other inversions and release skills.

3. More than one trick in baskets Maybe this is different in your state, or you have a different definition of trick than I do, but I don't think this is even addressed in the rules. I seem to recall a time 20 years ago when it was a thing, but no longer. The only restriction that comes to mind is the number of twists. So kick fulls, full up toes, double toes, etc are all legal.

Runner ups:

1. Flyers may support another flyer’s weight in a transition Really doesn't change the game that much unless they change virtually all of the inversion rules to allow for fly-overs. That's a lot of risk to take on given the wide range of knowledge of coaches. I think it's a lot of risk for all stars to allow such things at the junior level given the wide range of knowledge of all star coaches too. Too many kids still developing out of their awkward, uncoordinated phase at that age.

2. Bracers may be in back of flyers If you mean for braced flips, this was made legal 2 or 3 years ago. The only limitation on other skills has been that you have to maintain hand/arm-to-hand/arm contact

3. Double downs Glad they're gone, hope they never come back. One skill that everyone thought was the end-all/be-all of cheerleading and would do ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING to have them in their routines. They would Even risk their athletes health and safety. When double downs went out, the number of concussions went down, and that's always a good thing. You can't police the coaches who just tell kids to do everything they can to get around twice, without even knowing if they can full down first.

Summer on the boards is here. Let’s all daydream before reality kicks in.

My big one was top to top tick tocks, which was brought back this year. We will have to low-to-high for state-level competition, and high-t0-high for national level competition, but I can live with that for a season.

I'm not overly interested in single-braced flips or double twisting anything. Routines at nationals instantly became cleaner when double downs ad tumbling doubles went away.

This is less of a safety rule and more of a scoring thing, but I'd like to see a change in scoring based on the amount of walking around a stunt that bases can do in order to create a double up or 1 1/2 up. The merry-go-round technique is slop-city.
 
High to high ticks are now AACCA legal... but vary state by state legality NFHS

1. Single braced inverts (agree)

2. I think pancake should be illegal (so rather than make something legal, It needs to be illegal... I’ve seen and heard so many horror stories from this... I think the above is WAY safer) We've competed these 2 out of the last 3 years, and we do them well. However, I have personally witnessed these horror-story worthy attempts you mention from other teams in our area. My kids like them and do them safely, but the other teams' attempts would make me 50/50 on them.

3. This is going to sound crazy... but three high pyramids...I feel they’re way easier and safer than some of the creative two high combinationas some people are trying to execute just to out visualize each other. This would be an interesting twist. I think it would have to come with some additional restrictions compared to the college game. I mean, big time additional restrictions. Maybe with 2 spotters behind the top person and one spotter in front. These would need to be in place on the opposite side of the pyramid from where she's loaded before the skill is attempted. No toss load-ins would be another necessity. I don't think you'll ever see this at the high school level again, though, as there have been too many stories in the last 5-10 years about college kids falling out of them and suffering significant head/neck injuries.
 
High to high ticks are now AACCA legal... but vary state by state legality NFHS

1. Single braced inverts (agree)

2. I think pancake should be illegal (so rather than make something legal, It needs to be illegal... I’ve seen and heard so many horror stories from this... I think the above is WAY safer)

3. This is going to sound crazy... but three high pyramids...I feel they’re way easier and safer than some of the creative two high combinationas some people are trying to execute just to out visualize each other.

I love pancakes but I can see what a liability they can be. Your flyer needs to be 1) flexible and 2) COMMITTED to pull it off, and your bases better be laser focused.

Also, could you point me to where high to high’s are AACCA legal? Not sure if my state allows them yet but if it does my whole world just changed.
 
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I love pancakes but I can see what a liability they can be. Your flyer needs to be 1) flexible and 2) COMMITTED to pull it off, and your bases better be laser focused.

Also, could you point me to where high to high’s are AACCA legal? Not sure if my state allows them yet but if it does my whole world just changed.

It’s not really state by state. They are legal for AACCA but not NFHS. If your state follows NFHS rules, not legal. If your state, for whatever reason, does not follow NFHS rules, the AACCA guidelines would be your legal precedent in case of injury/liability/litigation. I was under the impression that all state athletic associations were members of the National Federation of Highschool Sports. That would make NFHS pretty universal at the state level. That would mean that national competitions under AACCA guidelines would be the only place where you could legally perform them.
 
It’s not really state by state. They are legal for AACCA but not NFHS. If your state follows NFHS rules, not legal. If your state, for whatever reason, does not follow NFHS rules, the AACCA guidelines would be your legal precedent in case of injury/liability/litigation. I was under the impression that all state athletic associations were members of the National Federation of Highschool Sports. That would make NFHS pretty universal at the state level. That would mean that national competitions under AACCA guidelines would be the only place where you could legally perform them.
Thank you for this... I wasn’t sure what other states do/don’t go by regarding NFHS and if they are NOT considered a sport (it was my understanding there are some states that do not follow NFHS (because cheer is not “technically considered an “athletic association” at all but a club or performance art... however everyone must follow AACCA, as you stated (I could be wrong) we are a sport here in California (competition cheer)... and practice them, but can not compete them at a local level
So yes, your world may have changed!
 
While on that... here’s a rule I want changed... non competing on sundays in California. What I find interesting is I can name about 3-5 sports that have Fri-Sun, Sat-Sun tournaments or have Contact on Sundays...Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, Football passing league, etc.
Yet here we are, year 2 of having to figure out whats going on with Nationals and if CA schools will be competitive on Sunday at NHSCC ? Forfeiting finals? Only eligible for game day?! We have no clue... meanwhile we are all signed up for camp and choreo, kind of just waiting like we didn’t have a whole year to figure it out. :/
Take out the West Coast and I feel like NHSCC is going to turn into Mid/EAST Championship kind of like USA Nationals to us is a West Coast Championship.
Rant over- sorry for the de-rail and double post. I know it’s not Varsity’s fault CA is a mess but (frustrated)
 
Thank you for this... I wasn’t sure what other states do/don’t go by regarding NFHS and if they are NOT considered a sport (it was my understanding there are some states that do not follow NFHS (because cheer is not “technically considered an “athletic association” at all but a club or performance art... however everyone must follow AACCA, as you stated (I could be wrong) we are a sport here in California (competition cheer)... and practice them, but can not compete them at a local level
So yes, your world may have changed!

We are a “sport activity” in Kentucky. I still challenge the legality of any state calling cheer a sport. No matter what adjective the state association chooses to use to describe cheerleading, it has been shot down by SCOTUS on more than one occasion in terms of meeting title IX definition. Title IX recognition is the only benefit of being labeled a sport, and I don’t really call it a benefit. True title IX acceptance would lead to cheer becoming a universally all-girl activity, and coed would go away. See also: STUNT is all-girl only.

People claim that having sport status will lead to more training, education, requirements, etc for coaches. Sport status is not required for this to occur. It’s simply a matter of creating and enforcing these requirements. Most of this stuff was in place for cheer in KY when we were still under KAPOS which was a non-state-sanctioned organization. When KHSAA took over, the only thing that changed was the location of our state competition and the disbursement of gait receipts for competitions.
 
While on that... here’s a rule I want changed... non competing on sundays in California. What I find interesting is I can name about 3-5 sports that have Fri-Sun, Sat-Sun tournaments or have Contact on Sundays...Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, Football passing league, etc.
Yet here we are, year 2 of having to figure out whats going on with Nationals and if CA schools will be competitive on Sunday at NHSCC ? Forfeiting finals? Only eligible for game day?! We have no clue... meanwhile we are all signed up for camp and choreo, kind of just waiting like we didn’t have a whole year to figure it out. :/
Take out the West Coast and I feel like NHSCC is going to turn into Mid/EAST Championship kind of like USA Nationals to us is a West Coast Championship.
Rant over- sorry for the de-rail and double post. I know it’s not Varsity’s fault CA is a mess but (frustrated)

I am amazed that this is an issue in one of the most liberal states in the country, yet here in the Bible Belt, we schedule the girls basketball regional championship on Sunday after noon every year.
 
Right?!?!?! Mind blowing
I also love the term “Sport Activity”... makes us sound like “Professionaly trained Basket-weavers”

Lumped right in there with bowling, archery, and bass fishing. Yep...bass friggin' fishing is a “sport activity” in Kentucky.

“Sport activity” in Kentucky = we want ticket revenue, licensing, marketing, administrative, and scheduling control, but we are going to put you under an associate commissioner who knows less about cheerleading than he does feminine hygiene products. Then after totally screwing it up for six years, we will defer to Varsity and UCA, who, in one season, managed to get it 85% repaired.
 
Lumped right in there with bowling, archery, and bass fishing. Yep...bass friggin' fishing is a “sport activity” in Kentucky.

“Sport activity” in Kentucky = we want ticket revenue, licensing, marketing, administrative, and scheduling control, but we are going to put you under an associate commissioner who knows less about cheerleading than he does feminine hygiene products. Then after totally screwing it up for six years, we will defer to Varsity and UCA, who, in one season, managed to get it 85% repaired.
EXACTLY
 
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