All-Star Cheer Athletics (questions/rumors)

[kristenthegreat]

What ever happened to the Open Coed Level 6 Team that Cheer Athletics was suppose to have this year? I was really looking forward to them!

Also, will LadyKatz and Fierce Katz be joining Wildcats at worlds this year? I feel like I've only seen Lady Katz like twice, and I havent seen Fierce katz at all.

Thanks in advance! BlueCat

You haven't seen FierceKatz because they don't exist.

 

[cheerforcebboi]

You haven't seen FierceKatz because they don't exist.

Weren't they runner up at worlds last year? Dang...

 

[Dixie]

Several Fiercekatz have taken their sass to Swooshkatz. I'm pulling for them to show well in MAG.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[Ashley]

What ever happened to the Open Coed Level 6 Team that Cheer Athletics was suppose to have this year? I was really looking forward to them!

Also, will LadyKatz and Fierce Katz be joining Wildcats at worlds this year? I feel like I've only seen Lady Katz like twice, and I havent seen Fierce katz at all.

Thanks in advance! BlueCat

Well they had an IOC6 team last year and didn't end up going to worlds. If I'm not mistaken, Jody has said that IOC6 tends to not only be the biggest money-loser in a gym, but also the one with the most egos.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[gymcatmomx2]

Well they had an IOC6 team last year and didn't end up going to worlds. If I'm not mistaken, Jody has said that IOC6 tends to not only be the biggest money-loser in a gym, but also the one with the most egos.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

That's a shame because I really enjoy watching level 6 routines!

 

[AndrewSky]

Weren't they runner up at worlds last year? Dang...

Weren't they runner up at worlds last year? Dang...

3rd at worlds.

 

[BuegeSmalls]

You haven't seen FierceKatz because they don't exist.

This makes me so sad. They have always been my favorite. I hope they bring them back next year!

 

[BlueCat]

What ever happened to the Open Coed Level 6 Team that Cheer Athletics was suppose to have this year? I was really looking forward to them!

Also, will LadyKatz and Fierce Katz be joining Wildcats at worlds this year? I feel like I've only seen Lady Katz like twice, and I havent seen Fierce katz at all.

Thanks in advance! BlueCat

At no point did we say we were going to have an IOC6 this year. As has been mentioned previously, it is nearly impossible to not lose a massive amount of money on that team. On top of that, it is the hardest division to get to actually show up to practice, and the hardest team to coach.

LadyKatz will be at Worlds - we do not have Fiercekatz this season.

 

[King]

At no point did we say we were going to have an IOC6 this year. As has been mentioned previously, it is nearly impossible to not lose a massive amount of money on that team. On top of that, it is the hardest division to get to actually show up to practice, and the hardest team to coach.

LadyKatz will be at Worlds - we do not have Fiercekatz this season.

Bless anyone who tries. Coaches of this division are unsung heroes in my book.

 

[stuntjumptumble]

Bless anyone who tries. Coaches of this division are unsung heroes in my book.

Just curious, why is it difficult to coach this division?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[BlueCat]

Just curious, why is it difficult to coach this division?

On paper, it ought to be easy. Most of the athletes have been in the sport forever. Many of them are coaches themselves.

However, attendance is awful. (unless you basically use a college team.) Egos are huge. Tuition is non-existent, because none of them believe THEY should not have to pay, since they are doing you a favor by being on your team.

Coaching that division is usually a miserable experience, the gym loses money, then you get beat by a college team that essentially gets to practice 4 times a week with everyone there.

 

[King]

Just curious, why is it difficult to coach this division?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

Multiple reasons.

1. You are not dealing with college kids exclusively. You are dealing with a mixture of college kids (from different schools most likely), people who are currently still in cheerleading coaching (so aka coaches), and people who are not involved in cheerleading other than being on your open team. This creates a wide diverse range of schedules. most of the time you can only practice late at night on the weekdays or early / late on the weekend. When someone has to practice until 1:30 in the morning because that is the time available to everyone and they have to get up for work at 6am they pretty much will threaten to quit every week. And then sometimes a week before Worlds they will say Eff you and Eff the open team and really quit. Yes this has happened because of the stress and practice schedule.

2. They are paying for themselves (or they aren't). This is not a money making venture. You get into this division because you have the ability to do the top end of skills in all of cheerleading (that does not mean you end up doing them). In exchange for that you get paid nothing and you STRUGGLE to get people to pay. Those with the jobs have the money but usually those in college or working in gyms can barely afford it or refuse to pay for cheer because they never have before (either mom or school paid for it). I have had to deny a LOT of talent because they would only do it if it was for free. I never made a dime but the owner of Rays allowed an IOC 6 to happen because we didn't cost the gym much.

3. The egos on an open team are like nothing you have ever seen. Imagine coaching a team of 24 coaches? Your approach and style has to gel with some very large personalities. I, for one, admire the HECK out of the Miami Heat basketball coach. He has tremendous talent, but his ability to lead that talent to get along and work together is very interesting to me. I have had to sit there and coach a team of people who not only coach teams that compete with my own but also who think every decision you make is wrong. It takes a thick skin, some political skills, and a balance to make everyone happy enough to work together to try and win. I remember the time one team member I had from one gym beat another team members team and gloated to him in a NOT friendly way before practice started. These are adults so you cannot discipline them like kids. You have to speak to them in adult ways and get them to buy into what you are doing and it is VERY difficult when their day job and income is affected by how well they compete against other people on the team (Atlanta has a lot of talent but ALSO everyone is competing against eachother as coaches).

4. People have to cancel last minute or give up things that mean a lot to them to do an open team. This is one of the hardest things. How do I tell Suzie Q that her nephews bris isnt as important as open practice? Even though Suzie is our center dancer and middle of our pyramid we cannot do without her and we need to get a new dance AND pyramid so we can hopefully win worlds. Also everyone remembers suddenly, at the last minute, they always have something else to do.

5. Last, and this is nothing against them, but U of L / Gym Tyme has to deal with little to none of this with an exceptional amount of talent who goes to college specifically to cheer. You get into a situation where you are running a foot race against them but you have to run uphill and then get to run on flat ground. Mr May will agree with me on this one (having been at both) that it is just a hurdle you have to overcome. T&S had the best challenge to U of L because they ran their program very much the same way as U of L / GT did. But coaching college I will tell you now to even come close to have that situation you have to have a college near an allstar program with a good relationship and a low admission standards.

I have been at all levels with a level 6 program (I have won worlds and I have had my team drop and get 17th) so I know all the ins and outs. If you have any questions let me know. It is a VERY difficult game.

 

[King]

On paper, it ought to be easy. Most of the athletes have been in the sport forever. Many of the are coaches themselves.

However, attendance is awful. (unless you basically use a college team.) Egos are huge. Tuition is non-existent, because none of them believe THEY should not have to pay, since they are doing you a favor by being on your team.

I just spent 10 minutes writing a response and you beat me.. with your little succinct one that makes sense.

 

[BlueCat]

I just spent 10 minutes writing a response and you beat me.. with your little succinct one that makes sense.

True, but I had grammar mistakes. I hate re-reading my posts 4 minutes after I post them. I wish there was a feature where you could always edit the posts, but there was an "edit history" anyone could see - like wiki.

 

[King]

True, but I had grammar mistakes. I hate re-reading my posts 4 minutes after I post them. I wish there was a feature where you could always edit the posts, but there was an "edit history" anyone could see - like wiki.

There is actually going to be that in version 1.2 of xenforo (which will be installed this summer after worlds). I didn't want something where people could edit their post without a trace. Now with version history checking they can edit it and still be held accountable for the post itself.