All-Star Acro&tumbling Vs Traditional Cheer

russmin said:

So there will be schools that have an A&T teams as well as sideline cheerleaders that compete?

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thats what confuses me on the entire thing. I don't see A&T as a bad thing but i do think it would be a shame to see it replace competitive cheerleading in colleges. However it would be a conflict of interest for a college to field both an A&T and competitive cheer team.

The only thing that annoys me about A&T comps on Youtube is all the fluff they put in there. I know you have 12 graduating seniors but do we have to recognize them during air time?! I usually will fast forward through the opening, breaks, and when teams are entering/leaving the floor.
I do like that the rest of the team stands on the side the whole time cheering the athletes on. As a parent I like A&T because it equals actual NCAA scholarships and perks.
I believe schools can have both A&T and sideline but they can't have a "UCA or NCA" competitive type team.

CAPheebersMom said:

I believe schools can have both A&T and sideline but they can't have a "UCA or NCA" competitive type team.

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Is that a definite rule? What if there is no crossover between A&T athletes and competitive cheer athletes? There are many schools that I'd think would have plenty of potential athletes to field both teams.

cheer.coach said:

Is that a definite rule? What if there is no crossover between A&T athletes and competitive cheer athletes? There are many schools that I'd think would have plenty of potential athletes to field both teams.

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I don't think it's a definite rule. It might just vary from school to school, but I think it would depend on whether or not the college wants to pay to send the competitive cheer team to compete when they already have an A&T team and they're pretty similar. That's just my guess other than that I don't know for sure.

sigmalovee said:

thats what confuses me on the entire thing. I don't see A&T as a bad thing but i do think it would be a shame to see it replace competitive cheerleading in colleges. However it would be a conflict of interest for a college to field both an A&T and competitive cheer team.

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don't quote me on this, but I thought one season Louisville had both, but their team was basically their entire all-girl competitive team. I could be wrong.

hiimsabrina said:

don't quote me on this, but I thought one season Louisville had both, but their team was basically their entire all-girl competitive team. I could be wrong.

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i'm pretty sure that was a STUNT championships the day after NCA nationals. I actually really prefer the format of STUNT over A&T just because I think it stays more true to the traditional form of cheerleading that we are used to seeing at competitions. And in that case Louisville used their all girl team as their STUNT team. Im saying it would be a conflict of interest to have a competitive cheer and then separate A&T because 1) where would the talent go? and 2) I doubt most colleges would be willing to fund both. And also if A&T where to take over where would all the male cheerleaders go?

sigmalovee said:

i'm pretty sure that was a STUNT championships the day after NCA nationals. I actually really prefer the format of STUNT over A&T just because I think it stays more true to the traditional form of cheerleading that we are used to seeing at competitions. And in that case Louisville used their all girl team as their STUNT team. Im saying it would be a conflict of interest to have a competitive cheer and then separate A&T because 1) where would the talent go? and 2) I doubt most colleges would be willing to fund both. And also if A&T where to take over where would all the male cheerleaders go?

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You are correct, Louisville did use their All-Girl team to compete in STUNT for 2013, but not all schools do this. Some schools have a specific team that competes just in STUNT for competitions. And I will agree with you about the STUNT format being more traditional to the cheer format, but I believe that STUNT focuses on the basics and form being very precise and uniform and therefore I feel that it gives a perspective of cheer that each athlete must have learned and mastered their basic skills in addition to their advanced skills and it shows in their synchronized stunting, jumping, and tumbling when comparing the two teams side by side doing the same exact routine.

sigmalovee said:

i'm pretty sure that was a STUNT championships the day after NCA nationals. I actually really prefer the format of STUNT over A&T just because I think it stays more true to the traditional form of cheerleading that we are used to seeing at competitions. And in that case Louisville used their all girl team as their STUNT team. Im saying it would be a conflict of interest to have a competitive cheer and then separate A&T because 1) where would the talent go? and 2) I doubt most colleges would be willing to fund both. And also if A&T where to take over where would all the male cheerleaders go?

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The talent would go where it wanted to go. If they are two separate sports with no crossover then athletes would decide whether they wanted to do A&T or cheer and try out accordingly. I think the two are different enough that a college would not have any conflicts having both, given that they are willing to fund A&T as a new sport. Other than that, I don't see it as a "one or the other" situation. College cheer teams have an established niche already and A&T would be a new but separate female sport that wouldn't really have to have anything to do with cheer.

I feel so silly, but I never understood the different between STUNT and A&T. I know they are different things, but I don't know the difference between them format and set up wise. It confused me .

hiimsabrina said:

I feel so silly, but I never understood the different between STUNT and A&T. I know they are different things, but I don't know the difference between them format and set up wise. It confused me .

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Here is a video to check out on STUNT :

It is just one quarter of the 2012 STUNT competition. You can search for more on youtube, also.

cheer.coach said:

The talent would go where it wanted to go. If they are two separate sports with no crossover then athletes would decide whether they wanted to do A&T or cheer and try out accordingly. I think the two are different enough that a college would not have any conflicts having both, given that they are willing to fund A&T as a new sport. Other than that, I don't see it as a "one or the other" situation. College cheer teams have an established niche already and A&T would be a new but separate female sport that wouldn't really have to have anything to do with cheer.

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Well i feel like its more of an "one or the other" just because not all colleges will have enough athletes to field two separate teams. Some colleges have replaces cheerleading with A&T and if this becomes a popular trend where does that leave male cheerleaders?

[quote="sigmalovee, post: 776503, And also if A&T where to take over where would all the male cheerleaders go?[/quote]
I think if A&T did truly takeover a coed division would probably be created. Or maybe even an all male team

A&T teams don't compete cheer but the schools can still have sideline and competitive cheer teams. Look at Oregon as an example. Now as for STUNT they compete both. Not sure how this is legal but they do it.


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sigmalovee said:

Well i feel like its more of an "one or the other" just because not all colleges will have enough athletes to field two separate teams. Some colleges have replaces cheerleading with A&T and if this becomes a popular trend where does that leave male cheerleaders?

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I just imagine schools that replace cheer with A&T (and those that already have) to be schools who don't have established, competitive cheerleading teams. I do see your point but I see A&T as growing on its own two feet rather than becoming a replacement for college cheer. Do you know which schools have replaced cheer with A&T so far?

cheer.coach said:

I just imagine schools that replace cheer with A&T (and those that already have) to be schools who don't have established, competitive cheerleading teams. I do see your point but I see A&T as growing on its own two feet rather than becoming a replacement for college cheer. Do you know which schools have replaced cheer with A&T so far?

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The only school I know of at the top of my head would be Quinnipiac.