For the most part I agree with you, but what's the difference between this and NCAA basketball's D2/D3 bracket national tournaments for the smaller schools?
No we don't all have to win, but we should start with at least SOME chance of doing so. Even in NCAA, there is D2 and D3 for smaller schools. Where is the fun in competing at all if you KNOW going in that there is absolutely NO possibility of winning? Why not have elementary school track compete with high school? They don't all need to win. Why not have everyone regardless of education and experience evaluated by the same standards as the CEO to decide if they get a job or not? Because it isn't fair and sets them up to fail. Pitting tiny programs against powehouses sets them up to fail.
I disagree that it sets them up to "fail". It may be tougher... that win may be less likely...but fail?
I agree that all the "finals" are profit driven, and I HATE that all the major comps are so expensive, especially for the west coast. I see no reason for their not to be regional D2 championships. But I also see that while division splits do not necessarily benefit the athletes in terms of them needing to win, they do benefit the longevity of the small gym, which in turn benefits small town kids by keeping cheer accessible to them. Cheer is already a very have and have not industry, which robs a lot of kids of the experience. Though, I can also see how having to travel long distances to compete at expensive places has a similar effect.
Does anyone know if these smaller locations can pull from their larger locations athletes if an athlete gets injured or they need crossovers at the Summit? I don't know why I thought that was a no-no in the past but, if they can, then they really shouldn't have any issues.
To state Varsity created D2 solely for money equates to saying HS sports created divisions solely for money. Divisions were established because of differing population pools, budgets, facilities, quality staff, etc. Varsity already had extremely high interest in the Summit so, they could have just as easily given out more bids and said Youth will take place in Tampa and Junior, Senior at Disney. Chuckling because us parents say, "it is all about the $$$" in some threads, and in others, complain about "not enough bids," "how much harder it is to get a Summit bid versus World's," and "Varsity needs to give out more bids."
I have no clue. But what I think you're getting at is that "winning" is important and the playing table needs to be evened out. Like I said...I get it...was a member of small gym for years...but I disagree. I think when athletes look back the going up against the best of the best and performing amazing will hold more memories than winning against a less than complete playing field. That's just my feelings as a former athlete. I grew up in a different era though and I'm speaking in hindsight as well. At the moment I may have felt differently.
I get what you are saying, and it think when it happens occasionally, going up against the giant is a good thing, but I think being continually beaten down at every competition by mega gyms you have NO HOPE of being competitive against is detrimental in the long run because it steals a kid's joy for the sport. Did you compete against giants every time you took the mat, knowing there was NO HOPE of a win? I cannot imagine anyone remembering that situation fondly. Would you be motivated at work if the system in place meant you had no hope of ever being rewarded for all the hard work you put in? The reality for most small gyms in that they don't "perform amazing" against big gym, they lose, badly, over and over again because they don't have the ability to stack a level 2 team with level 4 athletes or even to put ONLY athletes that max out the level on the floor. They cannot afford big name choreographers and guest coaches. They don't have a huge pool of athletes to choose from and the ability to take only the best 20, 32, 0r 36 to make a team. They cannot afford to tell a kid they aren't good enough for a full season team, or place them 2 levels below their skill set and have them just be happy to be wearing the gym's colors like big gyms can. They have to work with what they have. All I am saying is that Davids should be competing against other Davids, not Goliath. If they want to take on Goliath for an end of season title, so be it, but it shouldn't be every competition all the time. Taking away D2 puts a lot of small gyms in that situation. They have to take on Goliath every time they take the mat, and I don't think it should be that way. It isn't in any other sport. Baseball, softball, track, soccer, football all have D2 and even D3 to create a level playing field for smaller schools. They recognize that there is no hope of those schools being competitive in D1 and to try to do so would likely meant the death of their programs. Why should cheer leading not do the same?
But are you competing against Goliath every time? When my daughter was at small gym for many years she competed a lot of local and even some further away comps against similar "David" programs, and then there were always a couple of competitions each year where they met up with Goliath. I would just think this end of the year "ultimate destination" "climb" competition would want to be one of those up against everyone types. As far as the stacking and sandbagging... don't even get me started. I am hoping the new rules do away with that but it seems there's always some loophole they will find.
