All-Star Should Level 6 Exist?

Welcome to our Cheerleading Community

Members see FEWER ads... join today!

Something I've wondered is why theres just International Open 5 & 6. Wouldn't it make sense to offer this at least at 4, 5, and 6, if not even at 3? I'm aware of the already vast number of divisions, but couldn't we say, knock a few of the level 5 out, combine them etc? ie) small, medium and large, can we not just put limits on the teams instead of trying to be all inclusive of every size of team out there?

I think it's a little unfair for the USASF to say that once you're over 17 or 18, you should be able to do the full regiment of level 6 skills. I did cheer for 5 years before aging out of senior and still didn't have near the skills for a level 6 tumbler and just scratched the surface as a stunter. Essentially, they've set that age group out for failure with the expectation that they can all do these skills, when really, they just want to keep cheering if college isn't an option for them.
 
Coaches also make some of the worst coachable athletes. No matter how strong and confident a coach is, as an athlete being coached again is very humbling because you no longer have a voice... you just have to 'shut up and do your job'. As an athlete a coach has to accept that the direction of the team isn't always perfect and have you to work through problems. Coaches usually want them fixed instantly instead of working through it. As well, in general, coaches believe they are more talented than they are and don't want to practice as hard. I always find it interesting the internal fight they must have because coaches as athletes aren't dumb. They know they have go through the blood/sweat/tears to get to where they want, but in all honestly they just don't want to.

This has to be one of the most frustrating issues on my level 6 team, there some team members that are there to work hard and get better tumbling/stunting, but there is lots of team members who just aren't willing to work for it and they refuse to tumble. I fully understand that adults have lives/work and stuff happens where you have to miss practice but when you are they you need to be fully committed to working your butt off.
 
This has to be one of the most frustrating issues on my level 6 team, there some team members that are there to work hard and get better tumbling/stunting, but there is lots of team members who just aren't willing to work for it and they refuse to tumble. I fully understand that adults have lives/work and stuff happens where you have to miss practice but when you are they you need to be fully committed to working your butt off.

So many people on our team last year had no idea what those last words meant. It was play time for them. At one point, I had to turn the team away from the mirrors because they spent so much time flexing their muscles in front of them.
 
So many people on our team last year had no idea what those last words meant. It was play time for them. At one point, I had to turn the team away from the mirrors because they spent so much time flexing their muscles in front of them.
We have a group of girls that think because they are decent dancers that tumbling doesn't matter it's extremely frustrating their bad attitude causes alot of drama on the team that doesnt need to happen.

I'd also kill to have a decent tumbling instructor for our gym but that doesnt seem to be the norm in canada so our best tumbling is two fulls, a handful of round off tucks, mostly ro-bhs
 
I have to be honest, I skipped through some of these posts. We have am open co-Ed 6 team. They make me crazy in so many ways but these kids still want to cheer. They love it. Replace it with a lower level if you must, but there should be a place for everyone in Allstar cheer.
 
When level 6 is done right I think it is so much fun to watch. I joined forces with a friend of mine who coaches a local acrobatic college performance team to put together a level 6 that would promote my gym. We had a lot of fun putting together a fun routine and the crowd reaction was awesome. While it was only an exhibition performance, I really don't think it could have gone much better. If you have the resources, knowledge, and dedicated athletes it is an amazing division.

Here is a video of our performance. Keep in mind we put this together in five practices, and it's sole purpose was to promote the gym and to let people know that we'd be putting together a serious Level 6 coed next year. Ihope you enjoy. We did.

 
here the thing with level 6 first off you have to have kids that know what they are doing that why most level team well the goods feed off of college like twist and shout level 6 is Oklahoma state people. .. gym tyme is university of Louisville thats how you gain the tanlet to even compete in level 6 unless your gum has level 6 staff that know hows to teach all meaning of level 6 cheerleading
 
We'd get killed because it's such a highly competative level. Level 6 has such small competition in it, that we're all sort of rocking the level 4 skills anyway (in Canada at least, with a few exceptions).

I disagree with the "Level 6 has such a small competition in it". Even being from Canada and being on the team that do the Level 6 stunts we find that level 6 has a lot of competition when you look at it in the worlds stage kind of view. It's true that there's not a lot of "competitive level 6" teams in Canada right now but I feel that the 4 or 5 (guesstimate) teams that actually do the level 6 stunting, baskets, and pyramids in Canada strive not to just be the best in Canada but also works hard to be the best in the world. Sure, top 3 teams from each country makes it to the final of the level 6 competition at worlds which can be easy for some countries because they're the only level 6 team competing from their country, but for some country like USA and Canada, who have more than 3 teams competing in this division, it gets very nerve wracking waiting for the announcement of the top 3 teams moving on to the finals round. Just imagine this year, US has a lot of competitive level 6 teams. Nfinity, Stealth, CA, Twist and Shout, Top Gun, Stingrays etc.. only three of them can make it thru.

I am very supportive of the Open 4 idea for the obvious safety reason of teams "trying" to do level 6 stunts when they should just be doing level 4 (sometimes even level 3).
 
If the natural progress is level 1-6, parents would still pay. Just like we pay for our 15 year old to master a double, you pay for her to master a level 6 basket. Before we send kids off to college, get them the level 6 training, while under the allstar gym.

What about a senior level 6 worlds division making the age 15-18? This would get kids ready for college so the jump from all star level 5 to college isn't as drastic. Gyms would benefit since the parents still pay the bills at that age.
 
I disagree with the "Level 6 has such a small competition in it". Even being from Canada and being on the team that do the Level 6 stunts we find that level 6 has a lot of competition when you look at it in the worlds stage kind of view. It's true that there's not a lot of "competitive level 6" teams in Canada right now but I feel that the 4 or 5 (guesstimate) teams that actually do the level 6 stunting, baskets, and pyramids in Canada strive not to just be the best in Canada but also works hard to be the best in the world. Sure, top 3 teams from each country makes it to the final of the level 6 competition at worlds which can be easy for some countries because they're the only level 6 team competing from their country, but for some country like USA and Canada, who have more than 3 teams competing in this division, it gets very nerve wracking waiting for the announcement of the top 3 teams moving on to the finals round. Just imagine this year, US has a lot of competitive level 6 teams. Nfinity, Stealth, CA, Twist and Shout, Top Gun, Stingrays etc.. only three of them can make it thru.

There were still less than 10 US coed 6 teams at worlds last year. Compared to the level 5 divisions, that's not a lot of competition. My team is lucky because we stick to the big nationals in our area so we've always had at least one other team to compete against (the most was 4 others), but I've been on other open teams in the past where we compete against no-one.
 
I think it has to do with that we don't have the level system. If you want to to anything harder than back handsprings and extensions you'll be in "advanced", which is like level 6 for seniors (for juniors advanced is almost exactly like level 5). You can't compete at level 5 at all as a senior in Sweden. Well, you could, but you wouldn't score very good in pyramids and baskets.. I guess that's why. The level system just wouldn't work since Sweden is so small and cheer is not as popular as other sports. Even now with three different difficulty levels there are very few teams in some divisions.

But i have no idea why they have decided to make the hardest available level like level 6 instead of 5 in the first place.
Because the tradition of Europeans and IFC Worlds were there are no senior level 5. Sweden joined ICU/IASF very late and wasn't able to compete at ICU Worlds and IASF Worlds until 2010.

At least we got some kind of levels in Sweden (beginner, intermediate, advanced), because Norway and Finland have only had senior level 6 up to this year. Also Sweden is good at one more thing - to stay on our level and not try to do too hard stunts/pyramids/baskets on competitions. I don't remember any dramatic falls in level 6 the last 5 years.
 
What about a senior level 6 worlds division making the age 15-18? This would get kids ready for college so the jump from all star level 5 to college isn't as drastic. Gyms would benefit since the parents still pay the bills at that age.
You pretty much sum up what I was thinking. Get out of my head! :p
 
Whether kids go into sideline/competitive college or NCATA they need to know how to do flipping baskets. Having the higher age group would prevent us from seeing 12 year olds in 2.5 high pyramids...
 
The problem with having a senior level 6 division is that if there aren't enough qualified coaches for the International level 6 teams there still won't be for senior level 6. Every gym doesn't have a James Speed to teach the athletes proper level 6 baskets and pyramids so I could only imagine what would happen if it was now open to senior aged athletes as well. Routines with older athletes doing level 6 skills that shouldn't be scare me enough, I would have a heart attack seeing 15 year olds out there doing it without being taught properly.
 
Back