All-Star Champions League Updates ( Movie Spoilers )

[juscheerthatisall]

This is a long thread! I tried to read thru most of it as to not be repetitive. I wasn't there so I can really form an opinion until after I see the movie but just based on what I read I wanted to respond to a few things:
I think the "lack of information" and "confusion at the event" can be attributed to the fact that it was being filmed for movie theatre. I believe (and I could be wrong) that the judging/placements will be easier to understand in the film. The EP knew it would be twitted about and they probably wanted to keep as much secret as they possibly could. It sounds to me that the coaches were all clear. This doesn't sound like disorganization but rather purposeful withholding of information. If your unclear after Thursday then you can voice all your complaints.

The one thing I read here that I thought was amazing was the scoring format. It would be wonderful if all competitions judged difficulty first. I hear a lot of people complain that the harder skills don't score the highest this could be easily avoided if the judges were able to watch the entire division before confirming difficulty scores. It would also allow the judges to truly focus on execution and technique during the final performance. So in a 2 day competition format day 1 would be straight difficulty scores, no technique and execution, no deductions. Day 2 would be completely about execution and performance.

 

[CoachTamara]

Ok, these are cool. I'm into it, and I'm an adult and way too old to be into stuff like this. I love the white backpacks, and think it's a really fun way to raise more money.

champions league nfinity | eBay

 

[HeatUniqueJ]

Ok, these are cool. I'm into it, and I'm an adult and way too old to be into stuff like this. I love the white backpacks, and think it's a really fun way to raise more money.

champions league nfinity | eBay

it's a great idea, but 90 dollar shipping to Europe is crazy not that i want to buy it , but wow

 

[mstealtoyou]

Ok, these are cool. I'm into it, and I'm an adult and way too old to be into stuff like this. I love the white backpacks, and think it's a really fun way to raise more money.

champions league nfinity | eBay

That is awesome!! I want our's!!! LOL

 

[BigBow]

Ok, these are cool. I'm into it, and I'm an adult and way too old to be into stuff like this. I love the white backpacks, and think it's a really fun way to raise more money.

champions league nfinity | eBay

love SOT's!

 

[JessicaL]

We got more post-event information & scores than any competition we have ever been to in 20 years. Every coach can see every scoresheet from every team. You can't really ask for more than that.

That was one of the biggest positives of the whole event for me.

This particular E.P. is wonderful. 110% about the kids, about honesty and integrity. This and the fact that prize money wasn't awarded to gyms but to charity (wonderful life lesson for the kids!) were the two things that made Champions League a "go" for me.

 

[12stepCheermom]

This is a long thread! I tried to read thru most of it as to not be repetitive. I wasn't there so I can really form an opinion until after I see the movie but just based on what I read I wanted to respond to a few things:
I think the "lack of information" and "confusion at the event" can be attributed to the fact that it was being filmed for movie theatre. I believe (and I could be wrong) that the judging/placements will be easier to understand in the film. The EP knew it would be twitted about and they probably wanted to keep as much secret as they possibly could. It sounds to me that the coaches were all clear. This doesn't sound like disorganization but rather purposeful withholding of information. If your unclear after Thursday then you can voice all your complaints.

The one thing I read here that I thought was amazing was the scoring format. It would be wonderful if all competitions judged difficulty first. I hear a lot of people complain that the harder skills don't score the highest this could be easily avoided if the judges were able to watch the entire division before confirming difficulty scores. It would also allow the judges to truly focus on execution and technique during the final performance. So in a 2 day competition format day 1 would be straight difficulty scores, no technique and execution, no deductions. Day 2 would be completely about execution and performance.

Totally agree on the scoring format. I'm a firm believer a non-super hero human judge simply cannot score difficulty, technique, execution and deductions concurrently in the same 2:30 performance. Not with any accuracy.

And since I've only seen the man of steel on the floor (love rays!) and not the judges table.... I'm thinking this was a far more accurate way to handle that issue.


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[alexamarysouza]

ETA: This is just my 2-cents, and no, I was not there in person to watch.
Yeah, the scoring seems really confusing, and who won divisions/grand champs/etc kind of confused me more...but I really think this event really brought a new light to our competitive world. I know everybody will always want to win, but at the end of the day, this was a competitive fundraiser for a charity of choice. They weren't competing for rings, jackets, etc...I also loved how each team/gym did a fundraiser for said charity beforehand...it was really nice to hear about how much money they raised for their charities through their raffle tickets. I dunno...this competition just really made my heart happy with all the charitable donations and I really hope the movie is going to mainly be about just that--not glorifying 'cheerlebrities', or teams in general. I love this idea from nfinity and I wish them luck with fixing the kinks in the future!

 

[Klynn641]

If you're going to requote my post, don't twist my words around. I never said it wasn't a success for the sport of cheerleading. And I'm glad people are going to see it because if it doesn't make money, they won't be putting it in the movie theatres next year. I just haven't heard a huge interest where I live of people going to see it. I'm glad to hear it is sold out in some theatres. That's great

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

How did I twist your words ? I merely voiced my opinion regarding the movie.


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[L5cheermom]

I love this idea from nfinity and I wish them luck with fixing the kinks in the future!

I'm pretty sure the charity idea came straight from the athlete representatives that were on the planning committee. Such a positive reflection on the cultures that are created in these representative gyms. Their parents, coaches and gym mates should be proud.


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[cheercoach419]

The competition was really fun. It was a super concept and the energy and excitement of the kids was amazing. I also thought it was great that they provided food for the kids backstage while they were waiting for the other kids to compete. I know that some are against the "cheerleb" movement within our sport, but I felt there was nothing wrong with allowing these top athletes to all get some recognition and walk out on the catwalk like champions. They train so hard and they deserve it. I also felt like all the other activities were really great bonding experiences for the kids as well.

Here is a list of things I would encourage them to change about next year.
1. Seating/Venue: The assigned seating was great, but the venue was not well suited for this kind of comp. In the future, it would be best to get a venue with either an "arena" feel, or a long hall with the stage at the "thin" end, similar to the venue for The Majors. Also, the Diamond seats that went for $55 were not good if you ended up on the sides. They were only good if you were in the center between the catwalks. In fact, some of the $25 seating that was on the corners of the judging booth were actually better seats than the $55 seats. I know a lot of parents who were pissed about that. Lastly, try to choose a hall that does not have columns in the middle. Some of the seats were behind the columns, although it wasn't a sold out house so it seemed some were able to move to better seats. They may also want to try bleachers. Raised seating behind the judging tables and even on both sides would have been better.
2. Food: If you are going to bring parents in at 7:00 and keep them there until after midnight, it might be a good idea to plan for food for the adults. None of the concessions were open. There were lines at the soda vending machines. People were parched and hungry.
3. Scoring/Judging: Make things a bit more transparent with regard to scoring. Be up front so people know what to expect. There is nothing worse than feeling like the judging had no system. Of course, we know it must have, but it just seemed that way because of the secrecy behind this event from the beginning.
4. Lighting/Sound: Take a page from The Majors and do a better job of getting the crowd hyped up. There wasn't a lot of color with the lighting. The screens on the side were very dark to the audience that needed to use them in the back. By the end of the night, the crowd was dead. A countdown is great (majors). Awesome music is great. Some of the songs in between were so mellow I wanted to fall asleep.
5. Timing: Start on time and keep to a schedule as best you can. Logistically this competition was a nightmare. Teams coming off stage bumping into teams going onto the state. Teams warming up 45 minutes before they actually brought out. Athletes were doing jumping jacks on the side to keep their bodies warm. Thank God there were no injuries, but that was a real possibility with the disjointed running of the event. I do realize you were also trying to film a movie which probably added to the time issues, but this should be better thought out and planned if you are going to repeat next year.

I'm going to close with this. I really didn't care who won this event. It was the first year and as such it was just great to see another company (other than the V) be able to put on an event like this. Since the scoring was unorthodox (scoring big against small and coed against all girl) I really expected the team with the best skills who hit the best to win. That happened 2 out of the 3 winners, which isn't bad since this was never done before.

I will say this though. I am suspicious about the overall winner in this case. While TG is a clear World Champion and they have an amazing routine this year, I did not personally believe they were the best on the floor that night, neither in skills nor in performance. In fact, from reports I have heard, they were eighth in the scoring from earlier that day. In addition, I have heard from numerous people at the event, that the camera crews for CL that were there were following and filming TGLC behind the scenes during warm ups and even in their team room. To my knowledge, CL did not do this with any other team. Since I am familiar with how "reality TV", and in this case, making a movie works, it would seem to me that to logistically pull this off, it would be helpful for the event producers to have known beforehand who their winner was going to be. If they were in fact filming TGLG in warm ups and in their team room, that footage would most likely be used in the "movie" to show the team that won with a more "in depth" look. Especially since they didn't follow any other teams. I am also aware that TGLC has won their division and grand champs at several high profile events this year, so they were the clear favorite coming into this competition. Is it possible that for the purposes of making this movie, the placement had nothing to do with the score and more to do with making a good movie, and that the score was more of an afterthought conveniently "massaged" to be higher than anyone else? If I'm not mistaken, the score sheet used for this comp was not a Varsity score sheet (which TGLC has killed with all year), but instead was one that is more based on total number of athletes completing each skill set. If this is true, there are several teams that would outscore TGLC as their teams have more athletes that compete each skill and would thus score higher. Was Nfinity perhaps expecting TGLC to score highest based on the outcomes at other events this year and thus spend extra time recording them backstage at warm ups and in their team room to make for a good movie, only to have the unfortunate and unexpected happen (stunt drop and tumble deductions).

I guess we will never know for certain. However, if we want the integrity of our sport to continue to grow, tough questions like this have to be asked and be answered. I am not trying to take anything away from TGLC. They are an amazing program with proven results and IMHO, the favorite in their division this year. However, this does not proclude the possibility that since this was mainly about a movie being filmed, the winner had already been chosen and determined before any team even took the stage.

 

[cheernerd5678]

Scoresheet is online so I don't know why people think the scoring system is confusing. They literally counted each and every skill that was performed. The only subjective part was the always subjective part -execution, choreography, etc. you may be confused about what the judges thought, but there's no reason to be confused on how the scoring system works.


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[Mclovin]

Scoresheet is online so I don't know why people think the scoring system is confusing. They literally counted each and every skill that was performed. The only subjective part was the always subjective part -execution, choreography, etc. you may be confused about what the judges thought, but there's no reason to be confused on how the scoring system works.


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I wasn't going to get into this debate but since the difficulty rankings keep getting brought up...

If in fact they actually DID count skill for skill...I am very confused on how SOT had the highest difficulty score of every coed team in attendance. Because I have counted skill for skill between them and our team (obviously because they are always our biggest rival) and I know for a fact we out tumble them both in running and standing, and while our stunt sequences are very different, I would ask how a team with 7 stunts doing 1 1/4 ups (3 from a straddle sit) could be scoring higher than Obsession with 8 stunts doing double ups...

I will absolutely agree on any day that SOT out executes and out performs T&S, but out scores in difficulty...sorry...nope.

I would love to hear some honest feedback from those of you that agree with SOT being scored the highest in difficulty. Because I cannot wrap my brain around how...

As far as TGLC winning Grand...I have never broken their routine down and counted skills, but watching that team live for the first time all year...they were clearly the most entertaining, most creative routine to watch. I loved their routine from beginning to end. I do think they were the "expected" winner, therefore, received the most attention before the actual event. And while I agree that I wish the team that won Grand would have hit their routine...I also agree that TGLC is probably the BEST team to follow for a movie because they are hands down the most entertaining team in our sport. If the goal of the movie is to bring more fans to our sport...TG is the team to do it.

 

[BlueCat]

I will say this though. I am suspicious about the overall winner in this case. While TG is a clear World Champion and they have an amazing routine this year, I did not personally believe they were the best on the floor that night, neither in skills nor in performance. In fact, from reports I have heard, they were eighth in the scoring from earlier that day. In addition, I have heard from numerous people at the event, that the camera crews for CL that were there were following and filming TGLC behind the scenes during warm ups and even in their team room. To my knowledge, CL did not do this with any other team. Since I am familiar with how "reality TV", and in this case, making a movie works, it would seem to me that to logistically pull this off, it would be helpful for the event producers to have known beforehand who their winner was going to be. If they were in fact filming TGLG in warm ups and in their team room, that footage would most likely be used in the "movie" to show the team that won with a more "in depth" look. Especially since they didn't follow any other teams. I am also aware that TGLC has won their division and grand champs at several high profile events this year, so they were the clear favorite coming into this competition. Is it possible that for the purposes of making this movie, the placement had nothing to do with the score and more to do with making a good movie, and that the score was more of an afterthought conveniently "massaged" to be higher than anyone else? If I'm not mistaken, the score sheet used for this comp was not a Varsity score sheet (which TGLC has killed with all year), but instead was one that is more based on total number of athletes completing each skill set. If this is true, there are several teams that would outscore TGLC as their teams have more athletes that compete each skill and would thus score higher. Was Nfinity perhaps expecting TGLC to score highest based on the outcomes at other events this year and thus spend extra time recording them backstage at warm ups and in their team room to make for a good movie, only to have the unfortunate and unexpected happen (stunt drop and tumble deductions).

I guess we will never know for certain. However, if we want the integrity of our sport to continue to grow, tough questions like this have to be asked and be answered. I am not trying to take anything away from TGLC. They are an amazing program with proven results and IMHO, the favorite in their division this year. However, this does not proclude the possibility that since this was mainly about a movie being filmed, the winner had already been chosen and determined before any team even took the stage.

They filmed other teams as well in the warmup.

 

[12stepCheermom]

I think the confusion in the whole grand champ thing came from the announcer...who may've had an extensive resume in professional cheer but clearly didn't know anything about our world.

His initial welcome and introductions he referred to the completion as the "champions legends" (it was only written in like 7 foot tall letters right behind him) and when he called SE to the mat for awards he called for the "senior extreme cheer elite" or something like that.

As we say in the South... "Bless"

If he'd done the awards by saying "the top scoring AG and Coed team ASIDE from the overall CL grand champions are...." There would've been zero confusion. But either someone didn't script him that way or he didn't understand it enough to put it out that way to begin with... Or he didn't read the script.

Either way the top three placements aren't confusing in that sense when you see the final rankings. They just weren't presented that way.


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