I often work as a Legality Official at events, which means most of the time I’m involved in taking points off a team’s score. I’d like to be involved in giving points and have come up with a couple options. First allow me to award a bonus to any performance that has nothing I need… Continue reading Legality Bonus
Category: Editorials
Warning or Deduction
When should there be a deduction for breaking a rule versus a warning? I’ve had this conversation with a couple friends lately and am wondering how more people would answer this and more importantly want to know the reason why? I have 2 notes with this question. There is no debate about the skill breaking… Continue reading Warning or Deduction
The Higher They Fall
Our 1st of the month articles include links to news from the prior month. Last month’s news included: UCA & UDA College Nationals took place at Walt Disney World. Cheer’s Jada Wooten Says She Was Excluded From Cast Appearances via Vulture. I have an idea for stunt and pyramid deductions at events. There are 3… Continue reading The Higher They Fall
If You Don’t Know
During my years of being involved in cheerleading I’ve learned athletes mess up for 3 main reasons: They don’t know what to do (The guy who didn’t know throwing a basket also meant catching it) They don’t know how to do it (The lifelong all star kid using a sign for the first time) They… Continue reading If You Don’t Know
Code of Points
Our first article each month will include the news and articles we found interesting from the previous month. News from December 2021: Cheer on Nexflix is returning for season 2 on January 12th. (Yahoo! Sports, and many other outlets) USASF announced both Dana Fielding, Associate Director of Rules and Safety, and Mary Wendt, Director of… Continue reading Code of Points
WDYT: Falling Brace
Scenario: During a pyramid sequence a stunt group falls. Later in the sequence the fallen group was to become a required bracer for a pyramid element. That element was performed without the bracer, making it illegal as performed. What should factor into whether it is a deduction or not? When, if ever, should a penalty… Continue reading WDYT: Falling Brace
WDYT: Missed Connection
Scenario: During the pyramid section the connection between a bracer and flipper is not made. Both are in the air and reach for each other, but don’t connect. The flip is illegal as performed due to not having a bracer. What should factor into whether it is a deduction or not? When, if ever, should… Continue reading WDYT: Missed Connection
Reviewing the Reviews
I recently worked an in person event as the Scoring and Deduction review person. Review requests were submitted via online form so I decided to go back and look at the basis provided for the Legality challenges. There were 63 total, how many do you think fell in each category? USASF Ruling This group said… Continue reading Reviewing the Reviews
WDYT: Illegal Stunt
This is the first of a couple What Do You Think questions I’m going to pose. Scenario: During the stunt section 1 group performs an illegal skill. What should factor into whether it is a deduction or not? When, if ever, should a penalty be assessed? What do you think and why?
National Championship Standard
Could and should events labeled as a “National Championships” be held to a higher standard? Ideally each Event Producer would have only 1 National Championship, but since it seems a little late for that should other standards be set. Something that comes to mind is requiring a multi-year history of 100+ teams attending the event, similar… Continue reading National Championship Standard
Switch It, Change It
Another experimental thing I’d like to see some event try is switching panels after day 1. I don’t know that this is a great idea, but I believe it would be worth trying at some events. The apparent downside would be getting inconsistent scores across days when performing the same routine. I believe this is… Continue reading Switch It, Change It
Chance & Me – Part 1
When I sat down my plan was to write an article about how to get into judging, but I don’t have an attention span so my mind started wandering. As I thought about what to write I drifted from how to get into judging, to how I got into judging, to the journey to judging… Continue reading Chance & Me – Part 1