Sunday, January 15, 2012

Cheerleading levels and scoring explained...

Hey guys, I wanted to write this post because because since I've been with Team Legacy I've received lots of questions about levels, divisions, scoring, judging, and large gyms vs. small gyms. Rather than answering lots of individual questions I wanted to the chance to help explain the best I can how all this stuff works lol I will do my best to be as thorough as possible, if I forget something feel free to leave a comment and I will answer it as fast as possible :)

Levels: Levels have been implemented in order to keep teams with a significant skill advantages from competing against squads with lower skills. The levels are 1-6 (6 being only available to athletes over the age of 18) Age has no determining factor to what level a squad may be. For example it's possible for a senior team to compete level 1 or level 5, either way squads will have a "cap" to them highest skill allowed to competed in the area's of: tumbling, stunts, pyramids, jumps and basket tosses. Typically these are only seen by the divisions in tumbling, but there is WAY more to it than tumbling. For example: Squads with a high level of tucks may be encouraged to compete level 3 since the tuck is the highest tumbling skill allowed; however there is more to consider. Can the flyers execute all 4 body positions (heel stretch, bow n arrow, scorpion, and scale) are the bases strong enough for stunts like full ups, half ups, tic toc etc. Do they have clean high jumps with pointed toes? Can they throw high enough baskets for the flyers to execute more than one trick in the basket? Does the squad have the stamina for a level 3 pyramid that includes multiple extended stunts? These are all variables that have to be considered before making the choice to go level 3. Tumbling is an easy way to think about the levels since it's usually the slowest skill to acquire, but by far isn't the only determining factor when choosing how a squad will compete. 
            "sandbagging" Many squads are accused of sandbagging or "competing down" in order to win. Basically, that's exactly what all-stars encourages. It's a very different culture from that of school cheerleading. School cheerleading is looking for the kids to throw the hardest skill possible, all-stars is looking for the cleanest skill possible according to that level. If you haven't mastered it, then they don't want to see it. For example many students on a Stingray level 3 team will already have their layout, but because the tuck is that skill that they have mastered then they are on a level 3 team, regardless if they are eligible for a level 4 team. It's not unethical to have a team compete skills that are below what they are currently able to perform, since squads are rewarded for the entire team throwing the same skill often many students will have more tricks in the bag, than they are allowed to throw on the floor. 
For more information on levels check out: http://usasfrules.com/

Divisions: Divisions are based on age, and have nothing to do with skill level. The divisions are: Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Senior, and International. These are the main division break downs, and have many sub categories...other divisions you may see are: special needs teams, and parent teams. ( for a complete list click on: http://usasfrules.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Age_Grid_-11-12_Rev_9-30-11.pdf)
Sub-Divisions: This is where it can get tricky. Most divisions have a "small" and "large" division break down. However, depending on the size of the particular competition they may be combined if not enough teams are entered or on the contrary they make break it down to "small" "medium" and "large" indicating that a large number of teams have registered at this division and level. Each individual competition will determine where to draw those lines. Another area where it gets tricky if for coed teams. If a team only goes by "youth" or "senior" that implies that it's an all-girl team, but if it's a "youth coed" or a "senior coed" That's what distinguishes it as a coed team....however some divisions allow males to compete on an all-girl team without making the distinction of being coed up to a limited amount of males: see the above link for further explanation. Age and level can be confusing so here's one more example: A Junior 5 team has a higher level of skill than a Senior 4 team. Even though the girls are older on a senior team, the level number is what determines the skill. In some cases you will see a youth level 5 team, though they are only elementary age, they have a higher level of skill than a senior 2 team.

Scoring/Judging: I'll combine these because they go hand in hand. Basically the large gaping hole in all-star cheerleading is the score sheet. Since there isn't an established unified score sheet many companies (competitions) will score and judge differently. Though the Varsity brand owns the majority of the cheerleading competitions they don't all use the same score sheet. I'll do a comparison of the 2 competitions that we've already attended this year:
               All-star Challenge Battle Under the Big Top                             
Scoring:        Day 1: 50% Day 2: 50%                                                        
Judges:  A different panel for each day                                                       
Looking for: Flashy choreography                                                              
Attracts: Mostly large gyms                                                        

Athletic Championships
Scoring: Day 1: 25% Day 2: 75%
Judges: Same panel for both days
Looking for: Clean skills
Attracts: A mix of small, medium, and large gyms

These are just some of the differences. For Team Legacy Athletic was a much better competition for us. There were less major gym (though we all faced several in all our divisions) and they rewarded the things were better at. No competition will score the same, and all have to be adjusted for...there is no "perfect routine" One judging panel may like a squad, and the next one may not. Typically most competitions reward day 2 higher than day one. They are looking for consistent squads, not "lucky" squads. Most competitions reward clean routines with as much difficulty as possible, but there is no "formula" to it. 

Large gyms vs. Small gyms: To have a small gym division the competition typically has to be very large. Without enough teams to split the division up, they company looses credibility. It looks bad on their part with only 1 or 2 teams in a division, so they will avoid that as much as possible. Large competitions such as Cheersport Nationals will have a small gym division. Team legacy qualifies as a small gym, and therefore won't have to compete against teams like: The Stingray all-stars, Ace All-stars of Alabama, Spirit of Texas, Kentucky Elite etc. etc. 
Culture: Large gyms have a different culture than small gyms. Students in smaller gyms are usually encouraged to compete above their actual skill level. Example: a girl who lands her back handspring 50% of the time might be placed on a level 2 team even though she's better suited for a level 1 team. The difference is that there are less students in the program and simply not enough talent to have exactly what you need to be at the highest level of readiness. Secondly larger gyms have many many students willing to go the extra mile to earn and keep their spots (due to the overwhelming competition) When I coached at Stingray all-stars I rarely had to push a kid to try their best because they knew if they didn't someone else would take their place. Stingray coaches rarely have to be the motivators, the students themselves are the driving force. This can change, and we don't have to have 800 kids like stingrays does; it just takes a group of dedicated students who are competitive with themselves...kids who are focused more on being the best they can be, rather than who they can beat. This is a culture I'm seeking to develop each and every day. 
Trickle down effect: A small gym competing against a large gym is much like a 1A football team playing against a 5A football team. Since there are more to pull from the talent pool is richer. It doesn't mean the 1A isn't good, but it's always tough when a FB team dresses 24 for a game, and the opposing team dresses 100...no explanation needed there lol. The trickle down effect goes like this: The more high upper level teams a gym has, the better the lower level teams are. Take stingrays for exmaple: they have 5 Level 5 teams. Several students who had level 5 skills just not sharp enough are now on a level 4 team which bumped several students with level 4 skills down to a level 3, which bumped several students with level 3 skills down to a level 2 team etc. etc. Because of the trickle down effect teams are packed with talent, that could easily move up a level and do well there too. Also teams score better when they carry the maximum number of participants. Example: a small team can only have 20 members, with a full 20 you can do more stunts, have bigger formations, use more visuals etc. 2 of our teams don't have a full roster of 20 which can hurt our overall impression score. In football terms (for the dad's reading this) We are like a 1A school that dressed 22 athletes to play a game with a 5A school who dressed 100 athletes.

But, Coach Matt! do we even have a chance then??!!....Did David beat Goliath? :)
Yes! of course! Just because we have obstacles to overcome doesn't meant it's impossible. Example: This weekend Team Legacy's Senior 2 team was beating the Stingray All-stars Senior 2 team after day 1. They have been practicing hard since May, when I arrived at Team Legacy in October our Senior 2 girls were in the wrong division and I had to choreograph almost a whole new routine (minus the dance Frank gave us) In 3 months between coach Natalie and I we had them beating a team with a full 20 on the floor, that had their whole routine since May...and on day 2 had we not fallen in our basket toss  we would have beat them by almost a point. Our girls were beating, and were barely over taken by the of the best gyms on the planet and I've only had 3 months with them. Imagine if I had the chance to start coaching them in May, I have no doubt we would have taken first place. But this stuff takes time, and unfortunately time isn't on our side anymore. The point is nobody is unbeatable. Even without a small gym division Team Legacy can be competitive with large gyms, it just takes hard work and smart coaching, and parent support of coaching decisions. Giants can be slayed...and hey, it's Biblical!

But, Coach Matt! they dropped, and we didn't why didn't we win!
That's an excellent question I've heard several times this year already. Depending on how the event is scored a drop doesn't always mean total failure. At Athletic it only meant a .5 deduction. So essentially a squad that was pretty much dead even with us that our jumped us by a whole point could drop a stunt and still win by .5 At Battle Under the Big Top everything was out of 10, so we could out tumble and out stunt a squad, but if they were better dancers, and had sharper transitions then they could win on the little things. Each competition rewards different things, and each competition deducts for different things. This is why being as difficult as possibly while hitting perfect is the best strategy. Attempting harder stunts only to drop them doesn't get a win, but doing easy stunts and not being clean doesn't get a win...pushing the envelope as far as possible while still looking perfect is what wins. Everyone earns their score just like kids earns grades. No one is given priority because of their name...it's simple math, and at the end of the day the team with the highest number wins. 

Moving forward: Were committed to doing whatever it takes to making your child's teams the most competitive. This may include choreography changes, personal additions to squads, skills rearrangements, formations rearrangements etc. Please remember that we will always put the squad over an individual. Part of being a team player means doing whatever a coach asks whether it's be dead center and front, or be in the back left corner. Ego's have to get checked at the door when dealing with a team. As a parent the best thing you can do is make sure your child is in a tumble class. If you have a flyer in your family I highly recommend a stunt class. Our prices beat ANYONE  in Georgia, and I feel I can honestly say I'm offering them some of the best instruction money can buy. As for next season there are many changes I'll be making: 1.) I"ll be choosing some different competitions, there is actually a strategy to picking competitions, we have to base scoring systems vs. what were strong in 2.) Every all-star will be required to take a tumbling class (EVERY PROGRAM DOES THIS: Hotshots, Devilrays, Stingrays, Georgia All-stars etc.) it will make a HUGE improvement to our programs success 3.) Were going to choose our Divisions and Levels wisely. My rule for next year is a student cannot compete up more than one level about his or her age bracket...i.e. no mini kids on Junior teams, and no youth aged kids on senior teams 4.) NO MORE CROSSOVERS! It's exhausting, and expensive to have crossovers. They should be used in emergency's not as a way to form teams.

Whether you're a student or a parent reading this I hope some or all of this information was helpful to you. Please feel free to ask any question that you may have that I didn't cover. I'm so excited to be apart of the Team Legacy Family! And I'm excited about helping establish a winning tradition for years to come! Thank you to all who are apart of the TL family, your commitment to the program is why we do what we do :)