Update on Senior Project

MENTORSHIP:
Unfortunately I've been really sick these last couple of weeks, and I've been busy trying to catch up on all of my school work. Since I've been sick I haven't been able to practice cheer with my team or coach the youth rec teams I coach for mentorship hours. This weekend I have a competition coming up and I was luckily able to start cheering again on Monday. Since this is the weekend before a competition, and practice schedules overlap since every team in the gym has to practice every day, I will not be able to do Mentorship hours this week. However, starting next week, I'll be able to continue with my mentorship and coach my girls. :)

INDEPENDENT COMPONENT:
Again, since I've been sick I haven't been able to cheer lately, and even though I've started practicing again, my doctor still has not cleared me to tumble. My independent component is based off of me tumbling and improving in the tumbling aspect of all-star cheer, but I will not be able to start tumbling again for another week. Once I am fully cleared to practice again I will be back in the gym almost every day working hard to catch up with where I should be.

SCIENCE FAIR:
The only good thing that has come out of being sick is that I got to sit back and watch my team and other teams in the gym during practice as a spectator instead of an athlete. I got to see my teammates improve and witness our routine change due to more people gaining skills. I'm very excited to start documenting how our routine scores at competition this weekend and to compare how it is scored once it is changed again. Competition season is starting so I have to get ready to start collecting data.

Blog 5b: Science Fair Proposal

1. My topic is All-Star Cheerleading.

2. Problem: Kids will not be able to make a Level 2 All - Star Cheerleading team unless they either have Level 2 tumbling skills or are very close to achieving them.
Quote: "If you guys want to progress to a higher level team next year, you need to show us that you have the next level skills or are close to getting them. Since we've coached you, we know your guys' abilities, your strengths and weaknesses, and what skills you're capable of obtaining in a certain amount of time. Other coaches won't, and if you try out for another team next season, if you don't have a back handspring you're not going to be put on a Level 2 team."
Gonzalez, Rene. Allstar Cheer Practice. Starlite Allstars Gym, City of Industry, CA. August 2012. Lecture.

3. Hypothesis: If an All - Star Cheerleader follows a specific conditioning and stretching process, they will be able to obtain a back handspring within a month of starting training for it.

4. I am going to get 22 kids from my gym who don't have back handsprings and track their progress on a spreadsheet of specific exercises they should do to help them get their back handspring. For example, you should be able to do a handstand snap down before you learn how to do a back handspring because a handstand snap down is a skill needed to perform a back handspring. So, I will track how long it takes for each of them to obtain the skills, such as a handstand snap down, needed for a back handspring, and what they did during each practice period. In addition to tracking the progress of the kids, I'm going to be tracking my progress, as my Independent Component 2 is getting a back handspring myself. The tools I'm going to use are Excel for my spreadsheets, a calendar (days) to measure progress, a spring floor, mats, and my coach/mentor to help guide me and the rest of the kids.

5. Anatomy and Physiology

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

(1) What is the most efficient way to excel at tumbling and stunting in All-Star Cheerleading?
(2) I am not going to revise my EQ at this time
(3) Possible answers are knowing what can be achieved for each level, the way the judges score you, how to train for certain skills, experienced coaches, stretching, strengthening, and getting over mental blocks.