nccheerdad
Cheer Parent
- Dec 17, 2009
- 153
- 158
This has nothing to do with the performances on the floor or the teams that were in attendance.
Am I crazy to expect more than what UCA was able to produce at last weekend's competition in Greensboro, NC? If EPs can't come together to make some common sense out of their scheduling, and fight for our dollars, then I think it is fair for us to give some critical reviews that hopefully will help make their events better for everyone. I would love to see more of these types of reviews for other venues BTW.
I could not get over how mediocre this event is, or at least how it didn't really even come close to what we should be expecting from a company with as much stature as UCA.
The set-up was such that the parents were required to sit in the seats at least 50 feet away from the floor-level mat, leaving a huge empty space between them and the mat. I was told that they do this so the judges can see the entire floor. Common sense would tell you to simply move the judges' tower closer to the mat. The nice young man wearing the Varsity shirt said that they need that space for the seats as we both stared at the couple of hundred seats with nobody in them and wondered how badly they really need those seats. For the record, I watched those seats all day, and the only people who sat in them were people who just really looked like they were just trying to stay awake. They weren't there to watch what was happening on the mat, because there was no way to see it anyway.
Speaking of the judges tower, I am not even sure how the judges could even see what was happening on the mat. There was no stage lighting whatsoever, so the only hope was to rely on the ceiling lamps that were lit at the same consistency throughout the rest of the building. I felt like asking everyone in the parent section to download a flashlight app onto their smartphones to help illuminate the stage. I swear that if these event producers just spent 20 minutes at each competition as a spectator, they would get a feel for some of these set-up shortcomings and make adjustments.
Someone already mentioned the medals being so small. I couldn't agree more. Why even bother? If you are going to splurge on $2/kid for an award (that's probably being generous) that probably won't make it out of the back of the minivan, why not spend an extra $1 and give the kids a t-shirt or something they will use. Surely Varsity has ocean-shipping containers full of $2 t-shirts from some SE-Asian country somewhere in their compound. Use some common sense.
The atmosphere in the special event center was easily one of the most boring, mundane, and lifeless that I have seen in nearly eight years of doing this. When the MC has to ask three times, "is everyone having a good time!?!?" and gets no response, there might be a problem. I am guessing that because the sound system was so bad (or in fairness, probably the acoustics of the building) that nobody heard him the first two times. When they did hear him the third time, they probably realized that they really weren't having a good time, so to be polite, they simply didn't respond. I did actually hear a couple of moans and some people saying 'no'.
Dear UCA, my suggestions for this event/venue are as follows:
If you are going to insist on having this competition the same weekend or adjacent to a Cheersport event, you can probably expect that your attendance will go down (enter CEA not going to Cheersport, everyone (mostly) else does drama). The building with the current layout, therefore, will be too cavernous to create an exciting atmosphere and will probably just get worse than it already is. You need to set your stage on the side wall to eliminate one of the bleacher walls. Force everybody onto one side of the bleachers. Pull the bleachers out on the ends of the other wall to make the seating simulate a horseshoe pattern (Spirit Sports Myrtle Beach does a good job with this). If you are not going to invest in bringing stage lighting to these local events you will not have to worry because the 'stage lighting' is already set-up in that arena for HS basketball games (it really is, just look up). Your problem is that these lights are pointing in the wrong direction for your current set-up. By rotating the stage you will be able to shine lights on the attention of the kids who deserve to be treated like the rock stars that they are. You will argue that there won't be enough seating. Based on this performance, I have a feeling that attendance will be the least of your worries. You really need to create a better atmosphere. By making it feel busier than it is, you will create that atmosphere. Everyone will be closer to the stage making it louder and more intimate, and just more enjoyable.
To close this, let me just say that I love watching my kid perform more than just about anything in the world, whether it be in a showcase setting, a local event, or in the arena in Dallas. That being said, the MC did a great job of keeping the 5 or 6 of us who were actually listening to him read out the college football scores throughout the day. I think for the first time ever, I actually wondered how much more exciting it would be to be watching a football game on TV than sitting in that arena on that day.
I would love to see reviews of the Cheersport event that happened on the next day.
Am I crazy to expect more than what UCA was able to produce at last weekend's competition in Greensboro, NC? If EPs can't come together to make some common sense out of their scheduling, and fight for our dollars, then I think it is fair for us to give some critical reviews that hopefully will help make their events better for everyone. I would love to see more of these types of reviews for other venues BTW.
I could not get over how mediocre this event is, or at least how it didn't really even come close to what we should be expecting from a company with as much stature as UCA.
The set-up was such that the parents were required to sit in the seats at least 50 feet away from the floor-level mat, leaving a huge empty space between them and the mat. I was told that they do this so the judges can see the entire floor. Common sense would tell you to simply move the judges' tower closer to the mat. The nice young man wearing the Varsity shirt said that they need that space for the seats as we both stared at the couple of hundred seats with nobody in them and wondered how badly they really need those seats. For the record, I watched those seats all day, and the only people who sat in them were people who just really looked like they were just trying to stay awake. They weren't there to watch what was happening on the mat, because there was no way to see it anyway.
Speaking of the judges tower, I am not even sure how the judges could even see what was happening on the mat. There was no stage lighting whatsoever, so the only hope was to rely on the ceiling lamps that were lit at the same consistency throughout the rest of the building. I felt like asking everyone in the parent section to download a flashlight app onto their smartphones to help illuminate the stage. I swear that if these event producers just spent 20 minutes at each competition as a spectator, they would get a feel for some of these set-up shortcomings and make adjustments.
Someone already mentioned the medals being so small. I couldn't agree more. Why even bother? If you are going to splurge on $2/kid for an award (that's probably being generous) that probably won't make it out of the back of the minivan, why not spend an extra $1 and give the kids a t-shirt or something they will use. Surely Varsity has ocean-shipping containers full of $2 t-shirts from some SE-Asian country somewhere in their compound. Use some common sense.
The atmosphere in the special event center was easily one of the most boring, mundane, and lifeless that I have seen in nearly eight years of doing this. When the MC has to ask three times, "is everyone having a good time!?!?" and gets no response, there might be a problem. I am guessing that because the sound system was so bad (or in fairness, probably the acoustics of the building) that nobody heard him the first two times. When they did hear him the third time, they probably realized that they really weren't having a good time, so to be polite, they simply didn't respond. I did actually hear a couple of moans and some people saying 'no'.
Dear UCA, my suggestions for this event/venue are as follows:
If you are going to insist on having this competition the same weekend or adjacent to a Cheersport event, you can probably expect that your attendance will go down (enter CEA not going to Cheersport, everyone (mostly) else does drama). The building with the current layout, therefore, will be too cavernous to create an exciting atmosphere and will probably just get worse than it already is. You need to set your stage on the side wall to eliminate one of the bleacher walls. Force everybody onto one side of the bleachers. Pull the bleachers out on the ends of the other wall to make the seating simulate a horseshoe pattern (Spirit Sports Myrtle Beach does a good job with this). If you are not going to invest in bringing stage lighting to these local events you will not have to worry because the 'stage lighting' is already set-up in that arena for HS basketball games (it really is, just look up). Your problem is that these lights are pointing in the wrong direction for your current set-up. By rotating the stage you will be able to shine lights on the attention of the kids who deserve to be treated like the rock stars that they are. You will argue that there won't be enough seating. Based on this performance, I have a feeling that attendance will be the least of your worries. You really need to create a better atmosphere. By making it feel busier than it is, you will create that atmosphere. Everyone will be closer to the stage making it louder and more intimate, and just more enjoyable.
To close this, let me just say that I love watching my kid perform more than just about anything in the world, whether it be in a showcase setting, a local event, or in the arena in Dallas. That being said, the MC did a great job of keeping the 5 or 6 of us who were actually listening to him read out the college football scores throughout the day. I think for the first time ever, I actually wondered how much more exciting it would be to be watching a football game on TV than sitting in that arena on that day.
I would love to see reviews of the Cheersport event that happened on the next day.
