All-Star Change To Us Finals?

[alpaca]

In recent years, US Finals has been a season end event that any team could attend as long as they attended a qualifier. But I just went to the US Finals website and I'm seeing

"PRESTIGOUS
Only teams who earn a GOLD BID or rank in the Top 3 at a Qualifier will be invited to attend."

So this is a change for this year?

 

[CheerBank]

In recent years, US Finals has been a season end event that any team could attend as long as they attended a qualifier. But I just went to the US Finals website and I'm seeing

"PRESTIGOUS
Only teams who earn a GOLD BID or rank in the Top 3 at a Qualifier will be invited to attend."

So this is a change for this year?

It used to be that way and first place went free, and it was only in one location (hence the name back then of Final Destination). Then they expanded it to the top five teams and multiple locations. Then they only gave a paid "bid" to the grand champion of that division, which was awarded at their discretion and could be given to a special needs team who wasn't paying to begin with. Maybe they're trying to make it a little more meaningful to attend?

 

[Amie815]

Wow! That would be a big change, I think it would make it feel more prestigious to attend as well.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

This sounds good.. I felt like anyone could go to US Finals and to be honest, what makes that special!

 

[alpaca]

We are still new to All Stars (only cp's 2nd year ) so I'm glad to hear the history of the event. Since it wasn't merit based, given the travel involved, it was just a very expensive end of the season competition for us.

I'm thinking that it is also a way to increase participation at smaller comps. IIRC last year at the larger Summit bid comps, the same few teams always won. CP's teams ranked at the bottom of the brackets, but since we attended it still counted toward US Finals eligibility. That would not be the case this year.

 

[BlockHead]

That is great news! It will definitely make it a more prestigious competition. Before it was only a big deal if you got some of your costs knocked down a bit.

 

[tumbleyoda]

It used to be that way and first place went free, and it was only in one location (hence the name back then of Final Destination). Then they expanded it to the top five teams and multiple locations. Then they only gave a paid "bid" to the grand champion of that division, which was awarded at their discretion and could be given to a special needs team who wasn't paying to begin with. Maybe they're trying to make it a little more meaningful to attend?

Final Destination was owned by a separate company that ran that event. It was bought by Jamfest and then became US Finals after that.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

FAQ's Page:

The U.S. Finals Frequently Asked Questions

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