Increasing Competition – Part 2 – Ages & Levels

This is Part 2 on our series on Increasing Competition in AllStar Cheerleading. This one focuses on the Age and Level options for AllStars. There are currently 23 combinations for Levels 1-5:

• Tiny (5 & Under) – Level 1
• Mini (8 & Under) – Levels 1, 2, & 3
• Youth (11 & Under) – Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5R, & 5
• Junior (14 & Under) – Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5
• Senior (18 & Under or 12-18) – Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.2, 5R, & 5
• International (14 & Older) – Level 5

These lists do not take into account Sized or Coed based divisions splits. Here is the same information listed by Level:

• Level 1 – 5 (Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Senior)
• Level 2 – 4 (Mini, Youth, Junior, Senior)
• Level 3 – 4 (Mini, Youth, Junior, Senior)
• Level 4 – 3 (Youth, Junior, Senior)
• Level 4.2 – 1 (Senior)
• Level 5R – 2 (Youth, Senior)
• Level 5 – 4 (Youth, Junior, Senior, International)

Ages

Age has 6 options. Some options, specifically Tiny and International, are limited in Levels, while Senior has 7 Level options. Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of routines performed at each Age based on the statistics we kept from the 2010-11 season.

• Tiny – 3.71% of Routines (587/15827)
• Mini – 10.57% (1673/15827)
• Youth – 18.63% (2949/15827)
• Junior – 23.42% (3706/15827)
• Senior – 38.45% (6085/15827)
• Senior Open/Restricted – 2.54% (402/15827)
• International Open – 2.20% (348/15827)
• Special Needs – 0.49% (77/15827)

I’ve heard a few, but not many, calls to remove an Age group. I’ve heard many more people say the Ages are fine and there shouldn’t be too wide of a range of ages on the same team. I haven’t heard anyone say an age group should be added. What do you think? Do an Age need to be added or removed, or do we have it right?

Levels

There are currently at least 6 competitive levels. Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of routines performed at each level based on the statistics we kept from the 2010-11 season.

• Level 1 – 22.41% of Performances (3547/15827)
• Level 2 – 28.45% (4502/15827)
• Level 3 – 21.85% (3458/15827)
• Level 4 – 11.83% (1872/15827)
• Level 4.2 – 2.34% (370/15827)
• Level 5 – 11.94% (1890/15827, includes Restricted/Open)
• Level 6 – 0.70% (111/15827)
• Special Needs – 0.49% (77/15827)

I’ve heard many people say more levels are needed because there isn’t a level for every major progression. I’ve also heard people say the opposite, there are too many levels and there should be a couple major progressions between each level. What are your thoughts?

Overall, is this the right mix of Ages and Levels? If you had to add an Age or Level what would you make the grid look like? How about if you had to remove one, what would your new grid look like? Does the existing combinations of Ages and Levels promote the amount of competition you would like to see? Thoughts?

Spirit Post Increasing Competition Series:

• Part 1 – Introduction (Published January 1st)
• Part 3 on Sized based splits (Small, Medium, Large) will be published on March 1st.