All-Star October Update To Varsity Scoring System

[ASCheerMan]

Clarifications have been applied throughout the Varsity Scoring System. With your finished choreography in mind, I would definitely suggest printing the new pdf's and reading through them to ensure your routines aren't missing crucial elements. Scoring Updates can be found by clicking on the link below:

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VARSITY SCORING SYSTEM - Updated 10/12​

In a perfect world, there would be ZERO changes to documents like these once they are initially posted. But it was much more important to us to get it right BEFORE the season kicked off, rather than live with a less than perfect rubric simply because it was too late to make improvements. We do apologize for any confusion the repostings have caused.

Note: most of the changes/updates/edits applied to the scoring documents aren't going to actually affect your choreography. They were made to clarify some of coaches' most commonly asked questions (i.e. since we meant '3 tosses' where it stated 'several tosses,' we went ahead and changed the term 'several' to '3.')

If you have an interpretation question created by the update, feel free to post it here and I'll do my best to check in daily and respond when appropriate.

 

[Deleted member 15]

ASCheerMan Any chance the pdf can get a last updated date on them so it's easier to tell which set is the most recent?

 

[CoachTamara]

Mostly just looking for a clarification when I'm reading through this... For level 3, where does the standing BHS step out RO BHS tuck (or just RO tuck) fall?

Reading this, it is unnecessary unless you are replacing your standing two with this pass and it is being done by the maximum number of athletes. I feel like I see this in every level 3 routine, but it's usually just a handful of athletes (usually not a majority). Is this a waste of time with this new scoresheet (assuming you are doing standing 2/3, and a jump combo)?

 

[ASCheerMan]

ASCheerMan Any chance the pdf can get a last updated date on them so it's easier to tell which set is the most recent?

Will work on that. In the meantime,you'll know its up to date if, Under HIGH subrange for TOSSES it says '3' instead of 'several.'

 

[ASCheerMan]

Mostly just looking for a clarification when I'm reading through this... For level 3, where does the standing BHS step out RO BHS tuck (or just RO tuck) fall?

Reading this, it is unnecessary unless you are replacing your standing two with this pass and it is being done by the maximum number of athletes. I feel like I see this in every level 3 routine, but it's usually just a handful of athletes (usually not a majority). Is this a waste of time with this new scoresheet (assuming you are doing standing 2/3, and a jump combo)?

'Waste of time' is an extreme statement as many things can help your score even if they aren't specifically required to get you into range.
To clarify, a standing BHS BHS step out RO BHS tuck counts as (first) standing two followed by a specialty RUNNING TUMBLING PASS.
So, for Running Tumbling: a round off tuck or a standing bhs step out RO tuck both satisfy the skills required at Level 3 Running Tumbling. That said, I would personally score a team doing 30 specialty pass to tucks higher than a team doing 30 rd off tucks.

For Standing Tumbling, I imagine most teams are performing a squad jump BHS combo and squad standing 2 BHS as their Standing Tumbling requirement. I doubt the standing BHS BHS step out through to specialty pass is dictating the range as much as it's probably just 'gravy' for the final score.

CoachTamara - remember that barely scraping by to get your team INTO the range is one thing but MAXING OUT YOUR SCORE within that range may be something noticeably more difficult. Just because a round off tuck is level appropriate and a standing back handspring step out thru to tuck is level appropriate doesn't mean the judges won't be more impressed with one skill over another.

 

[Ashley]

I'm looking over the relatively new level 6 guidelines, and it looks like for pyramids, you basically have to be doing a flip or twist up to the top to get out of the low range, regardless of how many pyramids you do, is this the case?

Likewise, in comparison to the Worlds scoresheet, which favors quantity of coed stunts, it looks like the Varsity one requires toss libs to be in the elite range for stunts. So it would be better to do fewer toss libs than a higher number of toss extensions? That's pretty much a contradiction of the Worlds Scoresheet (which at least one of our bid competitions uses).

 

[ASCheerMan]

I'm looking over the relatively new level 6 guidelines, and it looks like for pyramids, you basically have to be doing a flip or twist up to the top to get out of the low range, regardless of how many pyramids you do, is this the case?

Actually, you have to have AT LEAST one level appropriate transition (flipping or twisting to the top) to even get into the LOW range for 9-10. Teams that don't meet the minimum requirement will likely be scored in the 8-9 range.

Likewise, in comparison to the Worlds scoresheet, which favors quantity of coed stunts, it looks like the Varsity one requires toss libs to be in the elite range for stunts. So it would be better to do fewer toss libs than a higher number of toss extensions? That's pretty much a contradiction of the Worlds Scoresheet (which at least one of our bid competitions uses).

I'm not an expert on the Worlds Score Sheet, nor do I believe updates for the 2013 Worlds Championshp have been released, so I'm speaking with only partial expertise:

The real difference between the two score sheets isn't so much the quantity of stunts or the body positions required, it's the fact that the Varsity score sheet doesn't have a 'SINGLE BASE STUNTING' category on the score sheet, it just allows teams that do single based stunting to get credit in the STUNTS category. You could actually get into the HIGH subrange by performing 3 Elite Group Stunts. Your unassisted section would just be 'gravy' on top of that. (I'm so hungry).
--I think I just answered your 2nd question assuming you were referring to Level 5. Let me know if it's actually Level 6 you were referring to.

 

[Ashley]

Actually, you have to have AT LEAST one level appropriate transition (flipping or twisting to the top) to even get into the LOW range for 9-10. Teams that don't meet the minimum requirement will likely be scored in the 8-9 range.

I'm not an expert on the Worlds Score Sheet, nor do I believe updates for the 2013 Worlds Championshp have been released, so I'm speaking with only partial expertise:

The real difference between the two score sheets isn't so much the quantity of stunts or the body positions required, it's the fact that the Varsity score sheet doesn't have a 'SINGLE BASE STUNTING' category on the score sheet, it just allows teams that do single based stunting to get credit in the STUNTS category. You could actually get into the HIGH subrange by performing 3 Elite Group Stunts. Your unassisted section would just be 'gravy' on top of that. (I'm so hungry).
--I think I just answered your 2nd question assuming you were referring to Level 5. Let me know if it's actually Level 6 you were referring to.

I was talking about level 6 (coed in particular). Though realistically speaking, we're not going to be throwing unassisted rewinds or double ups, so we don't have much chance of getting into that upper "collegiate" category anyway. The scoresheet is still asking for 3 stunt sections to max out - a group stunt on a coed 6 team seems silly though.

Also, a flipping dismount from a stunt is a level 6 skill - but it doesn't look like it counts for any more than a double down would - correct? Of course you can flip out of stunts you can't double out of.

 

[Ashley]

(Double post)

 

[JulieP]

ASCheerMan Just a question about the baskets. I assume the number of baskets is the number of occurences and not the number of groups, correct? It seems like a dumb question, but here's why I ask. We generally throw squad baskets, and then one other basket (one group). According to this, we would need to throw squad baskets and then 3 additional baskets to get into the max. range. So if I did squad baskets and then 2 groups doing a basket at the same time, do those 2 groups count as 1 additional basket or 2?

 

[ASCheerMan]

I was talking about level 6 (coed in particular). Though realistically speaking, we're not going to be throwing unassisted rewinds or double ups, so we don't have much chance of getting into that upper "collegiate" category anyway. The scoresheet is still asking for 3 stunt sections to max out - a group stunt on a coed 6 team seems silly though.

I wouldn't look at it as 'Group Stunt.' The rubric for 'low' in the 9-10 range requires one collegiate sequence. Collegiate generally means unassisted. For your other sequences, I wouldn't necessarily recommend a GROUP stunt sequence (with an all-girl grip or technique), but it DOES allow for you to have assisted coed-style stunts. I would look at it more that way then performing group stunts in addition to your Collegiate sequence. Remember: the rubric may explain how to get you into the range, but it doesn't specify how to beat the other teams.

Also, a flipping dismount from a stunt is a level 6 skill - but it doesn't look like it counts for any more than a double down would - correct? Of course you can flip out of stunts you can't double out of.

That is true. And remember, the required dismount doesn't have to come out of the required stunt. So, any level appropriate dismount (level appropriate = can't perform it at the preceding level) counts.

 

[ASCheerMan]

ASCheerMan Just a question about the baskets. I assume the number of baskets is the number of occurences and not the number of groups, correct? It seems like a dumb question, but here's why I ask. We generally throw squad baskets, and then one other basket (one group). According to this, we would need to throw squad baskets and then 3 additional baskets to get into the max. range. So if I did squad baskets and then 2 groups doing a basket at the same time, do those 2 groups count as 1 additional basket or 2?

Hi JulieP,
The 3 additional baskets could be performed all at once or throughout the routine. 2 groups doing a toss at the same time counts as 2 of the additional 3 tosses required.

 

[JulieP]

Hi JulieP,
The 3 additional baskets could be performed all at once or throughout the routine. 2 groups doing a toss at the same time counts as 2 of the additional 3 tosses required.

Ok. Thanks for letting me know. This is quite a daunting task for a small team, just an FYI.

 

[ASCheerMan]

Ok. Thanks for letting me know. This is quite a daunting task for a small team, just an FYI.

If you are a team of 20, you need 7 baskets. You may achieve this through a squad toss of 4 plus 3 additional. Or you may achieve this through a squad toss of 5 plus 2. Either way, you get to 7. Remember, we are laying out the requirement to score in the HIGH range. Some teams may be better suited for scoring Medium or Low in this category.

I think for Toss Difficulty, this is reasonable. It does become increasingly difficult once you have fewer than 20 athletes.

 

[JulieP]

If you are a team of 20, you need 7 baskets. You may achieve this through a squad toss of 4 plus 3 additional. Or you may achieve this through a squad toss of 5 plus 2. Either way, you get to 7. Remember, we are laying out the requirement to score in the HIGH range. Some teams may be better suited for scoring Medium or Low in this category.

I think for Toss Difficulty, this is reasonable. It does become increasingly difficult once you have fewer than 20 athletes.

I have a level 4 with 11 kids. This requirement is near impossible to meet while still meeting all the other requirements needed to max out in scoring. To be completely honest, saying that my team, which is very strong at stunting, is "better suited" to score in the medium or low range is borderline offensive. I feel like there are so many areas where small teams are at a disadvantage on a scoresheet when it comes to many subjective categories, and to add baskets difficulty to that list is frustrating.

That being said, I will acknowledge that small teams have less risk for deductions (less kids = smaller number of stunt groups = smaller chance of falls), but that's about where the advantage ends.