College What's The Difference Between Ncata And Stunt?

[beautyy4cheerr]

They're both really similar and arose around the same time... is it a race to see which one will be named a sport first? lol

or did one organization arise first and someone else thought they could take the format, tweak it slightly and make it better to better the odds?

Both STUNT and NCATA are legitimate.

 

[tripmom]

NCATA was first. Stunt was a reaction to it. The biggest difference is that NCATA teams are considered true athletes at their schools. Kids must register with NCAA clearinghouse and may take recruiting trips, etc. There is not usually a tryout unless a team isn't full where they might have walk on tryouts in the fall. They have a recruiting and scholarship budget, athletic trainers, tutors, rules governing practice time. Some Stunt schools might have this but many are club teams. NCATA athletes only compete. They are not eligible to be sideline cheerleaders. NCATA is governed by USA gymnastics. The scoring is basically gymnastics like with a starting value based on difficulty and then deductions.

It really depends on what you want. If you want to be allowed to cheer, you can do stunt. If you want to be in a program where you get everything all other athletes get, NCATA is your thing.

(I'm trying not to sound biased. Cp has signed with an NCATA team for next year, so I'm a little partial).


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[Ems]

While Stunt, on the other hand, is designed a little differently. There are four quarters where each team goes head to head, on the same mat at the same time, and do the same routine to music. Winning team gets 2 points, losing gets 1. Teams learn the routines beforehand which are sent out in DVD form and count sheets.
Even though I have competed in Stunt, I do like Acro and Tumbling better. With Stunt, it's really hard to watch and I think judge. I watched the National Championship this past weekend and I disagreed with a lot of the judges called. And it's hard to watch two teams at the same time and try to judge them evenly.
Also, learning the routines can be hard. Their are 18 routines total and the DVD and sheet counts don't always match. So you don't know what's correct and no official corrects you. And since they're premade routines, the team that has more skill doesn't always win.
And as mentioned above, Stunt teams are usually just the teams competitive cheer team. So administrations see Stunt as cheerleading. Not a possible new sport. Definitely does not have the respect that Acro and Tumbling does. As well as funding, athletic trainers, and the other benefits of being a real sport.
Only thing I don't like about A&T is it's definitely more gymnastics Acro based in terms of stunting, though I can see why they've separated themselves from cheer, I just really like doing elite group stunts you see in a normal cheer routine. Also meets are longer, but that's just what happens with gymnastics style judging.


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[Ems]

Oh, and you want to know the thing that irritates me the absolute most with Stunt?
Do you know how they determine who goes to national championship?
A vote. Not scores, not who wins, not location. Voting. Coaches of the teams get to vote on who makes it to the national championship. Yeah.


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I get NCATA/A&T. However, I've cheered in college and seriously did not understand the concept of STUNT until you posted that. Thanks.

 

[Ems]

I get NCATA/A&T. However, I've cheered in college and seriously did not understand the concept of STUNT until you posted that. Thanks.

Yeah... It's pretty complicated and I don't think anyone understands it fully till they actually compete in it. And ever after doing it for two seasons I still don't get why they do things the way they do. And there's still a lot more about which routine gets picked and having "possession" and tiebreakers and forfeiting... They also change something every season. Like a big change. But no one gets notified unless you're a coach/judge/athlete so watching it season to season is confusing unless you have contact with someone who does it. It's not like in baseball where they now allow challenges and replays and they announced it so everyone knows what is going on. So when I was watching the Stunt stream the other weekend I got really confused.
And I'm not trying to slam Stunt, it was a lot of fun, but there are definitely a lot of flaws.


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[DeltaForce]

I competed in STUNT in 2012 & 2013. The rules were the same both years. I absolutely loved it, aside from the 4th quarter format. Previous to this year it was impossible for anyone to compete against teams like OSU and Louisville and win with the way it was formatted. I'm out of school now and watched the new 4th quarter format and am so happy they changed it. The way it is now has really leveled the playing field exponentially.

Side note- the fact that they changed nationals to the same time as march madness was not the best idea. And I was really disappointed that FSU didn't attend nationals. It really made the whole bracket for D1 pointless.


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[4gemsmom]

NCATA was first. Stunt was a reaction to it. The biggest difference is that NCATA teams are considered true athletes at their schools. Kids must register with NCAA clearinghouse and may take recruiting trips, etc. There is not usually a tryout unless a team isn't full where they might have walk on tryouts in the fall. They have a recruiting and scholarship budget, athletic trainers, tutors, rules governing practice time. Some Stunt schools might have this but many are club teams. NCATA athletes only compete. They are not eligible to be sideline cheerleaders. NCATA is governed by USA gymnastics. The scoring is basically gymnastics like with a starting value based on difficulty and then deductions.

It really depends on what you want. If you want to be allowed to cheer, you can do stunt. If you want to be in a program where you get everything all other athletes get, NCATA is your thing.

(I'm trying not to sound biased. Cp has signed with an NCATA team for next year, so I'm a little partial).


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What team did she sign with? My oldest cp was on the Azusa Pacific team as a freshman when it started as Stunts and Tumbling. She decided not to continue her sophomore year. My 2nd cp is now in her sophomore year and loves it! In the 2 years that I didn't have a cp doing acro they really organized and have turned it into a great sport.

 

[tripmom]

What team did she sign with? My oldest cp was on the Azusa Pacific team as a freshman when it started as Stunts and Tumbling. She decided not to continue her sophomore year. My 2nd cp is now in her sophomore year and loves it! In the 2 years that I didn't have a cp doing acro they really organized and have turned it into a great sport.

She will be on Quinnipiac. She went on a visit last November and signed two weeks later. She fell in love with the campus, the sport, the team...everything. We probably saw your cp. We were at the tri-meet with Oregon, Azusa Pacific and Quinnipiac in Eugene since it was the day after PacWest Nationals.

 

[cheernerd5678]

@tripmom since there generally aren't tryouts, how do you express interest in pursuing it? It doesn't really have a hs counterpart so I'm wondering how they find people.
Also- skills. If you aren't a great tumbler would you have a chance?
I'm not sure what my path is so I'm looking into either cheering or acro in college. I know plenty about cheer but acro is a whole new ball game


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[tripmom]

The NCATA website has a list of schools and then each school's athletic websites have prospective athlete questionnaires. My cp emailed videos of her skills in tumbling/stunting etc. to her top two choices once she knew she had met the requirements. Some of the schools also have summer camps and that's another way to get in the coaches' eyes plus you learn a lot of skills and you get a chance to see what acro is all about. Each school has different requirements, and they'll tell you the minimum requirements their program has.

 

[4gemsmom]

She will be on Quinnipiac. She went on a visit last November and signed two weeks later. She fell in love with the campus, the sport, the team...everything. We probably saw your cp. We were at the tri-meet with Oregon, Azusa Pacific and Quinnipiac in Eugene since it was the day after PacWest Nationals.

Yes you saw her! < #35 over there to the right. They compete against Oregon tonight. Enjoy next year!

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

@tripmom since there generally aren't tryouts, how do you express interest in pursuing it? It doesn't really have a hs counterpart so I'm wondering how they find people.
Also- skills. If you aren't a great tumbler would you have a chance?
I'm not sure what my path is so I'm looking into either cheering or acro in college. I know plenty about cheer but acro is a whole new ball game


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Many times, Acro recruits via cheer and gymnastics. You see a lot of all star cheerleaders doing recruitment visits at the big A&T programs lately.

 

[NoOneSpecial]

She will be on Quinnipiac. She went on a visit last November and signed two weeks later. She fell in love with the campus, the sport, the team...everything. We probably saw your cp. We were at the tri-meet with Oregon, Azusa Pacific and Quinnipiac in Eugene since it was the day after PacWest Nationals.

Welcome to QU. This's is my daughter's first year and has enjoyed it. It is a transition from all star to A&T esp with the judges being gymnastic judges. Technique and form is everything.

 

[NoOneSpecial]

@tripmom since there generally aren't tryouts, how do you express interest in pursuing it? It doesn't really have a hs counterpart so I'm wondering how they find people.
Also- skills. If you aren't a great tumbler would you have a chance?
I'm not sure what my path is so I'm looking into either cheering or acro in college. I know plenty about cheer but acro is a whole new ball game


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You can go on the website and obtain coaches contact information. Email them your interest and contact information. It is up to you to keep in contact with them as they have recruitment guidelines to go by.

Prepare a skills video - show your strengths.

As for what skills they are looking for - just like all star, depends on the needs of the teams.

Most A&T programs seem to use acro style stunts - QU seems to be the only one that predominatly uses traditional cheer stunt. Difficulty scores between the styles are equal.

Best of Luck to you on finding the perfect fit for you.