All-Star Dallas (nca) Newbie- Need Suggestions, Advice!

cheer_coach_d said:

We are heading to Dallas for NCA for the first time this year (gulp!!). I'm equal parts thrilled and terrified- and full of questions.

Hotels- do we need to reserve now? Does everyone within our program have to stay in the same hotel? How quickly do hotels fill up? Best hotels to stay in?

Is it worth it to be there a day ahead to practice at the CC or rent space nearby?

Crossovers- what level can 4.2 athletes cross to? 4? 2?

Any suggestions in general are very welcomed, too!!


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They can cross to either a level 2 or level 4. Just remember, only 5 crossovers per team.

cheer_coach_d said:

We are heading to Dallas for NCA for the first time this year (gulp!!). I'm equal parts thrilled and terrified- and full of questions.

Hotels- do we need to reserve now? Does everyone within our program have to stay in the same hotel? How quickly do hotels fill up? Best hotels to stay in?

Is it worth it to be there a day ahead to practice at the CC or rent space nearby?

Crossovers- what level can 4.2 athletes cross to? 4? 2?

Any suggestions in general are very welcomed, too!!


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We do NCA every year but last year was my first.

Yes reserve hotels now. You need to go through connections housing. Y'all don't have to stay together but you can. Our gym owner set up a block at a Hampton Inn but you can stay anywhere. I will tell you a lot of extremely close places are already booked and/or you are going to pay a arm and and a leg plus some. So good luck get them as soon as you can!

We stayed at the Hyatt House last year and it was an amazing hotel. The shuttle takes you to and from the comp and anywhere you want to go. That's my own personal recommendation lol

Thank you both!


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Get your tickets/or have your parents get their tickets on Friday night while teams are practicing.

And unlike The Summit, you can go in on Friday night and shop without an entrance fee at their vendor booths while you've trekked over from the hotel in a zigzag direction. But you know, that is just what I was told about The Summit, I wasn't there at WWOS until Saturday, so someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes reserve now we never go through connections housing it is cheaper to find the places on your own. The closer you are to downtown the more expensive but if you did Hotwire right now you might get lucky just make sure to select the downtown area. Make sure when you come to bring good walking shoes because you will be doing a lot of it

Boo21 said:

Yes reserve now we never go through connections housing it is cheaper to find the places on your own. The closer you are to downtown the more expensive but if you did Hotwire right now you might get lucky just make sure to select the downtown area. Make sure when you come to bring good walking shoes because you will be doing a lot of it

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Be careful not going through Connections. Last year NCA got picky about this for some gyms and it caused problems. NCA "requires" you use Connections.


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mecheermom said:

Be careful not going through Connections. Last year NCA got picky about this for some gyms and it caused problems. NCA "requires" you use Connections.


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Yes, be careful. We ran into issues last year.

Here is the thing I think about connections housing as discussed in another thread.

If one or 2 people per team hasn't registered they probably won't catch that. If the majority of your gyms thinks they will outsmart them and book elsewhere outside of them then you will probably get caught. Furthermore if you can prove to them you have a lower cost on that room not going through them and you tell them that and you can prove it to them then they can usually make it happen for you.

Also it's not always expensive the hotel that was blocked from our gym last year (I didn't stay there) was only 99$ a night. The hotel we got this year was Hampton Inn for 119$ a night. That's not to bad.

So what do most people do if they are not connected to the venue? Are there shuttles? Do you have to rent cars/vans?

CoachTamara said:

So what do most people do if they are not connected to the venue? Are there shuttles? Do you have to rent cars/vans?

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There are several shuttles by various hotels. The one at Hyatt House last year was great. It never took him more then 15 mins to pick us up when we called him to the convention center. We r end called him to take us to dinner and back to the convention center as we pleased. Whenever I was waiting I did see other hotels who had shuttles.

I had my car there so I could of drove as well. I did see people who took Taxis. If I was at a gym that had to fly there then I would potentially see if they couldn't stay close enough if the whole team could agree to stay together then they could rent there own shuttle driver.

Also not Dallas related but when we went to New Orleans last year everyone stayed at different hotels but a lot of us rode some charter bus we had rented. The night we got to NO the bus spent over an hour dropping everyone off. Then he would pick us up both mornings before the comp but I knew if it took that long I would be irritated so me and Jaylen walked kind of far (most people wouldn't walk that far) just to get to the comp. What I'm saying is even if it is a further then desired walk it still may be doable and not worth the hassle of waiting on someone else lol

CoachTamara said:

So what do most people do if they are not connected to the venue? Are there shuttles? Do you have to rent cars/vans?

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We paid $40 each parent/athlete for our time in Dallas for the bus to pick us up at airport, four flights that day, and bus was supposed to come to our hotel/convention center four times a day. I know one team loaded some of our kids on one of their buses one morning when our bus wasn't there and we loaded some athletes/parents the next morning on ours when theirs wasn't there. I saw some of the teams buses running through the convention center like clock work. Ours, not so much. The hotel wasn't too far to walk, it was just COLD!!!! I moved from IL 20 years ago to FL, I didn't take a jacket, lost all my thick skin to cold. TX is a southern state, right? It was COLD!!! I did jump on a van the first morning our bus hadn't shown and rode over with a bunch of Rockstar kids, super sweet, and their moms and it was 5 bucks per person.

But now that I know @kris10boo is going to have her car there and our CPs had their pic taken together and all, don't think I'm going to lose your number for this year.

I would definitely practice at the convention center Friday. It is overwhelming, especially if you have never been before, so being there a day early to let everyone get acclimated will help a lot. I would also recommend letting your athletes and parents know that there is no priority seating in front of the stage - it is off to the side. Some teams are used to having their coaches right up front and if they dont see them not perform as well, so knowing ahead of time and preparing for it is a good idea, especially for younger teams. That was the one benefit of a 6:30am check-in time - I was the first one in the hall and got front row seats for the coaches. It is a great competition and definitely worth going to. Good luck to your teams!

notyourcheermom said:

We paid $40 each parent/athlete for our time in Dallas for the bus to pick us up at airport, four flights that day, and bus was supposed to come to our hotel/convention center four times a day. I know one team loaded some of our kids on one of their buses one morning when our bus wasn't there and we loaded some athletes/parents the next morning on ours when theirs wasn't there. I saw some of the teams buses running through the convention center like clock work. Ours, not so much. The hotel wasn't too far to walk, it was just COLD!!!! I moved from IL 20 years ago to FL, I didn't take a jacket, lost all my thick skin to cold. TX is a southern state, right? It was COLD!!! I did jump on a van the first morning our bus hadn't shown and rode over with a bunch of Rockstar kids, super sweet, and their moms and it was 5 bucks per person.

But now that I know @kris10boo is going to have her car there and our CPs had their pic taken together and all, don't think I'm going to lose your number for this year.

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Yes I will have my car, if you or anyone needs any help I will see what I can do