Level 2 Youth - What Is The Highest/biggest They Can Enter/win?

[12stepCheermom]

May I ask, when a smaller gym does attend these more prestigious comps. how well do they norm do? Are their a few unknowns that rock the floor, or have none ever done so? Thanks

Size of the program doesn't matter as much as coaching, how they've set up their teams and how well they choreograph to the respective scoresheet. As a second year program only taking two teams to CHEERSPORT one placed third of 15 in that division and the other one walked out with jackets and a CHEERSPORT national championship over far more established and well known programs.

I'm sure there are tons more "Cinderella" stories. At the same time there are also an equal number of train wreck teams that hail from small (and large!) programs at these competitions too. Small gyms are at a disadvantage in being able to stack their teams with kids who have every imaginable skill for that level (larger programs have a larger pool to make teams from), but with changes to the Varsity scoresheet (75=100) I think that will level a bit of that out for the smaller programs. There was a very small program we saw last year that we hadn't seen since our last gym because they don't attend the same tier of competitions we do. They had a mini 1 with 5 kids on it...

...they killed everyone. Twice.

But, it was about coaching and choreographing to that score sheet and that gym did a wonderful job with it. In the end, it's not size...it's coaching.

 

[Ashley]

Ashly - We are a small gym located in a small town in between Little Rock and Memphis. The comps. we where in last year off the top of my head: A few WSA, GLCC, various Jambrand (one two day) & US Finals. Actually doing the smaller local comps had a up side, being that with the bigger ones we'll have to travel more/further (I was able, last year, have my kids only miss one day of school for a cheer comp. Due to turning US Finals into a cheercation). The idea of turing all my vacations into cheercations isn't the most pleasing -lol- As for our gym being "killed" I can only hope our coach knows what he is doing (and coach if you are reading this, you had better make sure your choices for my cheercations are worth it -lol-). He does judge from time to time, of course I have no idea for what comps. hopefully he has been keeping tabs on worthy gyms and taking note Their is more then a image to the cheer world he needs to worry about, this town isn't that supportive of cheer. The coach will know what I mean, if he is reading this I will add, at the comps. I did attend. Sometimes gyms from bigger places (can't get much smaller then a town of 8,000) the teams appeared sloppy and out of sync, being that some of these gyms where from much larger towns I was surprised. I would think they would have a better pool to pull from. But then maybe they weren't the "GYM" in that larger town to be in if you where good? All in all we are newbies to this and the only reason this family has interest is due to my daughter's interest. Our intreast will only last for has long has she wants to-do it. I will add, like every cheer mom out their, I do think she has a talent for it. In her 8yrs of living, she has done just about everything that she has been able to-do Does something for awhile, then wants to try something else and moves on to something new. But then their isn't much else for her to try anymore -lol-

May I ask, when a smaller gym does attend these more prestigious comps. how well do they norm do? Are their a few unknowns that rock the floor, or have none ever done so? Thanks

I would imagine that when your coach says "bigger" competitions, he probably means more two-day competitions. That two-day Jamfest you went to was probably bigger than your other competitions. I live in New England, but we attended three big two-day competitions within a 2-3 hour drive, and I didn't have to take any time off from work to do so (got home late on Sunday, but not the end of the world). For what it's worth, my gym didn't go to any of the big 3 events listed above, but I would still say that our gym goes to big competitions. I don't know your area, so I don't know if that's a possibility for you, but you might not have to fly to all of your competitions and take time off from work for them.

12stepcheermom already answered your question, but usually you see the same gyms winning the huge competitions. They're not necessarily the biggest, and size doesn't really mean anything, but they are the best. It's possible for an unknown to come and do really well. It's happened, but realistically, it's not very likely since the best gyms tend to attract the best coaches.

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

Basically - My husband had asked our coach about the the comp. schedule, and the coach told my husband he wanted to ask the parents. 1 - we could do the same amount of smaller comps, like last year or 2 - we could go to bigger comps and do less comps. Thus my daughter being 8yrs old, Worlds wouldn't be one of them, if she keeps up with this and is good then yes when she is older I may consider driving her out of town to a bigger gym that competes in this. Basically I don't need someone telling me "Worlds" is the one to-do 'cause she can't. I guess I just wanted to know so I could search and find out what sort of traveling these comps would entail. I assume you have to win a bid from one comp. to attend Nationals in the others stated in other postings. Website links would be helpful. I also have a son and I don't want my children to miss to much of school. Last year my son missed one day to many to be exempt from end of the year testing last year in some of his classes. I feel a majority of us parents would pick for the bigger comps, if we are truly given this choice. From the looks of the travel in the above post, the travel wouldn't be to bad, a bit more then what we where use to. Thanks

The Summit which is sort of being billed as a Worlds for other levels and ages is something that requires qualifying. I think you can go on their page and find the qualifying events in which case your gym may have to travel for that and if given a bid then travel for the Summit. My own 2 cents... yes something like the Summit would be cool. I think there are people on here that sometimes forget that others things like US Finals are a big deal and just because they are the biggest thing that gym goes to - if they work hard and win it then the value of that win is important. It is the journey not the prize and we should all work to celebrate each other's accomplishments no matter the size and not belittle people on here that may not necessarily have the same opportunities that others at larger and more prestigious gyms have. It is my own belief that there are some little gyms out there with a lot of heart that seriously could go toe to toe with some of these world teams... I hate reading people on here belittling other teams wins because in their mind that competition really doesn't matter. My gym goes to some really big comps and some small comps we are lucky by location to be able to do this with little travel - but our coaches work with the girls the same for whichever comp it is... because it is about bringing it all on the floor each time you represent your gym regardless if it is a small comp or big and I am so glad that they teach that at our gym