All-Star Usasf Major Changes

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Taking deep breaths to keep from flipping you know what....I have a lot of issues with this.

1. part A: The Uniform Police. The half top rule is ridiculous. Especially for teams that were planning to get new unis this coming season and wear them for three years. Varsity and GK better get ready to put out a brand new catalog because we have to scrap all our designs. Not to mention, this forces Junior/Senior crossovers to buy two uni tops. There are some things I think need to be enforced (no competing in sports bras, short inseam length) to prevent future wardrobe malfunctions (Cough Cough Top Gun Worlds....), but I don't really see why they give a hoot. It's no different than a bathing suit. And why is it ok for them to practice in a sports bra and hot pants at the gym and then go to _________ (fill in the blank, the grocery store, out to dinner, etc. etc) but not to wear a half top uniform>
part B: WHO'S GOING TO POLICE this RIDICULOUS cover up rule? Competitions barely have enough staff on hand as it is to keep people from stunting in the halls and following the actual safety rules, do we actually expect them to have Tee Shirt Cover Up Police? SERIOUSLY??!?!?!?!!! We can do that, but we can't get uniformly certified judges? Yep, USASF def has it's priorities straight.

2. Tumbling restrictions: Because All-star is a growing sport, for while, we didn't have a large base of young children (11 and below) who had/were working advanced tumbling passes. But, now we do. Kids who come into this sport at 5 or 6 and progress a skill level a year could realistically be expecting to be working fulls by the time they're ten or eleven. There's and 8 year old in our program now who's making great progress on a full. And unlike gymnastics, there's no other apparatus to slow them down. But they still have a potential of 8 years left in Allstars, more then that if they cheer IOC in college. What are they supposed to work for? Kids will eventually get bored and move on to other activities if we can't give them goals to work towards.
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On the other hand, I agree with both the age changes. I don't think 14 year olds have any place on a team with 21 year olds. It's inappropriate and can go creepy pretty fast. Same goes for children younger then 10 on Senior teams. They have no business hanging around with 18, possibly 19 year olds.
 
Although certainly not as big an issue as the tumbling.... anybody checked out the uniform/coverup policies. The only thing I have a TINY problem with is asking girls not to wear pajama pants/boots, etc when arriving at a competition. Idk. I get the point of want to legitimize the sport, and I think that's great. But that just seems a little too particular. My daughter has also played softball, son plays many sports. At a tournament, you don't see ALL the players in full uniform ALL day. Now, certainly completely changing clothes in public is totally inappropriate, but slipping on a pair of comfy pants after awards late at night and getting ready for the ride home, I think is okay. I get that we can have black warmup pants or something like that. I don't know. It just hits me as a little picky. And maybe is one of those things like someone said before, punishing all for the actions of a few. Last comp there was a girl walking around ALL day in sports bra and skirt.....
 
USASF has opened a whole can of worms with that rule on the motions and such men are doing. That can of worms was opened on here a few years back when it was brought up whether men should fly or not.
If USASF wants to take on a sexuality issue, I do not envy them.


Seriously! If miss universe canada is getting MAJOR criticism for disqualifying a transgender contestant, how is it that USASF can determine how a man should perform on the floor? That is allllll kinds of wrong. Gender Discrimination!

On a similar note, i agree that there should be restrictions on how skimpy a uniform can get.....some of them are pushing it right now. But to go as far as talking about "overly glitzy make up" "hair should look natural" "bows should not be overly large" and so on and so forth.....Why are we basically ashamed of some of the things that make our sport what it is? Cheerleaders like make up...they like bows....we want to be thought of as a serious sport, but we also want to be ourselves! We should be proud of our bows, weaves, hair flipping sassy boys, and glitter eye shadow because that is what makes us who we are!!
 
Appropriate Choreography - I do agree with this to some degree, though I'm sure a lot of it will be left up to interpretation. There are so many little girls and boys that look up to older/higher level teams and I think that all of our teams need to be good role models for them. I'm just hoping that some competitions won't be too crazy about this rule, because I also believe that you should be able to choreograph for your age group.

Appropriate Uniforms - I think that having full-tops for some cheerleaders will be very frustrating. Take crossovers, for example. Many girls on my team cross over onto a junior team. This also means that had the rule been enforced last year, I would have been forced to wear a full-top uniform as a freshman in high school. At the very least, I hope USASF will limit this rule to Youth, Mini and Tiny only. I agree with the skirt/brief/short rule, though. An inch is not too much coverage to ask for, neither are briefs or a two-inch inseam.

Cover Up Guidelines - I absolutely do not agree with this, and I don't believe it will be enforced as much. This should be left to the discretion of parents, coaches, gym owners, etc. Plus, has anyone thought of how annoying it would be to take a shirt off right before warm ups and still have your hair/bronzer in tact?

Makeup - I do agree makeup should be appropriate and uniform to each team, but I think rhinestones add a bit more of individuality to some performances! I do not personally utilize them, but think that if they are done right, it looks very nice.

Bows - I think I may be the only one, but I'm just waiting for the day when they ban bows for being a "distraction" or some ridiculous thing. This rule seems more like common sense to me.

Tumbling - This really upsets me. I am so encouraged by the hard work athletes put into their tumbling. It's something they identify themselves with-how they make a name for themselves in the cheerleading world. Competitions won't be as interesting because tumbling will be so similar. I remember "Cheerleader Nation" and one of the girls trying out for Dunbar saying that what team you make there depends on what you can do by yourself. Isn't this why we have a 4.2? It's much easier to teach someone to stunt than it is to tumble. We're either opening ourselves up to not as skilled athletes or competitors that are too-practiced. It's like entering a level 2 Youth team into a Mini 1 division.

Age Grid - I don't really agree with the Open age. Younger talents are becoming more and more common. While I see why they would do this, I think 17 is too extreme of an alteration from the previous age. The International age rule is also going to make a big difference to many athletes. If this rule is TRULY necessary, I'd like to see it enforced the season after the next. I'm also disappointed with the loss of Mini 3 division. I love watching them! They're just so talented. I also wish they weren't putting restrictions on Youth 5, especially with raising the Youth age to 12. I think one or the other should be chosen (most preferably, raising the age of Youth. If you're talented enough to be on a level 5 team at age 11, you deserve to twist in braced flips and perform double fulls/kick doubles). The desegregation of Junior Coed 3/4 and All-Girl 3/4 also doesn't sound like a very good idea. While these Junior Coed teams are rarer, the competition tends to be legitimate. Also, the strength many males have will make a difference in tumbling, stunts, baskets, etc. I'm sad to see the division integrate. I do like having a bottom age for Senior teams! 10 seems fair to me. While I know small gyms will struggle, it just doesn't seem right a lot of the times putting a Mini-aged girl up in the air with 18-year-olds.
 
Yeah, but some gyms have already created teams for this year. My 9 year old made a level 3 senior team. We are not a BIG gym. So, if I understand it right she would have to be moved to a junior team. Whuch means (at our gym) even though she has a standing back tuck, layouts, etc. she would have to go back to competeting a level 2 team.

Those skills are level 4, so she wouldn't be doing them on a level 3 team anyway.
 
so if anyone arrives to watch a younger sibling compete 7 hours before them they have to be competition ready..
I understand to some thats a hassle. I guess I dont see the problem, because the entire time I competed, our hair and make up was supposed to be done when we got there and we were either in uniform, or warmups with cheer sneakers.
 
Those skills are level 4, so she wouldn't be doing them on a level 3 team anyway.

Yes, I am aware of that. The point is she has level 4 skills and is already having to compete level 3. Now you want her to bump down to a level 2 team. I at least wish these changes would have been made before our new teams were created for this cheer season.
 
okay i mean the cover rule is not that bad i guess. i mean would you rather have to wear full tops all the time or wear a shirt when your not in warm or competing....and i wonder if when your on stage for awards you have to be in a shirt?
 
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