All-Star Usasf Major Changes

I'm gonna say my final piece on this issue (at least on here) after thinking it out for a LONG time.
The USASF is smart in looking at injuries. In gymnastics, if more than 5 serious (though generally fatal) injuries occur because of a skill, the skill is illegal. There have been MANY skills taken out of the sport of gymnastics even in the past 20-30 years because of how dangerous they are and because people continuously are getting injured.
I think the tumbling rules make sense, I really do. You can still do a LOT of passes without being able to whip double or full double. If you watch some of the major teams, you see a lot of arabian to double, punch front to double, whip TO double, 1 1/2 to double, etc., which are all acceptable running passes now. Standing tumbling I'm a bit iffy on at this point, but this season especially, I have seen so many underrotated doubles by people wearing knee and ankle braces that it really makes me stop and kind of agree with these rules.
I'm sure, someday, there will be a credentialling system that is more appropriate and teaches you more. I would say you'd need more than one day just to cover one level. Someday, doubles will be added back into standing tumbling, same with standing fulls, but until coaches and athletes understand proper progressions in skills, and understand that just because you're throwing and landing a two to full doesn't mean you should start working 2 to doubles, then we need these changes. That's my standpoint on it at least.

I've purposely stayed off the boards until now after I heard about this. I knew it would be a mess. I'm not going to beat a dead horse but of course I disagree with the new rules. I just don't understand how someone can put a "cap" on your skills. I havent seen the MLB step in and tell Derek Jeter he cant hit the ball too hard or too good. These rules are basically stopping children from being "too good" or reaching their full potential. I'm not going to ramble on, since I could go for days. On the bright side, I always joked that my daughter or son will have a double by the time they were 7... guess I dont have to push them anymore.

xtremeteal4life said:

And I suppose their guidelines about boys acting too gay sits well you? The fact that they would even mention something to that effect w/all of the things going on in cheerleading world pertaining to gays committing suicide and needing more boys in the sport just totally lost any bit of credibility with me they may have had. Not to mention most boys love the tumbling aspect of cheer the most

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I didn't say anything about the boys, and definitely nothing about the tumbling. I feel that they threw in the uniform and etiquette things with the tumbling rules so people wouldn't focus on them. Though based on the NACCC meetings I watched the live stream for last year, this change for the boys isn't that surprising based on how many coaches and owners complained about boys being too flamboyant. I don't support that change, and definitely never said I supported the tumbling changes.

I would argue, however, that way more injuries occur from doubles than any of the skills they took away.

wcsstilldeath said:

I've purposely stayed off the boards until now after I heard about this. I knew it would be a mess. I'm not going to beat a dead horse but of course I disagree with the new rules. I just don't understand how someone can put a "cap" on your skills. I havent seen the MLB step in and tell Derek Jeter he cant hit the ball too hard or too good. These rules are basically stopping children from being "too good" or reaching their full potential. I'm not going to ramble on, since I could go for days. On the bright side, I always joked that my daughter or son will have a double by the time they were 7... guess I dont have to push them anymore.

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Doubles are not illegal.

chyeeaaa69 said:

I'm gonna say my final piece on this issue (at least on here) after thinking it out for a LONG time.
The USASF is smart in looking at injuries. In gymnastics, if more than 5 serious (though generally fatal) injuries occur because of a skill, the skill is illegal. There have been MANY skills taken out of the sport of gymnastics even in the past 20-30 years because of how dangerous they are and because people continuously are getting injured.
I think the tumbling rules make sense, I really do. You can still do a LOT of passes without being able to whip double or full double. If you watch some of the major teams, you see a lot of arabian to double, punch front to double, whip TO double, 1 1/2 to double, etc., which are all acceptable running passes now. Standing tumbling I'm a bit iffy on at this point, but this season especially, I have seen so many underrotated doubles by people wearing knee and ankle braces that it really makes me stop and kind of agree with these rules.
I'm sure, someday, there will be a credentialling system that is more appropriate and teaches you more. I would say you'd need more than one day just to cover one level. Someday, doubles will be added back into standing tumbling, same with standing fulls, but until coaches and athletes understand proper progressions in skills, and understand that just because you're throwing and landing a two to full doesn't mean you should start working 2 to doubles, then we need these changes. That's my standpoint on it at least.

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every single professional sport has the same type of issues...except worse...they're getting cortisone injections right and left and popping pain pills to help them get through games. soccer and volleyball (even in hs) both have fairly bad injury rates (particularly competitively)..I could go on... (and these are highly trained athletes)

okay now i have to say what i think i have to tell someone and feel free to call me out on anything im wrong on ......... i feel like they’re taking away everything everyone has worked for. like you don't see them telling football players or soccer players that they can’t have stripes on their helmets or they can’t have green uniforms like it’s crazy . everyone is starting to consider us a sport but now like they’re taking away every good part of it like so many people have worked so hard to get the specialty passes they have. i already posted this in another thread but for example Kelsey Rule she worked so hard to get her double double and now she’s known for and everyone idolizes her for it they all the little ones wanna be just like her and now they can’t do that because what’s the point you can’t do it in competition. like everyone dream is to become be last pass on a lv 5 team ( well mine is anyway) but like what’s gonna set the first pass from the last pass ? and also with the full top uniforms there’s a lot of 14/15 year olds on junior teams they are old enough to get there belly buttons pierced and there gonna think (just like i did with my high school ) that you can get it pierced because you dont have to take it out because no one can see it and in practice people are going to be more careful around you because its just practice and in competition there not going to be thinking about not hurting you there going to want to win so its prob going to get ripped out and that hurts prob more than breaking a bone i know that really doesn’t have to do with anything but it’s what i think... lastly the makeup i do agree on some extent that some teams do go a little over board with there make up but the rhinestones I love ! I love watching fame with the rhinestones on their eyes it looks so good! Like my team does a Smokey eye a light gray with that gets darker on the outside or inside (some people do it different ) like that’s not to much it looks good … well I feel much better that that’s all out any thoughts ?

Ashley said:

I didn't say anything about the boys, and definitely nothing about the tumbling. I feel that they threw in the uniform and etiquette things with the tumbling rules so people wouldn't focus on them. Though based on the NACCC meetings I watched the live stream for last year, this change for the boys isn't that surprising based on how many coaches and owners complained about boys being too flamboyant. I don't support that change, and definitely never said I supported the tumbling changes.

I would argue, however, that way more injuries occur from doubles than any of the skills they took away.

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I watched it too and not all of them said that..only a couple from what I recall and besides..you can't say "here you can do it bc you're a female, but you can't bc you're a male". completely ridiculous.

I just think that's personally waaayyy out of line (even though I digress you never said anything regarding that specific subject)

I want ALL of us that are attending Worlds to make tee shirts, each one saying something different. Black. With big white capital block letters:

RIP Standing Full
RIP Standing Dub
RIP Bling
RIP Our Dance
RIP International Division
RIP JrCo 3/4
RIP Mini 3
RIP Booty Slap
RIP Fetus Flyer on Senior
RIP Male Cheerleaders
RIP Fame's Eye Stickers

Feel free to add your own.

I'm also not surprised that the flamboyancy issue has come up. Although I find it extremely harsh and don't agree with it, I'm not surprised. James Speed (I believe) was commenting at the NACCC conference that the image that a lot of cheer boys present on the floor is not one that appeals to new male athletes joining from other sports, and he believed it was truly contributing to the loss of boys in the sport, and quite a few people agreed. Once again, not saying I agree, but I'm not at all surprised by it.
I can't help thinking of those few athletes though that have taken their lives because of something to do so strongly with this ruling. Imagine the feelings an athlete feels hearing that they need to be "less theatrical" when they are only being themselves? Or when their only medium to express themselves is on that cheer floor? I think USASF really should have thought a LONG time about this rule, there are serious repercussions to rulings like this, ones that we have seen already.

Ashley said:

Doubles are not illegal.

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hahah I know, but I always joked that my daughters would be the next Kelsey Rule, so a straight double isnt good enough. I wasnt thinking straight when I typed that. Too full of anger haha

xtremeteal4life said:

every single professional sport has the same type of issues...except worse...they're getting cortisone injections right and left and popping pain pills to help them get through games. soccer and volleyball (even in hs) both have fairly bad injury rates (particularly competitively)..I could go on... (and these are highly trained athletes)

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I understand that, and injuries are a natural part of sport, you're never going to go completely without injury, but for the most part, cheerleaders are injured because of bad coaching, improper technique, and not being ready to throw a skill, whereas in other sports you don't really see that (unless, of course, we compared it to sports where technique and training is more involved; ie. figure skating, gymnastics, dance, etc.)

oops forgot something.. the age with senior i kinda agree with but for example there's a girl at my gym who is 7 or 8 and she has level 3 skills and we dont have a youth or junior 3 team so she is on our senior 3 team.. she is very mature and can handle that team . so next year i guess shes just gonna have to go on our junior 2 team even though shes a level 3 cheerleader

I just dont understand how this will help much, especially with expanding the sport and gaining more interest. Im on an open team and my boyfriend came with me to watch me compete. He saw cheer as the "rah rah" old school stuff, didnt take it seriously, always joked about it. After I competed it was a bunch of level 5 teams, so we sat and watched. He saw one amazing guy tumble, and his jaw hit the floor and he could not stop talking about how amazing it was. He was just amazed by everything, and when we got back he wanted too "learn to lift me like those guys at the competition". It is really all he talks about when people ask about how the trip went, is just how amazing it was, how much respect he has for the people in cheer. I told him about this last night, and his reaction was pretty close to everyone who is actually involved in the sport.

I know I personally want to see the "statistic report" on these competition injuries. Once again, this is just me, but I was injured more learning the basic skills (bhs, tucks) then ever learning fulls or working doubles. Taking the elite skills away is not a fix to the problem. Its not even a band-aid. You will still have unqualified coaches teaching scary fulls, tucks, bhs, you name it, and its probably on the floor somewhere when it shouldnt be. The athletes working these elite skills are being taught correctly. If you have a crazy full, you are NOT pulling any king of bounding skill no matter what! Shoot, when i was throwing my full it was okay, not scary in the least, but I knew I was never pulling a bounding skill out of it. Give the athletes and coaches some credit, cant say all, but majority, know their limits.

The comment on guys being too theatrical really makes me sick to my stomach. I would much rather see a guy up front shimmying and being over the top while dancing, then have the guys nugget in the back or "hide" in the dance. Its really sad that apparently the Board is sexist. Yes I agree on age appropriate music and moves (its disgusting to see a mini or youth team have more suggestive moves then an older team, and I have seen it a LOT!), but some of these rules just seem like EP trying to push their own rediculous agenda.

I know I for one will be doing my research for some private EP's. I hope many are doing the same. At this point, they dont deserve our money, time, or athletes who have worked so hard to gain these amazing skills.

christina3655 said:

doesnt this just really rub you wrong...your daughters are amazing and still so young.... like how is that supposed to make them feel ...? im 23 and im upset by this.... like im starting to push my skills to become more of a "power tumbler" ...but now i dont feel like theres a point to because i cant do it ....i thought it was a really cool thing that they were awarding mroe points for a girl to do a standing full...it pushed sooo many female athletes to better their skills... now we did all that work for nothing -___-... im so pissed

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You are absolutely correct!!! My girls feel the same as almost all the cheerleaders across the country...no point in even continuing! Putting a cap on the sport is going to KILL it...period! It is the same as saying 40 yrs ago...we will no longer record or count anything faster than the 7 minute mile.....how dangerous is a society that has nothing to strive for....I'm just so disappointed. I am praying for SOMEONE to hurry up and form a company that will hold events that will not stifle our kids and their talent, work ethic, creative expression...hell...they attacked every possible facet they could...it is garbage!!!

DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE MALE ATHLETE ISSUE!!! IDIOTS...how dare you attack these amazing kids and their love and joy expressed in WHATEVER way they choose..... Hitler reincarnated...grrrr...so mad!