Declaring Levels

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Dec 14, 2009
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This subject has come up several times in the last few days regarding declaring level. What does everyone think of this?

I am on the side that believes it is a good idea. I agree that there should be a way to switch if your situation changes but with that I believe you can only switch once. If you feel you need to go from 5 to 4 then that can be done, however, the remaining of the season you will have to stay 4. I also believe that you can only move up or down 1 level.

I will be interested to hear what everyone thinks!
 
I think that if you are a worlds team you should not move down.

I do however feel like sometimes there are kids that have level 5 skills but not enough for a team to compete level 5 at high caliber events like jamfest, cheersport, NCA or other big nationals, so they go level 4 to be successful and compete level 5 at say regionals or local nationals in order for those kids to get the chance to throw the skills and push the kids to the next level to prepare them for the future. Like youth 4/5 or junior 4/5.

That is just my opinion and it can be placed at any other level, because people improve throughout the season.
 
i think if you hsould have to register as atea before the season starts, and thats what level you will compete in. sandbagging just so you can win at big competitions isnt fair to teams who have worked hard all season in that division and lose to a team that has competed at a higher level. moving up a level i think is okay however..
 
what i mean is like say a junior team has 8 fulls, no 2 to fulls, no standing fulls. wouldn't you want your children to get experience in level 5 so they can keep pushing towards getting better?? but for say cheersport, they would have absolutely no chance against teams like stingrays who have squad fulls and lots of doubles, and lots of standing tumbling. But for local competitions, where they don't have much competition no matter if they are level 4 or 5...they might as well go as level 5 to get experience
 
I agree goin4gold10. What if levels had to be declared ONLY for Tier 1 competitions? It doesn't seem like anyone is sandbagging to win the podunk regionals, but do for NCA/Cheersport ect. Could you make it so that before competiting at a Tier 1 competition (those that can give worlds bids, right?) you would have to declare a level for your team, and only go up from there, but could compete whatever you choose locally. This could give teams the opportunity to grow and push themselves locally but be more realistic on the national level.
 
I don't always think the team that drops down a level for cheersport or NCA or whatever is sandbagging... For a lot of programs, especially smaller ones, it is in their own best interest to push for that next level at all of the regional type events and then drop down to what is probably the level they should be competing at for the big nationals
 
in a lot of youth hockey leagues, there's a rule where once you've played and won x number of games, you have to stay at the level you've been winning in (in hockey, they have b, a, aa, and aaa, etc). i think if there is ever going to be level declaration rule in cheerleading, it should follow approximately the same guidelines as hockey does. i don't think that immediately after your first competition you should be stuck; sometimes it takes a few competitions to figure it out.
 
Fierce that is a good idea, would you include local competitions or just majors?
 
I believe that a month before your 1st competition your level should be concrete unless moving up a div. As a coach, wouldn't you want your kids to have success first and then move up when ready. Why set them up for failure when you take them level 5 then drop them down. That tells a kid they arent good enough.
Someone said that people don't drop down levels at regional competitions, thats not true bc we see and compete against people that do this all the time and I am sure others see it as well.
Declare 1 month before comp. If kids get better award them moving up a level!
 
I think you should set your level at the beginning of the year. Register at that level, and you cannot drop a level, but you can move up levels. So if you think you are not a strong enough level 5 at the beginning of theseason, you register level 4 and then move up when ready. It isnt fair for teams to drop to win. It isnt teaching them anything. Big comp or not, go and do your best and learn from it.
 
Inspired said:
Fierce that is a good idea, would you include local competitions or just majors?

I would say any Tier I event would be included. I think 3 would be a decent number of competitions before you are "stuck" in that level.

I absolutely do not think declaring a month before would benefit anyone. I don't mean to discredit your opinion, but a month before is a pretty long time, especially for those teams who are undecided (the group whom this would affect anyway). I definitely don't think declaring ANY time before competing would be a good idea. Sometimes you need that first competition to realize that your routine simply does not match up with the scoresheet well enough, you know?
 
My initial thought was only be able to move up in levels and not go backward however Fierce makes a good point about scoresheets. What may work for one scoresheet for your team/level may not work at the next companies. A uniform scoresheet would be needed also.
 
i think that if the nationals has over 6 teams in the division and they feel like they arent a strong enough team in that level then they can move down other wise they have to remain the level that they are in
 
I am a bit disheartened that a major national sends out the listing of teams attending in each division ahead of time to the coaches so that they have the opportunity to see who they are competing against and change divisions before it's posted to the public. Really? This certainly does not move us in a "more credible" direction.
 
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