All-Star Dream Deferred???

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I quite like the fact that in the uk the really youth and junior teams mainly go up to level 3 and I think there are only a couple of programmes with junior 5. It means there is less pressure on the younger athletes and they are generally happer on the lower level teams as there is more competiton and more fun. e.g a junior 2 at nationals you can compete with up to around 16 teams with any higher its only 6 or less at the moment. Kids need to be kids and enjoy cheer.

Yeah in Sweden we only have youth up to level 3 and our age groups are different too. we have up to j5 though and tehre are a few teams there.
 
(sorry for double posting)

Question: why would kids mive from Y5 to J4 and stay there? Just curious?
Since youth 5 is restricted, there are some girls who have layouts that for whatever reason don't have fulls. It's comparable to a senior restricted 5 but WC wants all fulls on their level 5 teams and since there no junior restricted 5 some twinkles end up on j4


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I feel so bad for those girls. I mean I will give my daughter all the opportunities in cheer and i would love if she cheered but if she doesn't like then i won't force her

Exactly!

We have one mom in our gym who has told me point blank, mind you we're talking 5-6 year old range, that she would never let her CP quit because she was never given the opportunities to do sports as a child. :(
 
Exactly!

We have one mom in our gym who has told me point blank, mind you we're talking 5-6 year old range, that she would never let her CP quit because she was never given the opportunities to do sports as a child. :(
Parents with this mentality make me so angry. I have a friend who's mom won't let her cut her hair because her parents wouldn't let her have long hair. Your parents didn't let you do xyz, so now you're going to force your child to do xyz. Where is the logic? Your parents wouldn't let you do what you wanted, and now you're doing the same thing to your child. How about support your child in whatever they choose to do - regardless if it's what you missed out on or not!


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Since youth 5 is restricted, there are some girls who have layouts that for whatever reason don't have fulls. It's comparable to a senior restricted 5 but WC wants all fulls on their level 5 teams and since there no junior restricted 5 some twinkles end up on j4


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Hey stunt jump..., I am going to disagree with your statement that WC wants all full on their level 5, I know quite a few athletes on StarLites that does not have full, but what is happening these athletes who do not have the full or beast in other areas on the scoresheet that compensates...
 
Making another worlds team other than the WCSS is no slight to any athlete since teams like the Suns and Odyssey have had good worlds runs with Odyssey medaling once and Suns in the medal after day 1 a couple years ago and were ahead of the Panthers and finished in 4th in a tough and larger division so winning was much harder at the senior medium levels. Instead of taking the attitude that WCSS is the be all end all of cheer, why not make the team you are on a championship team. The potential is there.With that said, to be fair, the Stars are more expensive than the other L5 teams because the gym pumps more loot into high level camps that the other teams don't get. Therefore, mom and dad better be ready to shell out more loot to be on this team. this is one thing WC could've done a better job at. So in that sense, these other L5 teams become somewhat of an afterthought but the fact that WC is deep in talent, even the less resources that the other L5 teams get and less attention still doesn't prevent the rest of the WC L5 teams to consistently be a top 10 contender with a realistic shot to win it all. While I do believe these other teams could even do better if these teams got the same training, camps choreography and coaching the Stars get, those teams may even get better but at the end of the day, the teams with the best skills have the best shot. Not being on WCSS should diminish any thing since these other L5 teams are worlds contenders every year.

Besides, large senior only has three or four teams competing for medals every year so all you have to do is roll out of bed and medal while other divisions have 20 30 or more teams to go thru which makes the road much harder than the road the Stars take making that medal even more rewarding
 
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As for 'fast tracking' thru the system, I don't think that's a given at WC since many of the Twinkles and Lites wind up on the other Senior teams
 
Since youth 5 is restricted, there are some girls who have layouts that for whatever reason don't have fulls. It's comparable to a senior restricted 5 but WC wants all fulls on their level 5 teams and since there no junior restricted 5 some twinkles end up on j4


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This does make sense.

A large Y5 needs a variety of girls, some base, some fly, some back. When they are on Y5, they could also be on a Junior 4 (just an example). It could be a girl who is a perfect back spot and its L5 stunts where they are really working and learning. Also the culture of the gym really is what could make this seem like a privilege or a punishment. While all level 5 requirements at gyms like World Cup are very tight, a level 4 as they age out of youth could be the right place for the athlete. In some aspects it may not be a downgrade and if the athlete, family and gym stays positive, this may not be looked at as a bad thing.
 
I think it's important to discern between who's dream is who's. I've seen mama's who think "OMG my child is a cheer prodigy! She made Y5 at age 7 so therefore she's destined for stars/SE etc" when maybe the made it at that age because they were a tall 7 year old and they needed a backspot.

The whole GP debate brought out that many of the YE kids only have handsprings or tucks but they're on YE to base or backspot. I think the issue is when a SM sees their handspring/tuck kid on Y5 and automatically thinks (because of the number) they'll stay "level 5."

What you can do at Y5 can't be done at Large Senior if you intend to be competitive.

Personally my cp14 went to worlds last year and had a great run. This year she's on an R5. Is that a demotion? No. Is that a disappointment? Absolutely not. She only has R5 skills, that placement is appropriate for her. But there are some serious SMs out there who wouldn't stand for their kid to be "held back" like mine when they don't get that if you put them on a worlds 5 they're, in fact, holding everyone else back.

I'd much rather her be a 100% contributing member of a team than have that area of the scoresheet where you're the albatross to your teams scoring potential.


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But there are some serious SMs out there who wouldn't stand for their kid to be "held back" like mine when they don't get that if you put them on a worlds 5 they're, in fact, holding everyone else back.

I'd much rather her be a 100% contributing member of a team than have that area of the scoresheet where you're the albatross to your teams scoring potential.


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YES!

I have this conversation a lot in relation to placements, except with lower levels.

There are people who will argue me down that their daughter is ready for say, J3 because she has her running tuck with a spot and is struggling to base L3 stunts.

They do not realize that everyone on J3 HAS that skill solidly and 80% of all other skills for that level.

If I put Barely Running Tucking/Stunting girl on J3, I'm doing HER a disservice.

She'll be the girl who is "chasing skills" that everyone else already has. That doesn't make for a very fun season because you'll always be thinking "Am I going to throw it?" or "Is my stunt going to fall and get taken out of the routine?" It's too stressful.

On the other hand, if she is on her level appropriate team (Y2), that stress is not there and she has time to develop those skills for the next team.
 
It kind of bothers me that at some gyms (not naming any) that they put, say, 15 kids with doubles on worlds team A, and no kids with doubles on worlds team B, for example. Its like they're setting worlds team B up to not medal, and give worlds team A a better shot a medaling at worlds. It kind of bothers me, its obviously saying that worlds team A is the better team to be on when really they should be making the teams pretty even? What if your kid makes team B and gets really disappointed cause they aren't on A and know they probably won't have as good of a chance to medal?
Idk I've just seen this with multiple gyms and it kinda bothers me.
 
YES!

I have this conversation a lot in relation to placements, except with lower levels.

There are people who will argue me down that their daughter is ready for say, J3 because she has her running tuck with a spot and is struggling to base L3 stunts.

They do not realize that everyone on J3 HAS that skill solidly and 80% of all other skills for that level.

If I put Barely Running Tucking/Stunting girl on J3, I'm doing HER a disservice.

She'll be the girl who is "chasing skills" that everyone else already has. That doesn't make for a very fun season because you'll always be thinking "Am I going to throw it?" or "Is my stunt going to fall and get taken out of the routine?" It's too stressful.

On the other hand, if she is on her level appropriate team (Y2), that stress is not there and she has time to develop those skills for the next team.
Precisely what my cp14 described as her leading issue last season. She doesn't have a double. Never even worked on one. Her only combo through for running tumbling is a front walkover through to full and that actually doesn't count as a combo. She has a beautiful two to full but isn't confident enough right now to let the one finger spot step away from her (she'll get there by competition season at the rate her confidence is increasing).

She described herself as "dead weight" to both her worlds and J5 team last year and when she decided to return was adamant she go to either S4 (which while she's be comfortable right now she's be bored in a month) or R5 because she's highly conscientious of the scoresheet and she doesn't want to be that kid who holds everyone else back this year.

I did try to balance that discussion with her by saying....but you're a ridiculously strong stunter (and she is, that's her forte) which is more than half of the scoresheet. But she won't hear of it. If she can't contribute in all things she thinks she's dead weight. And I've lived through a season with that stress...never again.

Besides....in 8 years we've never been on a team where EVERY kid has all the skills for a team. I just sat there with my jaw on the floor in her R5 first practice! This is going to be a fun year for her and I'm so glad for that!


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It kind of bothers me that at some gyms (not naming any) that they put, say, 15 kids with doubles on worlds team A, and no kids with doubles on worlds team B, for example. Its like they're setting worlds team B up to not medal, and give worlds team A a better shot a medaling at worlds. It kind of bothers me, its obviously saying that worlds team A is the better team to be on when really they should be making the teams pretty even? What if your kid makes team B and gets really disappointed cause they aren't on A and know they probably won't have as good of a chance to medal?
Idk I've just seen this with multiple gyms and it kinda bothers me.
For some gyms it's quantity not quality. Much more impressive to say you have two Worlds teams than just one. And rarely do those gyms mention that the second team never got a bid or didn't make it past prelims...


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Maybe this being my first season of cheer I dont see be all and end all of being on a premier level 5 team or even level 5 as long as the person is happy at their level that all that matters. Personally I want to be an allround level 3/4 athlete and be able to stunt level 5 this is going to take a while and im willing to work hard and take my time. If i stay on level 2 for a couple more years so be it aslong as I get on with my team I dont mind
 
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