5
5-6-7-8
Athlete credentialing, and I think someone mentioned that a team must be made up of a majority of "level" athletes (be it 50% plus one, or whatever percentage.) To be honest I haven't thought it all the way through, but something of this nature would let small gyms still have their crossovers, but at least puts a framework in.
In tennis (USTA), there is rating system used for each person. In the beginning, one does a "self rate" and from then on out, the computer determines your rating based on the previous season's win/loss record. You can never play down, but play up as much as you want to. It certainly isn't a perfect system, but it works I think for the majority of players. Their system goes so far as to look at WHO someone played against and how they fared (maybe not unlike the BCS rankings in college football.) Not saying cheer has to go to this extreme, but with something like a "self rate" and making sure a team is comprised of at least a majority (50% +1, 60%, 75%, whatever) of "level" skilled athletes might be a step in the right direction.
Once an athlete is registered and given a unique ID number, a computer could quickly analyze team rosters for anomalies as well. And to prevent "athlete A" being registered, and "athlete B" competing instead, I bring back the shoe tag idea.
Of course this is all good in theory, I get it isn't easy to just flip a switch and start something of this nature. Just thinking out loud (or with my typing fingers I guess.)
In tennis (USTA), there is rating system used for each person. In the beginning, one does a "self rate" and from then on out, the computer determines your rating based on the previous season's win/loss record. You can never play down, but play up as much as you want to. It certainly isn't a perfect system, but it works I think for the majority of players. Their system goes so far as to look at WHO someone played against and how they fared (maybe not unlike the BCS rankings in college football.) Not saying cheer has to go to this extreme, but with something like a "self rate" and making sure a team is comprised of at least a majority (50% +1, 60%, 75%, whatever) of "level" skilled athletes might be a step in the right direction.
Once an athlete is registered and given a unique ID number, a computer could quickly analyze team rosters for anomalies as well. And to prevent "athlete A" being registered, and "athlete B" competing instead, I bring back the shoe tag idea.
Of course this is all good in theory, I get it isn't easy to just flip a switch and start something of this nature. Just thinking out loud (or with my typing fingers I guess.)