All-Star Teams That Go Up Against No One....

My CP and I always joke to each other (when her team is alone in the division at a comp) "Congrats on 1st and last place"

i have no idea why anyone would want to do that.. if that happens and a team drops out my team hates it. It's good practice, but it almost seems pointless to put in that much effort to your hair/makeup/travel time when you're against absolutely no one.. at least thats how i feel!

Cheeranswers said:

i have no idea why anyone would want to do that..!

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Because then they can show off all of those "National Champion" banners.

dawgshow said:

Because then they can show off all of those "National Champion" banners.

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oh gotcha. i'd rather get 2nd out of 10 then 1st out of no one..

If you have a team that has a lot of stage jitters, I think putting them in front of a crowd when there's no pressure to place can be helpful. But to do it repeatedly just to brag about 1st place, no.
Of course sometimes there are divisions (mini2,youth3) that tend to have less competition. We've been to plenty of competitions where some teams have lots of competitions and others are alone. You can't always help it.
But still, it's a huge pet peeve of mine to see posts of kids in championship jackets proclaiming to be "national champions" just because they went to a "national" competition and were alone in their division.

no this is a level 5 international open team that skill wise isn't a level 5, they are maybe level 3, but due to their age they gotta b a 5, which is stupid, i wish cheer would let older peeps start at a lower level but it is what it is.... but ya they seek out comps with no competition....kinda silly..... and then they brag so so much

I understand creating a team for that level because that is what your athletes truly are and just so happens there are no other teams in the area.... But to enter that level just so they can win... What's the point. There's no way that can motivate your kids to keep pushing themselves to get better very easily, they'll win regardless of what they put out on the floor.

Sounds like that team knows they aren't too hot and go for comps where they won't be an embarrassment.

cheerforceone said:

no this is a level 5 international open team that skill wise isn't a level 5, they are maybe level 3, but due to their age they gotta b a 5, which is stupid, i wish cheer would let older peeps start at a lower level but it is what it is.... but ya they seek out comps with no competition....kinda silly..... and then they brag so so much

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Does the gym itself go to bigger comps? Or is it just a coincidence that these smaller competitions tend to have no competition in the IO division? I've seen gyms that don't have a senior 5 team make an IO5 team instead of a level 6 team to keep the few level 5 athletes they have. If it works for the gym, I don't really have a problem with it. They might not purposely be seeking out competitions that have no other teams in the division.

I cheered at a gym that went to many smaller, "janky" nationals. We would compete 6-8 times a season (which is a lot for an IO6 team) and rarely compete against anyone. We still got jittery about performing, but it stinks to not have any competition.

The team I used to cheer for did that and not on purpose it was just that there was no one to compete against. We still had to pay 120 for all the comp fees etc and then wed get 1st place and it was the best thing in the world.. and we never went against anyone. Needless to say I dont cheer there anymore hahah insert "help me Im poor gif"

i could see it happening for a number of reasons, one because there are no other close level 5 gyms to compete with, or because teams pull out at the last minute because of time constraints, etc. im pretty positive f5 pulled out of a comp right before nca because they didnt want to risk injury and wanted to be better prepared for nca. it happens. that or the gym doesnt have enough funds to travel out of state for comps.
i wouldnt be able to understand why a gym would have a competitive team and then only enter competitions with no competition.... kinda defeats the whole purpose of allstar cheerleading.

Depends on the reason for me. I cheer OAG 6 and we're going to a competition next weekend with no one else in our division. There's only 1 other team in our area in our category anyway, so there's not a lot of competition. Our whole club is going, so I don't mind going to perform. Other years, we've been the only OAG 6 team in the area. We've also asked to be grouped with OCE teams too in the past just to have someone to compete against, even though we knew we'd lose to them.

I also coach/run 2 teams who are normally the only 2 in their division. My feeling is let the kids perform, even if they're the only ones. I'd rather have them out the performing/competing than sitting our cos they have no competition. We always try to better our scores/runs from the previous competition and set gals according to that. We also have fewer competitions to choose from here, so that might be a reason too.

If a team is choosing competitions based solely on the fact that they have no competition and will win, then I disagree with the philosophy of their program. I always register my kids to compete, not based on who/how many are competing.

Unless you're on a level 6 team, this is very uncommon in SoCal.
Unfortunate because sometimes it would be nice to get a random national championship and look a hot mess once in a while

cheerforceone said:

what do you think about teams that purposely find competitions that no one else in their level is in...... there is a local team around me, and they do this all the time, and people think they are amazing.....it just kills me b ecause no one else competed against them lol

what are your thoughts..... are those considered fake wins? i think they are... but thats just me

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Makes me crazy when this happens! People in town who don't know any better think this place is super great because they always win. Literally, they have probably only competed against a TOTAL OF 15 teams all season, in about 6 or 7 different competitions.

How do they even deal with their parents? I know our parents have a fit if we compete in a division with no one because they think it's a waste of time. We have to tell them that we don't always know ahead of time who we're going to be competing against. I feel like sometimes for the first competition, it's okay to be the only one in your division--because it's kind of like a practice comp...but after that, no thanks.