All-Star Unethical Or Helping The Team?

[ImALiLRebL]

I am interested to see what the varying opinions are from all points of view, athletes, coaches & parents...
An athlete has competed @ a gym off & on for years, but the athlete's skills have progressed & the gym does not have a suitable team. The athlete goes to a new gym & competes on a level 5 team. Once the season has ended @ the new gym, the old gym asks the athlete to 'fill in' for their last 2-3 competitions, but they are asking the athlete to fill in on a level 2 team. The athlete's level 5 team @ the new gym had a terrible season & came in @ the bottom of every comp. Competing on a level 2 team would be much easier & wouldn't it be great to have a shot @ winning?

How do you feel about this situation as the athlete? The coach? The parent? Is this unethical or helping the team??
I feel that a level 5 athlete on a level 2 team is terribly unfair. Athletes that are still perfecting their bhs should not have to compete against athletes with level 5 tumbling & stunting skills. But, what if your child was the level 5 athlete & the owners & coaches @ the old gym are your friends? Do you look @ it as helping your friends & the team? I'd like to believe if faced with that situation I would make what I consider to be the ethical decision & say 'no', but it's easy to say it when you're not actually living it.

 

[Cheeranswers]

well it's both. obviously it's helping the team, but unethical also. (at least in my opinion)

 

[Keep_Believing]

I get where you are coming from, but one athlete won't make a team.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

One kid as a fill in is not winning a jacket.

 

[cheermom2015]

one athlete does not make a team. and that level 5 athlete is not throwing level 5 skills, she is throwing level 2 skills. Which in all honesty, not skills a level 5 athlete throws alot. So there is some amount of difficulty for them too. Ask any of the level 5 athletes you know to throw a back walk over. They struggle.

 

[ImALiLRebL]

One kid as a fill in is not winning a jacket.

Maybe I should specify that it's not just one athlete. I guess it just throws a red flag for me if a team is going to reach out to an athlete that's not with their gym anymore & ask them to drop 3 levels, when there's a gym full of available athletes. I'd be upset if my child with true level 2 skills lost to a team that was using level 5 athletes. But, I honestly don't know what I'd do if my child was the level 5 athlete & my friends were the coaches asking.

 

[MomMomMamaMom]

At a lot of gyms, there wouldn't be any athletes "perfecting" their back handspring on a level 2 team. Some gyms require that you have solid skills for the level your team is performing. That being said, I don't think that this athlete will make or break this team... But I do hope that he/she hasn't replaced someone who has been on the team all year.

Just want to add, and I'm not sure if it matters, but I've seen teams do the opposite too. They have athletes who have stuck with them, even though they don't have higher level teams, and have kept them, but then released them to level 5 teams for World's.

Soo many typos sorry!

 

[ImALiLRebL]

one athlete does not make a team. and that level 5 athlete is not throwing level 5 skills, she is throwing level 2 skills. Which in all honesty, not skills a level 5 athlete throws alot. So there is some amount of difficulty for them too. Ask any of the level 5 athletes you know to throw a back walk over. They struggle.

I was more using the bhs as an example. This athlete also does school cheer where she is more limited in the skills, so the level 2 skills aren't foreign to her. But I never thought of the points you made. When I think about it I'm honestly also thinking about her flying in stunts.

 

[ImALiLRebL]

I love hearing different opinions! I realize that using one athlete way over the skill level isn't 'sandbagging' but, @ what point does it become so?


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[ImALiLRebL]

Wou

well it's both. obviously it's helping the team, but unethical also. (at least in my opinion)

At a lot of gyms, there wouldn't be any athletes "perfecting" their back handspring on a level 2 team. Some gyms require that you have solid skills for the level your team is performing. That being said, I don't think that this athlete will make or break this team... But I do hope that he/she hasn't replaced someone who has been on the team all year.

Just want to add, and I'm not sure if it matters, but I've seen teams do the opposite too. They have athletes who have stuck with them, even though they don't have higher level teams, and have kept them, but then released them to level 5 teams for World's.

Soo many typos sorry!

That's interesting! I know that baseball teams do that. They can drop a player from their roster so that the player van legally play for another team for a game. I think stuff like this is a lot of the reason why our sport has so much difficulty being considered a sport & getting the respect the athletes deserve. Because, there is no true way to gage the actual skill level of the athletes.
As far as typo's...I've got fat thumbs, so in just this post I'e typed: tram instead of team (multiple times), ghat instead of that & roater instead of roster. LOL!! I'm all over the typo's!!! :tsnuami:

 

[NEliteSteven]

It's not really unethical because it's not breaking any rules. In poor taste? Maybe. But not unethical.

 

[Beans100]

I love hearing different opinions! I realize that using one athlete way over the skill level isn't 'sandbagging' but, @ what point does it become so?


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There's a long thread about Sandbagging where we've all picked this apart. Usually sandbagging is beneficial for 1 side(home gym) and harmful to the rest(competitors). So, yes, it's helping a gym build their trophy case and reputation but it's wrong and ultimately looks bad on a program.

 

[BlueCat]

It's not really unethical because it's not breaking any rules. In poor taste? Maybe. But not unethical.

(Without diving into the semantics of ethical/moral/etc.)

Having your team stand to the side of the floor, pull out the speaker cables, and loudly and purposely count the wrong counts during a competitor's routine wouldn't be against any USASF rules.

 

[ErinS]

It's not really unethical because it's not breaking any rules. In poor taste? Maybe. But not unethical.

Unethical doesn't mean it breaks rules

It's essentially your own moral code. What are you personally willing or not willing to do

 

[HPEmom]

Sad but it happens. Yesterday someone posted a picture of a team that competed and won at a very small local comp. They admitted child was helping out that team and gym. Fact is that child has competed on at least 3 teams with 3 different gyms this season including UCA. Child is not Worlds eligible due to age but clearly a level 5 athlete. Yesterday competed level 3. While it may be that one athlete doesn't make a team, being able to throw the most difficult tumbling combinations multiple times, excellent jumps etc does offer an advantage. Not against any rules....