Tag Archives: Bids

Starting from Scratch: Worlds Bids via Points II

Spirit SImplementing the new bid giving system will be a challenge, but I believe that everyone agrees that the current system needs changing or updating. As an event producer and gym owner, my views may be different than most, but I welcome open discussion until the right system is achieved. The system as I see it would share the USASF mission of increasing the number of participants while developing a simple system to follow. I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to compete, and everyone should understand how success is derived from competition. I also think the Spirit Industry must look at the financial burden placed on athletes and work to alleviate that as much as possible through an adequate system. I believe this financial burden is the largest obstacle in growing our activity. I believe it trumps safety, image, and rules in limiting participation. The system must identify and help correct this obstacle. The only recommendations of change from the former implementation plan are as follows:

I would allow all USASF member companies to award bids at all events. This would allow more teams the opportunity to compete more times without added expense. They could compete within their regions and still accumulate points. One point would be given for every team that you defeated with two day competitions counting double. The current system of only allowing two performance competitions to qualify financially limits the opportunities for some gyms and participants.

Competitions that are small in size could combine divisions to allow for more points to be offered at their events. This would allow all USASF competitions the opportunity to both help gyms, coaches, and participants accumulate points, and it would help to unite all USASF companies regardless of tier level or company affiliation. While this may seem like an obstacle for the largest companies, the fact is that many independent companies thrive because they hold events in more rural places that are more convenient to smaller programs with limited budgets. I also hope this would allow more participation in the USASF.

As teams accumulate points, they would only compete against teams in their divisions. This would help teams that are currently overlooked for bids because they are forced to compete for those bids against teams that are not in their division. The current system allows competitions to award the highest placing team a bid, but many competition scoring systems have level 6 teams on a higher scoring scale giving them an advantage.

All event producers would have the ability to forward points to a tracking site that would be updated during the season as a point’s race. This page would be accessible through competition sites and gym sites and would allow the USASF a way to better communicate with each event and gym or team at each event. I know this has been mentioned, but I think it is very important for parents, coaches, and kids to be able to track the progress of their team throughout a season.

I would suggest allowing the top 10 teams in each division to receive a paid bid to compete and these teams would advance to semifinals. The next 10 highest placing teams would have a partial paid bid and would compete in a quarter final round. The next 20 highest placing teams would be invited to attend at full cost to them and would compete in preliminaries (20 teams). The quarter final round would be limited to the 10 partial paid bids and 10 highest scores from preliminaries (20 teams). The semifinal round would include the 10 paid bid winners and the top 10 scores from the quarter final round of competition (20 teams). The final round of competition would consist of the 10 highest scores from the semifinal round of competition (10 Teams). This would allow maximum participation while having a great final event and it would allow for any winning team to compete at least twice.

I agree that we should take the points from the 5 most successful events for each team. I agree with the points determining the order at the end of the year event. I think that to be eligible for the end of the year event, the athlete must attend at least two of these events with the team.

As I stated before, this system is very simple to follow. It allows for maximum participation in the USASF by all event producers. It would reduce cost while increasing competition for many programs. It would help raise much needed funds for the USASF while hopefully alleviating financial USASF membership burdens on gyms, coaches, and gym owners. The largest obstacle will be to find a price per point that the event producers would provide the USASF. This could easily be done with data from event producers and budgets for the USASF and the end of the year events. I hope that we can continue discussion and debate to derive a system that accomplishes all of these goals that can be implemented sooner than later.

Starting from Scratch: Worlds Bids via Points

Spirit SThis article is a follow up to Starting from Scratch: Bids to Year End Championships via Points. This article will focus on a way to implement the points system as a way to qualify for Worlds. The summary is this plan would keep Paid Bids, convert Event Producers currently awarding Partial bids to awarding Paid Bids, thus eliminating Partial Bids, and would not award any At Large bids at events. At Large bids would be awarded to the teams based on the Year End Rankings.

Earning Points & Qualifying

  • Points would be awarded at events from September 1st though March 31st. Teams would be eligible for Points only if the gym, all listed team coaches, and all team members were USASF members prior to event.
  • The Year End Ranking would be the standings on April 1st.
  • The Year End Ranking would only consider the 5 best events for each team, per division. If the exact same team competed in multiple divisions the points earned in each division would be tracked separately.
  • 1-day events would award 2 points for each team defeated. 2-day events would award 3 points per team defeated.
  • Points would only be awarded to the Top 3 teams in divisions of 9 teams or less and the Top 5 teams in divisions with 10 or more teams. EPs would be have more freedom in combining division of the same Age and Level to increase the depth of competition.
  • Event Producers could award double points at all events with more than 200 All*Star Cheer teams in attendance, based on the prior season’s results. If an EP doesn’t have an event with 200 or more teams, 1 event could be selected to award double points.
  • Events with 100 or more teams that do not award double points could award a 5 point Grand Champion Bonus to the single highest scoring team of each event.
  • For Senior divisions 30 teams would be allowed at Worlds and the number of teams going to Worlds via points would be dependent on the number of Paid Bids awarded in each division.
  • Initial performance order would be determined by points. Byes would also be determined by points, regardless of Paid Bid status.
  • For International divisions 15 American teams would be allowed at Worlds and the number of teams going to Worlds via points would be dependent on the number of Paid Bids awarded in each division.

My Reasoning

This would allow divisions at Worlds to be limited to a predetermined number of teams, consisting of teams that did well at bid giving events and teams that beat several teams throughout the season. I believe this will provide the best mix of teams competing for the World title.

The USASF would get additional funding because the Event Producers would purchase the points they awarded from the USASF. Since the money raised through the points would only need to replace the money associated with teams on At Large bids the Points would be able to cost less than if money awards were based on Points.

Starting from Scratch: Grand Championship Invitations via Points

Spirit SThis article is a follow up to Starting from Scratch: Bids to Year End Championships via Points. This article will focus on how I would implement the points system without worrying about existing year end events such as Worlds, All Levels, and US Finals.

I would have an end of the year championship for all ages and levels that I’ll refer to as the Grand Championship for the time being. Qualifying for the Grand Championship Finals would be done by competing at a Grand Championship Regional and qualifying for the Grand Championship Regional would be done by earning points throughout the season as described in Starting from Scratch: Bids to Year End Championships via Points. To address the bullets in the initial article:

Options for Awarding/Earning Points

  • Points would be awarded at events from September 1st though March 31st. Teams would be eligible for Points only if the gym, all listed team coaches, and all team members were members prior to event.
  • Teams would earn points for each team defeated as long as the team finished in the Top 3 in divisions of 9 or fewer or the Top 5 in divisions of 10 or more. Event Producers would be have more freedom in combining division of the same Age and Level to increase the depth of competition.
  • At 1-Performance events, teams would earn 2 points per team defeated. At 2-Performance events, teams would earn 3 points per team defeated.
  • Events with 200 or more All*Star Cheer teams would have the option of awarding double points.
  • Event Producers without an event of 200 or more teams would be able to choose 1 event to award double points.
  • Events with 100 or more teams that do not award double points could award a 5 point Grand Champion Bonus to the single highest scoring team of each event.

Options for Qualifying for the Postseason

  • The Top 12 teams per division in the Regional Year End Rankings will qualify for the Grand Championship Regionals. The Year End Rankings will only consider the best 5 events per team.
  • Events awarding double points would also be able to award the overall event Grand Champion an invitation to the Grand Championship Regionals. These invitations will be awarded in addition to the Top 12 per division.

Options for Awarding Money

  • No money will be awarded for teams to attend the Grand Championship Regionals. All teams attending the Grand Championship Finals will be awarded money.
  • Grand Championship Regional Champions will receive Paid Bids to the Grand Championship Finals.

Grand Championship Regionals and Finals

  • Each Region will host a Grand Championship Regional solely for the teams in that Region. The site of the Grand Championship Regional can change year to year. The Regions would mirror the Regions used by the governing body for other purposes.
  • Divisions at the Grand Championship Regionals and Finals would put Small, Large, Coed, All Girl , Small Gym and Large Gym teams in one division based on their Age and Level only. (Please note qualifying for the Grand Championship Regionals would be by divisions with Small/Large and Coed/All Girl splits).
  • The Top 3 teams in each division of the Grand Championship Regionals will advance to the Grand Championship Finals.
  • Grand Championship Regionals would be the 1st and 2nd weekends of April, excluding Easter. The Grand Championship Finals would be the 1st weekend of May.

Starting from Scratch: Bids to Year End Championships via Points

Spirit SThis idea is a way to choose participants for a Year End Championship. Right now this idea will be presented with several options that will allow it to be tailored to the needs of those using it. In the near future more specific ways to implement these ideas will be presented.

This idea would enable all member companies to award Points at all sanctioned competitions and allow teams to earn Points at every sanctioned event attended. The number of Points earned at each event depends primarily on the number of teams beat within their division, (see the options below for additional ways to earn Points and additional restrictions on earning Points), and the number of Points earned throughout the season will determine if a team qualifies for the Year End Championship. The number of Points earned could also be used to determine if the team earned any money toward the Year End Championship.

Options for Awarding/Earning Points

  • Earn Points for every team beat in the division. Example – In a 5 team division 1st place would get 4 points, 2nd place 3 points, 3rd place 2 points, and 4th place 1 point.
  • Limit the number of teams in a division that can be awarded points at an event. Example – Top 3 in divisions of 9 or fewer teams and Top 5 in divisions of 10 or more teams earn points. This will make the number of points awarded, and the EPs cost of those points, more manageable.
  • Award more points for 2-day events than 1-day events.
  • Allow EPs to choose 1 event per season to award double points. Example – An Event Producer’s “National Championship” can award double points.
  • Allow all events of a certain size to award double points. Example – Events with more than 200 teams or events with more than 50 teams in a level.
  • Allow a Grand and/or Level Champion bonus. Example – 5 Point bonus for the highest scoring team in each level or 10 Point bonus awarded to the highest scoring team at the event.

Options for Qualifying for the Postseason

  • Points can be used to determine the teams qualifying for a Regional Championship and use the placement at the Regional Championships to determine teams qualifying for the Year End Championship or Points can be used to qualify directly for the Year End Championship.
  • Accumulate a predetermined number of points. Example – Every team with 50 points automatically qualifies for the Regional or Year End Championship.
  • Finish the qualifying season close to the top of a division. Example – The Top 20 in each division qualify for the Regional or Year End Championship.
  • Allow events meeting certain criteria to offer automatic qualifiers for Level Champions. Example – “National Championships” or events with more than 200 teams.
  • Only count a predetermined number of events for Year End Championship qualifying. Example – A team can only count points earned from 5 events.

Options for Awarding Money

  • Points earned can be converted to money to be used for the Year End Championship. Example – Each point coverts to $250.
  • Placement within a division determines the amount of money earned towards the Year End Championship. Example – The team with the most points in Large Senior earns $25,000, 2nd place $24,000, etc.
  • Placement determines the type of bid. Example – Top 5 earn Paid Bids, next 5 earn Partial Bids, next 10 earn At Large Bids or every team with more than 25 points gets an At Large.
  • All events meeting certain criteria to sponsor their Grand Champion. Example – “National Championships” or events with more than 200 teams.
  • Use Points to award bids to Regional Championship and award Paid Bids to the team advancing to the Year End Championship.
  • Keep the Paid Bid process the same and replace awarding At Large Bids with the Point System.

General Points

  • Event Producers buy points from the governing body. Unused points contribute to the governing body’s budget. Example – The Top 20 qualify for the Year End Championship, but teams in 21-50th place earned points that were purchased from the governing body. The money spent to purchase these points contribute to the governing body’s budget and the money awarded to the qualifying teams.
  • EPs can combine divisions to increase the number of points awarded in a division. Combinations must be done before competition begins and must be the same age group and level.
  • Points are Gym and Division specific, so a team switching from Small Senior to Small Coed would have to earn Points in each division separately.

Expected Consequences

  • Teams are encouraged to compete more to earn more Points, but teams will be able to buy bids and poor gyms will be at a disadvantage.
  • Bids can be earned locally, but areas with more events have the advantage.
  • Teams will be rewarded for being in larger divisions, possibly making teams want to combine more divisions.
  • Takes away the mood swing from being on high from being named National Champion to being on low due to not getting a Paid Bid.
  • Takes away from events that are only attended because they are Worlds Qualifiers.
  • It would be unlikely that a team could compete at 1 or 2 events and get a money toward the Year End Championship.

Additional Consequences (Dependent on Options)

  • If bids per division are limited it may lead to better team distribution among division during the season.
  • The number of teams competing in each division at the Year End Championship could be controlled.

Other Points (Not Directly Related to Qualifying)

  • The Points race as well as the bids can be tracked on a website that can be linked to each gym site so that all athletes, coaches, and parents can track the season progress of each team.
  • Team Members and Substitutes would need to compete with the team 4 times and Alternates would need to compete with the team 1 time to be eligible for the Year End Championship.
  • Points could be used to determine initial performance order.
  • The Governing Body would have more access to event results for statistics.

Challenges

Determining the Event Producer’s cost for each Point. It needs to be reasonable to the EPs, cover any money awarded for the Year End Championship, and provide funds to the Governing Body for general expenses. The number of Points awarded can increase quickly as a division grows, which is why limiting the number of teams of teams that earn Points is an option. Here is the total number of Points awarded based on the number of teams in a division:

  • 2 Teams – 1 Point
  • 3 – 3
  • 4 – 6
  • 5 – 10
  • 6 – 15
  • 7 – 21
  • 8 – 28
  • 9 – 36
  • 10 – 45
  • 11 – 55
  • 12 – 66
  • 13 – 78
  • 14 – 91
  • 15 – 105
  • 16 – 120
  • 17 – 136
  • 18 – 153
  • 19 – 171
  • 20 – 190
  • 21 – 210
  • 22 – 231
  • 23 – 253
  • 24 – 276
  • 25 – 300

Conclusion

We are open to any and all suggestions or changes to this process and think most people agree that the current process should be changed or updated. Our main request is that any changes be easy to understand. We feel that one of the largest obstacles we face is the complexity of the process in everything related to Cheerleading. It needs to be simple for kids and parents to follow and understand.

David Hanbery, Founder and CEO, Deep South Spirit

Andre Carter, Founder of Spirit Post