As other gyms are reaching the end of the season, things are just heating up at Starlite Allstars. All three of our all-star teams are competing at The Summit in Orlando, Florida. We are going to have a month of rigorous practices, and as we near the date of the competition, we will have practice every day leading up until the day before we hop on the plane to Florida, weekends included. My coaches gave us a practice schedule for what days we are going to practice for the next month and here it is:
Friday, May 31, 2013
Training for The Summit!
As other gyms are reaching the end of the season, things are just heating up at Starlite Allstars. All three of our all-star teams are competing at The Summit in Orlando, Florida. We are going to have a month of rigorous practices, and as we near the date of the competition, we will have practice every day leading up until the day before we hop on the plane to Florida, weekends included. My coaches gave us a practice schedule for what days we are going to practice for the next month and here it is:
Stretching with Gabi Butler
While researching more for my first answer, I found an amazing video made by one of the most well known athletes in the cheer industry Gabi Butler. She is known for her flexibility and strength and has cheered for the top two cheer gyms in the United States, won Worlds, and is only 15. Gabi Butler has cheered for Top Gun, California Allstars, and Trinity Athletics. Her video was very helpful and a great resource for my senior project.
Cheer Stretching With Gabi Butler
Cheer Stretching With Gabi Butler
Winning Our Bid To The Summit
On Sunday February 3rd, 2013, my team got a bid to The Summit, the most prestigious lower levels competition in the United States. The competition, Duel In The Desert, was hosted by the company Spirit Sport and was a two day competition in Palm Springs, CA.
The first day we performed at 4:35 in Hall A. Our gym name is Starlite Allstars and our team name is Legacy. Here is a copy of the schedule for Day 1.
At the end of Day 1, we were in 3rd place out of 15 teams. Day 2, we ended up placing 2nd and receiving a bid to The Summit with a percent of perfection score of 94%. The team that beat us, California Allstars Sr. White (who later changes their team name to Titanium) was the only large senior level 1 team competing at this competition, so they were put into the small senior level 1 division to compete against other teams. So the team that beat us wasn't even a team from our division. However, we were happy nonetheless, to have beat all of the teams in our division and winning out bid to The Summit.
The first day we performed at 4:35 in Hall A. Our gym name is Starlite Allstars and our team name is Legacy. Here is a copy of the schedule for Day 1.
At the end of Day 1, we were in 3rd place out of 15 teams. Day 2, we ended up placing 2nd and receiving a bid to The Summit with a percent of perfection score of 94%. The team that beat us, California Allstars Sr. White (who later changes their team name to Titanium) was the only large senior level 1 team competing at this competition, so they were put into the small senior level 1 division to compete against other teams. So the team that beat us wasn't even a team from our division. However, we were happy nonetheless, to have beat all of the teams in our division and winning out bid to The Summit.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Blog 25: Mentorship
Literal
Log of hours
Mentor Rene Gonzalez: 1(323) 810 4804
Coach Anabel Delgado (owner of the team I coached): 1(626) 222 0499
Interpretive
The most important thing I gained from this experience was maturity as a coach and as a peer on an All-Star cheer team. I had to coach girls between the ages of 5 and 13, so there were times they would drive me crazy with their behavior, talking too much, or having attitude, then there were other times when I couldn't believe how much they had advanced and pushed themselves at such a young age. My coach and mentor, Rene Gonzalez, is very young, he's only 19, and he coaches a senior level team, which means kids from 12 -18 are on the team. However, the amount of respect he gets from kids nearly his own age is unbelievable. His team treats him like he was a 30 year old man, not like a peer, and that's because of how mature and respectful he is to the athletes.Coaching a team and seeing what was difficult from a coach's point of view made me aware of what I needed to as an athlete to keep my coach from going crazy like I did during some practices. It made me aware of when my team was losing their strong mentality and getting distracted or bringing each other down. I was able to step into a good leadership role and prevent my teammates and myself from getting distracted. Although we did get yelled at a lot, whenever it got bad and our coaches told us to go "talk in the dance room," I was always the person who motivated everyone and talked for 10 minutes straight about how we needed to get our act together and show our coaches that we were a force to not be reckoned with. My teammates even gave me the nickname Reverend West because they thought I sounded like a motivational preacher at practice, always encouraging the team. I would've never realized how important my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, was if I hadn't of done mentorship and experienced coaching as well as being a member of a team.
Applied
Like I stated at the end of the last section, without my mentorship experience, I would've never realized how important my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, was if I hadn't of done mentorship and experienced coaching as well as being a member of a team. Seeing firsthand and having to personally deal with a lot of kids who struggled to stay in the mindset of an athlete who was determined to progress was something I became very familiar with. I would always catch the girls I coached blaming each other when a stunt dropped or someone messed up during the routine. They were very quick to point fingers and start arguing, bringing the mood of the team down and creating a negative atmosphere. An athlete, and especially a cheerleader since nearly every aspect of the sport requires teamwork, should always try to maintain a positive atmosphere, never create a bad one by blaming others or bringing their problems to the gym with them. The gym is a place to forget about your problems, not a place to bring them. All of these are examples of things I've experienced from coaching and from being on a team that proved to me my second answer is my best answer. Sure, you could do as many pushups as you want with perfect technique, and be the safest tumbler in the world, but if you don't keep a positive mentality as an athlete, you'll never have the determination or motivation to progress. Without a drive to get better, nothing else matters, you can be the best athlete in the world, but if you don't want to even participate then you won't progress.
Log of hours
Mentor Rene Gonzalez: 1(323) 810 4804
Coach Anabel Delgado (owner of the team I coached): 1(626) 222 0499
Interpretive
The most important thing I gained from this experience was maturity as a coach and as a peer on an All-Star cheer team. I had to coach girls between the ages of 5 and 13, so there were times they would drive me crazy with their behavior, talking too much, or having attitude, then there were other times when I couldn't believe how much they had advanced and pushed themselves at such a young age. My coach and mentor, Rene Gonzalez, is very young, he's only 19, and he coaches a senior level team, which means kids from 12 -18 are on the team. However, the amount of respect he gets from kids nearly his own age is unbelievable. His team treats him like he was a 30 year old man, not like a peer, and that's because of how mature and respectful he is to the athletes.Coaching a team and seeing what was difficult from a coach's point of view made me aware of what I needed to as an athlete to keep my coach from going crazy like I did during some practices. It made me aware of when my team was losing their strong mentality and getting distracted or bringing each other down. I was able to step into a good leadership role and prevent my teammates and myself from getting distracted. Although we did get yelled at a lot, whenever it got bad and our coaches told us to go "talk in the dance room," I was always the person who motivated everyone and talked for 10 minutes straight about how we needed to get our act together and show our coaches that we were a force to not be reckoned with. My teammates even gave me the nickname Reverend West because they thought I sounded like a motivational preacher at practice, always encouraging the team. I would've never realized how important my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, was if I hadn't of done mentorship and experienced coaching as well as being a member of a team.
Applied
Like I stated at the end of the last section, without my mentorship experience, I would've never realized how important my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, was if I hadn't of done mentorship and experienced coaching as well as being a member of a team. Seeing firsthand and having to personally deal with a lot of kids who struggled to stay in the mindset of an athlete who was determined to progress was something I became very familiar with. I would always catch the girls I coached blaming each other when a stunt dropped or someone messed up during the routine. They were very quick to point fingers and start arguing, bringing the mood of the team down and creating a negative atmosphere. An athlete, and especially a cheerleader since nearly every aspect of the sport requires teamwork, should always try to maintain a positive atmosphere, never create a bad one by blaming others or bringing their problems to the gym with them. The gym is a place to forget about your problems, not a place to bring them. All of these are examples of things I've experienced from coaching and from being on a team that proved to me my second answer is my best answer. Sure, you could do as many pushups as you want with perfect technique, and be the safest tumbler in the world, but if you don't keep a positive mentality as an athlete, you'll never have the determination or motivation to progress. Without a drive to get better, nothing else matters, you can be the best athlete in the world, but if you don't want to even participate then you won't progress.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions
(1) EQ: What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team?
Best Answer: The most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team is keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting. Mentality is everything in not only cheerleading but every sport you do. It is the foundation for playing or participating in the sport at all. In a very general sense, you have to always have a strong mentality when it comes to playing a sport because you have to be able to mentally motivate yourself in preparation for the game or performance or whatever it is you're doing in that sport. If you don't even have a want or desire to play the sport then there is no way you're ever going to progress at it. In addition, having a strong mentality is essential because the more mental toughness you have, the easier it will be to overcome mental blocks. According to my mentor Rene Gonzalez, a mental block is "when an athlete gets stuck on a certain skill and are too afraid to do it because they overthink it." This occurs very often in tumbling. Debbie Love, the number one tumbling expert in the world for cheerleading, says that mental blocks are one of the most frustrating situations for both a coach and an athlete, and can be onset by multiple factors. Lack of progression, fear of injury, being easily distracted, school stress, family stress, and being forced to repeat skills when fatigued are all things that can and do cause mental blocks. It is imperative coaches know how to deal with athletes who have mental blocks, generally and individually, because it can take anywhere from a couple minutes to years to overcome a mental block. If an athlete is unable to overcome a mental block and learn new skills, they will be unable to progress.
(2) After I did my 10 hours in the summer I realized I didn't want to focus on the coaching aspect of cheer because a) Dominic was going to do that, and b) I really wanted people to look at my project and see how hard cheerleaders worked, to see that All-Star Cheerleading is a sport, and I wanted to expose that really raw, hands on aspect of the sport. So my EQ became focused on progressing at the sport itself, and the physical way to measure progression in cheer is through skills and movement among team levels. When I conducted my third interview, which was with my mentor, Rene Gonzalez, I realized that progressing wasn't all about physically seeing progression in an athlete through skills, and that a good cheerleader isn't a cheerleader who can pick up skills lightning quick, what makes a cheerleader good if the effort they put forth, the determination they have to push through mental blocks and stay mentally strong throughout the season. After watching my team interact with each other at practice and competitions I realized that the most important thing wasn't whether or not you came in on extra days to work on your skills or whether or not you had perfect technique in conditioning and stretching, it was about being able to push through mentally and be there with your team. To put aside the bad day you had at school or the fight you had with your parents, or even the death of a close relative. It is about being able to mentally stay strong for yourself and your teammates; that mental drive and motivation is the most essential part of an athletes progression, because as soon as it disappears, so does their progress. They can do as many perfectly techniqued pushups as they want, it won't matter though, because that's not what was going to make them progress. Their mental drive is what will always be the number one most important factor in an All-Star cheerleaders progression.
(3) Problem: One of the biggest problems I faced, especially later on in the year, was finding good, credible research that was not from my mentor. As my answers formed and my project became more specific, it became harder and harder to find research relevant to my answers that was about All-Star cheerleading. In the beginning of the year it was easy to find research on cheer in general, but as we did the Towers assignment and I came up with my second and third answer I realized I needed a lot more print research to back them up. In addition, my second and third answers changed literally two weeks ago. So I had to cram research checks at home.
Resolution: As my research became more specific, I tried to become more specific about where to look for it. I tried looking on University's websites, college databases, places I knew I'd find good, credible research that I'd get a lot of value from.
Problem: I was injured three times during the season, all of which had a big affect on my project since I was focused on trying to progress. I had a knee injury, which I re-injured later in the season, and a back injury. I was unable to tumble for 3 weeks after my first knee injury in January, and unable to tumble for a month from my back injury which I got in March. I also re-injured my knee while my back was injured during April. Since I couldn't tumble I couldn't work on tumbling skills outside of my level, which is what I need to do to progress.
Resolution: Accidents happen, and sometimes they're out of our control, but I dealt with my injuries to the best of my ability through multiple doctor visits and physical therapy. I really focused on strengthening specific parts of my body after they had been injured to make sure I built my strength back up and to prevent re-injury.Thankfully my injuries never got in the way of me competing at any competitions, and as soon as I got the okay to start tumbling again I'd work extra hard to make sure I was at the level I needed to be at to work on progression skills.
(4) One of the important sources for my senior project would have to be my mentor Rene Gonzalez, and more specifically my Interview 3 with him. My Interview 3 gave me my second answer, which is my best answer, and it gave me a direction to head in for my third answer. My mentor always stresses how important mentality is in All-Star cheer, and I always kind of disregarded it because I felt that the most important factors of progressing would be physical things like tumbling or stunting. So this interview really opened my eyes to the fact that my answers didn't have to be physical things.
My other most important source would be a journal article I found from the American Academy of Pediatrics titled "Cheerleading Injuries: Epidemiology and Recommendations for Prevention." It was written by the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and focuses on how the increased popularity of cheerleading over the last 20 years has caused a dramatic rise in cheer-related injuries. It was the first article I had found that had All-Star Cheerleading so prevalent throughout it. It really focused on the safety issues cheerleaders everywhere face due to unqualified coaches, lack of funding for proper equipment, and lack of recognition as a sport. This article basically gave me my third answer, which is always prioritizing safety when attempting skills. I learned that injury is most commonly due to improper technique in the execution of the skill, unqualified coaches teaching kids elite skills, or skills being practiced on dangerous ground such as wooden floors, grass, etc. The article gave great injury prevention recommendations and advice. I know from firsthand experience how much injuries affect an athletes progression throughout the season, and this article stressed and highlighted the importance of preventing these injuries from happening.
Best Answer: The most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team is keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting. Mentality is everything in not only cheerleading but every sport you do. It is the foundation for playing or participating in the sport at all. In a very general sense, you have to always have a strong mentality when it comes to playing a sport because you have to be able to mentally motivate yourself in preparation for the game or performance or whatever it is you're doing in that sport. If you don't even have a want or desire to play the sport then there is no way you're ever going to progress at it. In addition, having a strong mentality is essential because the more mental toughness you have, the easier it will be to overcome mental blocks. According to my mentor Rene Gonzalez, a mental block is "when an athlete gets stuck on a certain skill and are too afraid to do it because they overthink it." This occurs very often in tumbling. Debbie Love, the number one tumbling expert in the world for cheerleading, says that mental blocks are one of the most frustrating situations for both a coach and an athlete, and can be onset by multiple factors. Lack of progression, fear of injury, being easily distracted, school stress, family stress, and being forced to repeat skills when fatigued are all things that can and do cause mental blocks. It is imperative coaches know how to deal with athletes who have mental blocks, generally and individually, because it can take anywhere from a couple minutes to years to overcome a mental block. If an athlete is unable to overcome a mental block and learn new skills, they will be unable to progress.
(2) After I did my 10 hours in the summer I realized I didn't want to focus on the coaching aspect of cheer because a) Dominic was going to do that, and b) I really wanted people to look at my project and see how hard cheerleaders worked, to see that All-Star Cheerleading is a sport, and I wanted to expose that really raw, hands on aspect of the sport. So my EQ became focused on progressing at the sport itself, and the physical way to measure progression in cheer is through skills and movement among team levels. When I conducted my third interview, which was with my mentor, Rene Gonzalez, I realized that progressing wasn't all about physically seeing progression in an athlete through skills, and that a good cheerleader isn't a cheerleader who can pick up skills lightning quick, what makes a cheerleader good if the effort they put forth, the determination they have to push through mental blocks and stay mentally strong throughout the season. After watching my team interact with each other at practice and competitions I realized that the most important thing wasn't whether or not you came in on extra days to work on your skills or whether or not you had perfect technique in conditioning and stretching, it was about being able to push through mentally and be there with your team. To put aside the bad day you had at school or the fight you had with your parents, or even the death of a close relative. It is about being able to mentally stay strong for yourself and your teammates; that mental drive and motivation is the most essential part of an athletes progression, because as soon as it disappears, so does their progress. They can do as many perfectly techniqued pushups as they want, it won't matter though, because that's not what was going to make them progress. Their mental drive is what will always be the number one most important factor in an All-Star cheerleaders progression.
(3) Problem: One of the biggest problems I faced, especially later on in the year, was finding good, credible research that was not from my mentor. As my answers formed and my project became more specific, it became harder and harder to find research relevant to my answers that was about All-Star cheerleading. In the beginning of the year it was easy to find research on cheer in general, but as we did the Towers assignment and I came up with my second and third answer I realized I needed a lot more print research to back them up. In addition, my second and third answers changed literally two weeks ago. So I had to cram research checks at home.
Resolution: As my research became more specific, I tried to become more specific about where to look for it. I tried looking on University's websites, college databases, places I knew I'd find good, credible research that I'd get a lot of value from.
Problem: I was injured three times during the season, all of which had a big affect on my project since I was focused on trying to progress. I had a knee injury, which I re-injured later in the season, and a back injury. I was unable to tumble for 3 weeks after my first knee injury in January, and unable to tumble for a month from my back injury which I got in March. I also re-injured my knee while my back was injured during April. Since I couldn't tumble I couldn't work on tumbling skills outside of my level, which is what I need to do to progress.
Resolution: Accidents happen, and sometimes they're out of our control, but I dealt with my injuries to the best of my ability through multiple doctor visits and physical therapy. I really focused on strengthening specific parts of my body after they had been injured to make sure I built my strength back up and to prevent re-injury.Thankfully my injuries never got in the way of me competing at any competitions, and as soon as I got the okay to start tumbling again I'd work extra hard to make sure I was at the level I needed to be at to work on progression skills.
(4) One of the important sources for my senior project would have to be my mentor Rene Gonzalez, and more specifically my Interview 3 with him. My Interview 3 gave me my second answer, which is my best answer, and it gave me a direction to head in for my third answer. My mentor always stresses how important mentality is in All-Star cheer, and I always kind of disregarded it because I felt that the most important factors of progressing would be physical things like tumbling or stunting. So this interview really opened my eyes to the fact that my answers didn't have to be physical things.
My other most important source would be a journal article I found from the American Academy of Pediatrics titled "Cheerleading Injuries: Epidemiology and Recommendations for Prevention." It was written by the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and focuses on how the increased popularity of cheerleading over the last 20 years has caused a dramatic rise in cheer-related injuries. It was the first article I had found that had All-Star Cheerleading so prevalent throughout it. It really focused on the safety issues cheerleaders everywhere face due to unqualified coaches, lack of funding for proper equipment, and lack of recognition as a sport. This article basically gave me my third answer, which is always prioritizing safety when attempting skills. I learned that injury is most commonly due to improper technique in the execution of the skill, unqualified coaches teaching kids elite skills, or skills being practiced on dangerous ground such as wooden floors, grass, etc. The article gave great injury prevention recommendations and advice. I know from firsthand experience how much injuries affect an athletes progression throughout the season, and this article stressed and highlighted the importance of preventing these injuries from happening.
(5) My product is the amount of skills and experience I've gained from
this season of cheer. My team was fortunate enough to attend the most prestigious
cheer competition open to lower level teams, The Summit. We had to qualify to
even receive a bid to the competition by placing first or second at a national
competition and receiving a percent of perfection score of 90% or more on our
routine. After placing second and receiving a perfection score of 94% at Duel
In The Desert in December of last year, my team received a bid to The Summit.
After our normal season was over, we still came to practice nearly every day
for a month before The Summit. The normal All-Star season ends in the beginning
of April, but The Summit took place on May 4th and 5th in Orlando, Florida, so
my team worked harder than we had the entire season for the last month of
practice while all other teams were enjoying their last practices together by
hanging out and messing around. I had practice every day for nearly two weeks
before the competition, weekends and everything. Our coaches wanted to make
sure we perfected our skills, so that what we took to The Summit was our
absolute best. I was unfortunately nursing a back injury, so I couldn't tumble
most of the time, but as soon as I was cleared to practice again, I made sure
my backwalkovers were down perfect and that all my stunts hit effortlessly. The
change in my skill level since the beginning of the season, my first
competition, and my final performance at The Summit are drastic. Not only did I
gain new skills during the season, I was able to perfect them.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Blog 21: Independent Component 2
LITERAL
a) I, Priscilla West, affirm that I completed my Independent Component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) Rene Gonzalez - mentor and coach
c) Log of Independent Component 2 Hours
d) For my Independent Component 2 I completed 30 hours of work for The Summit, the most prestigious all-levels All-Star Cheerleading competition in the world. It's a competition for the top teams in the nation, and even being invited to go was a feat in itself. We had to qualify to even receive a bid to the competition. For my Independent Component 2, I competed in Florida at The Summit on May 4th and 5th, and my team placed 3rd. This means that I cheer on the third best small senior level 1 team in the entire United States.
INTERPRETIVE
This competition is the most prestigious competition for lower level divisions, such as my division, level 1, because teams have to qualify at a national competition and receive a percent of perfection score of 90% or higher on their routine to even be invited to attend The Summit. The Summit is a competition between the best of the best. Of the 20,000 plus All-Star Cheerleading teams in the US alone, only 350 teams attended The Summit to compete for the title of "The Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States," or "The Second Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States." There are of course multiple divisions, I just used my division as an example. Since my team was good enough to receive an at large bid to The Summit, at the end of the season when everyone was having their last practices and not focusing on improving so much but hanging out with their team for the last couple practices of the season, my team practiced their butts off for the month leading up to The Summit. We had two straight weeks of practice, weekends included. Our coaches focused on literally perfecting our skills since that is what The Summit is about, percent of perfection on your routine. They added more difficulty to our routine stunting and tumbling wise as well as gave us a completely new dance.
Old Dance (As of Sept, 2012):
Old First Stunt (As of Jan, 2013):
Old Second Stunt (As of Jan, 2013):
This is a video of my team's performance both days at The Summit
(With our new dance, first and second stunt):
Day One:
Day Two:
APPLIED
After our normal season was over, we still came to practice nearly every day for a month before The Summit. The normal All-Star season ends in the beginning of April, but The Summit took place on May 4th and 5th in Orlando, Florida, so my team worked harder than we had the entire season for the last month of practice while all other teams were enjoying their last practices together by hanging out and messing around. I had practice every day for two weeks before the competition, weekends included. Our coaches wanted to make sure we perfected our skills, so that what we took to The Summit was our absolute best. I was unfortunately nursing a back injury, so I couldn't tumble most of the time, but as soon as I was cleared to practice again, I made sure my backwalkovers were down perfect and that all my stunts hit effortlessly. The change in my skill level since the beginning of the season, my first competition, and my final performance at The Summit are drastic. Not only did I gain new skills during the season, I was able to perfect them. By attending the most prestigious competition a team in my division can attend and hopefully winning it or even placing, it'll show that there has been a drastic improvement of skills by not only me, but my team members, especially since 80% of the kids on my team have never cheered before this season. By attending this competition we therefore have to perfect every aspect of our routine and our skills as cheerleaders, which is progressing in itself.
My Independent Component 2 really reassured me of all of my answers, and especially my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting. One of my teammates was really negative and unhappy during practice in Florida, and I personally called her out on it to her face. After telling her multiple times to snap out of it and get in the right mindset, I started to notice how it was affecting my team, and my coaches did too. Everyone else started losing that strong mentality that kept them motivated and pushing through how tired we were, and hungry, and sweaty. Everyone was giving up, and no one wanted to be there. So, we had a team huddle and I told people who needed to be told off that they needed to start focusing and being positive, keeping a strong mentality, because they were affecting others. I think me being very blunt and calling people out really woke everyone up, and they were all nodding along and being attentive, like they had finally realized what was going on. After that pep talk my team went back out there and hit our routines perfect.
a) I, Priscilla West, affirm that I completed my Independent Component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) Rene Gonzalez - mentor and coach
c) Log of Independent Component 2 Hours
d) For my Independent Component 2 I completed 30 hours of work for The Summit, the most prestigious all-levels All-Star Cheerleading competition in the world. It's a competition for the top teams in the nation, and even being invited to go was a feat in itself. We had to qualify to even receive a bid to the competition. For my Independent Component 2, I competed in Florida at The Summit on May 4th and 5th, and my team placed 3rd. This means that I cheer on the third best small senior level 1 team in the entire United States.
INTERPRETIVE
This competition is the most prestigious competition for lower level divisions, such as my division, level 1, because teams have to qualify at a national competition and receive a percent of perfection score of 90% or higher on their routine to even be invited to attend The Summit. The Summit is a competition between the best of the best. Of the 20,000 plus All-Star Cheerleading teams in the US alone, only 350 teams attended The Summit to compete for the title of "The Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States," or "The Second Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States." There are of course multiple divisions, I just used my division as an example. Since my team was good enough to receive an at large bid to The Summit, at the end of the season when everyone was having their last practices and not focusing on improving so much but hanging out with their team for the last couple practices of the season, my team practiced their butts off for the month leading up to The Summit. We had two straight weeks of practice, weekends included. Our coaches focused on literally perfecting our skills since that is what The Summit is about, percent of perfection on your routine. They added more difficulty to our routine stunting and tumbling wise as well as gave us a completely new dance.
Old Dance (As of Sept, 2012):
Old First Stunt (As of Jan, 2013):
Old Second Stunt (As of Jan, 2013):
This is a video of my team's performance both days at The Summit
(With our new dance, first and second stunt):
Day One:
Day Two:
APPLIED
After our normal season was over, we still came to practice nearly every day for a month before The Summit. The normal All-Star season ends in the beginning of April, but The Summit took place on May 4th and 5th in Orlando, Florida, so my team worked harder than we had the entire season for the last month of practice while all other teams were enjoying their last practices together by hanging out and messing around. I had practice every day for two weeks before the competition, weekends included. Our coaches wanted to make sure we perfected our skills, so that what we took to The Summit was our absolute best. I was unfortunately nursing a back injury, so I couldn't tumble most of the time, but as soon as I was cleared to practice again, I made sure my backwalkovers were down perfect and that all my stunts hit effortlessly. The change in my skill level since the beginning of the season, my first competition, and my final performance at The Summit are drastic. Not only did I gain new skills during the season, I was able to perfect them. By attending the most prestigious competition a team in my division can attend and hopefully winning it or even placing, it'll show that there has been a drastic improvement of skills by not only me, but my team members, especially since 80% of the kids on my team have never cheered before this season. By attending this competition we therefore have to perfect every aspect of our routine and our skills as cheerleaders, which is progressing in itself.
My Independent Component 2 really reassured me of all of my answers, and especially my best answer, keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting. One of my teammates was really negative and unhappy during practice in Florida, and I personally called her out on it to her face. After telling her multiple times to snap out of it and get in the right mindset, I started to notice how it was affecting my team, and my coaches did too. Everyone else started losing that strong mentality that kept them motivated and pushing through how tired we were, and hungry, and sweaty. Everyone was giving up, and no one wanted to be there. So, we had a team huddle and I told people who needed to be told off that they needed to start focusing and being positive, keeping a strong mentality, because they were affecting others. I think me being very blunt and calling people out really woke everyone up, and they were all nodding along and being attentive, like they had finally realized what was going on. After that pep talk my team went back out there and hit our routines perfect.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Blog 19: Senior Project and ESLRs
1. What ESLR have you excelled in most in your senior project?
I believe I have excelled most in my senior project at being an effective communicator. I listen effectively and communicate appropriately while also demonstrating the importance of working interdependently.
2. Please explain why you think you have excelled in this ESLR.
I believe I've excelled in this ESLR because one of the few things I am good at is communicating. Though it's taken a long time for me to learn how to effectively (and appropriately) learn how to communicate wih others, I know that I've excelled at it the most my senior year. Having to work on my senior project by myself has really made me reach out to sources and people I don't know.
3. Provide evidence from your senior project to support your claim (evidence is a photo of something you are doing, photo of something you made, etc)
I believe I have excelled most in my senior project at being an effective communicator. I listen effectively and communicate appropriately while also demonstrating the importance of working interdependently.
2. Please explain why you think you have excelled in this ESLR.
I believe I've excelled in this ESLR because one of the few things I am good at is communicating. Though it's taken a long time for me to learn how to effectively (and appropriately) learn how to communicate wih others, I know that I've excelled at it the most my senior year. Having to work on my senior project by myself has really made me reach out to sources and people I don't know.
3. Provide evidence from your senior project to support your claim (evidence is a photo of something you are doing, photo of something you made, etc)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Blog 18: 2 Hour Meeting Answer #3
1. What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team?
2. Always prioritizing safety when attempting skills is an important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team.
3. A. All-Star cheerleaders unfortunately get injured often due to multiple reasons, such as improper supervision/coaching, improper technique in stretching or conditioning, or making a simple error when tumbling or stunting. According to Dr. Kurt Bryant, the majority of athletes that come to his office to be treated for an injury, especially sprains and strains, are cheerleaders and gymnasts.
B. According to a study done by Brenda Shields on the most common injuries that occur in cheerleading, stunting is the most dangerous aspect of cheerleading due to fall-related injuries such as concussions, sprains, strains and breaks. It is because of this that it is essential athletes always attempt every skill, especially harder skills such as tumbling and stunting, with upmost caution.
C. I know from first-hand experience that becoming injured during the season puts a very long hold on progressing in any aspect of cheer. I experienced two injuries during my season because of improper conditioning and treatment, and I was unable to tumble, jump, or even do my dance full-out during practice for over a month. You can't stop practicing something and expect to be able to do it perfect again after a month of not doing it. Since I had to focus on re-perfecting my skills more than once throughout the season, it took valuable time away from me working on skills outside of my level such as a backhandspring.
4. Aside from literally experiencing the negative aspect of this answer first-hand, the multiple scientific studies I've read on fall-related injuries and the lecture I attended by Chiropractor Kurt Bryant were really insightful about how important it is to keep safety a key factor in everything you attempt while cheering. They taught me that simple things such as making sure you have a coach spotting you when attempting a new skill, or always tumbling on a spring floor are simple things athletes can do to prioritize their safety that will make such a huge difference short-term and long-term.
5. I plan to study all three of my answers more in depth. The towers assignment has shown me what topics I need more research on, and and it's mostly on my three answers, especially my first and second answer.
2. Always prioritizing safety when attempting skills is an important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team.
3. A. All-Star cheerleaders unfortunately get injured often due to multiple reasons, such as improper supervision/coaching, improper technique in stretching or conditioning, or making a simple error when tumbling or stunting. According to Dr. Kurt Bryant, the majority of athletes that come to his office to be treated for an injury, especially sprains and strains, are cheerleaders and gymnasts.
B. According to a study done by Brenda Shields on the most common injuries that occur in cheerleading, stunting is the most dangerous aspect of cheerleading due to fall-related injuries such as concussions, sprains, strains and breaks. It is because of this that it is essential athletes always attempt every skill, especially harder skills such as tumbling and stunting, with upmost caution.
C. I know from first-hand experience that becoming injured during the season puts a very long hold on progressing in any aspect of cheer. I experienced two injuries during my season because of improper conditioning and treatment, and I was unable to tumble, jump, or even do my dance full-out during practice for over a month. You can't stop practicing something and expect to be able to do it perfect again after a month of not doing it. Since I had to focus on re-perfecting my skills more than once throughout the season, it took valuable time away from me working on skills outside of my level such as a backhandspring.
4. Aside from literally experiencing the negative aspect of this answer first-hand, the multiple scientific studies I've read on fall-related injuries and the lecture I attended by Chiropractor Kurt Bryant were really insightful about how important it is to keep safety a key factor in everything you attempt while cheering. They taught me that simple things such as making sure you have a coach spotting you when attempting a new skill, or always tumbling on a spring floor are simple things athletes can do to prioritize their safety that will make such a huge difference short-term and long-term.
5. I plan to study all three of my answers more in depth. The towers assignment has shown me what topics I need more research on, and and it's mostly on my three answers, especially my first and second answer.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions
- What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team?
- What are some important factors that will help you progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team?
- Why is it important to use proper technique while conditioning and stretching?
- How does proper technique apply to All-Star Cheer?
- What are some facets of cheer proper technique must be used in?
- Will proper technique in conditioning and stretching, specifically, be an important factor that will help an athlete progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team? Why or why not?
- Is keeping a strong mentality an important factor in an athlete's progression?
- What are the hardest aspects of cheer to keep a strong mentality in? (If not mentioned, are tumbling and/or stunting?)
- How do you define mentality when it refers to sports?
- Why do athletes get mental blocks and how do they overcome them on their own?
- How do coaches help athletes overcome mental blocks?
- Why do you think athletes most commonly get mental blocks in tumbling and/or stunting?
- How can athletes and coaches help prevent athletes from developing mental blocks?
- Why is prioritizing safety when attempting a skill an important thing for an athlete to do?
- If an athlete becomes injured, how will it affect their progression?
- What precautions can/should an athlete take to prioritize safety when attempting skills?
- If an athlete is trying to progress to a higher level team, what should their number one concern/focus be?
- What do you look for during tryouts when determining what team an athlete will be placed on?
- What is the rank of factors taken into account when placing an athlete on a team by importance and percent? (ex: 20% is stunting, 50% is tumbling, 10% is ____)
- What should an All-star Cheerleader's priorities be if they want to reach their full potential?
- In your opinion, and based on your experience, what are the top three most important factors taken into account by a coach when determining if an athlete will move from a Level 1 team to a Level 2 team? Why?
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Blog 16: 2 Hour Meeting Answer #2
1. What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team?
2. Keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, is an important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team.
3. A. Mentality is everything in sports; all aspects of it. In a very general sense, you have to always have a strong mentality when it comes to playing a sport in general. Athletes have to be able to mentally motivate themselves in preparation for the game or performance or whatever it is they're doing. If you don't even have a want or desire to play the sport then there is no way you're ever going to progress at it.
B. One of the biggest things that stops an athlete from progressing is developing a mental block. According to Rene Gonzalez, a mental block is, "when an athlete gets stuck on a certain skill and are too afraid to do it because they overthink it."
C. Mental blocks can occur in any aspect of cheer, but they most commonly occur in tumbling and stunting, which are the two things paid most attention to when determining whether or not an athlete has progressed a level or not. For example, an athlete with terrible toe touches can be on a level 1 team or on a level 5 team, but an athlete with only level 1 tumbling skills like a backwalkover cannot be on a level 5 team where athletes throw tumbling skills like full twisting layouts.
4. My most important source to find this answer would have to be my Interview 3 with my mentor and coach, Rene Gonzalez. I asked him what he believed the most important/significant aspects of cheerleading as a sport were, and he said mentality. I hadn't really thought of having an answer like mentality because I was so focused on my answers being physical things like tumbling or stunting, but talking to him about the importance of mental toughness, especially in cheer, really brought how important it is to my attention.
5. The next thing I plan to study for my second answer is muscle memory and whether or not there are studies done on how it specifically affects cheerleaders. Muscle memory is one of the ways you can overcome mental blocks, and overcoming mental blocks builds mental toughness which is something essential to every athlete in All-Star Cheerleading.
2. Keeping a strong mentality, especially in tumbling and stunting, is an important factor to progress to a Level 2 All-Star Cheerleading team.
3. A. Mentality is everything in sports; all aspects of it. In a very general sense, you have to always have a strong mentality when it comes to playing a sport in general. Athletes have to be able to mentally motivate themselves in preparation for the game or performance or whatever it is they're doing. If you don't even have a want or desire to play the sport then there is no way you're ever going to progress at it.
B. One of the biggest things that stops an athlete from progressing is developing a mental block. According to Rene Gonzalez, a mental block is, "when an athlete gets stuck on a certain skill and are too afraid to do it because they overthink it."
C. Mental blocks can occur in any aspect of cheer, but they most commonly occur in tumbling and stunting, which are the two things paid most attention to when determining whether or not an athlete has progressed a level or not. For example, an athlete with terrible toe touches can be on a level 1 team or on a level 5 team, but an athlete with only level 1 tumbling skills like a backwalkover cannot be on a level 5 team where athletes throw tumbling skills like full twisting layouts.
4. My most important source to find this answer would have to be my Interview 3 with my mentor and coach, Rene Gonzalez. I asked him what he believed the most important/significant aspects of cheerleading as a sport were, and he said mentality. I hadn't really thought of having an answer like mentality because I was so focused on my answers being physical things like tumbling or stunting, but talking to him about the importance of mental toughness, especially in cheer, really brought how important it is to my attention.
5. The next thing I plan to study for my second answer is muscle memory and whether or not there are studies done on how it specifically affects cheerleaders. Muscle memory is one of the ways you can overcome mental blocks, and overcoming mental blocks builds mental toughness which is something essential to every athlete in All-Star Cheerleading.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Plan Approval
1) For my Independent Component 2, I plan on attending and competing at The Summit, the most prestigious All-Star Cheerleading competition in the world for lower level divisions. There will be teams from all over the US and even some from other countries attending to compete. It's like Worlds for level 1-4 teams. This competition is the most prestigious competition for lower level divisions, such as my division, level 1, because teams have to qualify at a national competition and recieve a percent of perfection score of 90% or higher on their routine to even be invited to attend The Summit. The Summit is a competition between the best of the best. Of the 20,000 plus All-Star Cheerleading teams in the US alone, only 350 teams attend The Summit to compete for the title of "The Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States," or "The Second Best Small Senior Level One Team in the United States." There are of course multiple divisions, I just used my division as an example. Since my team was good enough to receive an at large bid to The Summit, at the end of the season when everyone is having their last practices and not focusing on improving so much but hanging out with their team for the last couple practices of the season, my team will be practicing their butts off for the month leading up to The Summit. We have two straight weeks of practice, Saturday and Sunday included. Our coaches will be focusing on literally perfecting our skills since that is what The Summit is about, percent of perfection on your routine. They're going to add more difficulty to our routine stunting and tumbling wise as well as give us a completely new dance.
2) Since my Summit practices from the month before the competition will count as hours for my Independent Component 2, I'll have no problem reaching the 30 hour minimum requirement. As a matter of fact I'm sure I'll far exceed it since I have about 12 two to three hour practices as well as the competition itself which is three days long and my practices and performances there will count as hours for Independent Component 2 as well.
3) My current EQ is "What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team?" The end goal of my project is for me to show I have progressed throughout the season on a level 1 team and that I'm ready to start practicing on/with a level 2 team. By attending the most prestigious competition a team in my division can attend and hopefully winning it or even placing, it'll show that there has been a drastic improvement of skills by not only me, but my team members, especially since 80% of the kids on my team have never cheered before this season. Us receiving a bid to The Summit was a huge accomplishment in itself. After having to place in first or second at a national competition, my team also had to receive a percent of perfection score of 90% or higher to be considered as the recipient of either a full paid bid, a half paid bid, or an at large bid. My team won our bid to The Summit in January of this year at Duel In The Desert, hosted by Spirit Sport in Palm Springs. By attending this competition we therefore have to perfect every aspect of our routine and our skills as cheerleaders, which is progressing in itself.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Blog 14: Independent Component 1
Literal:
A. I, Priscilla West, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B. Mentor/Coach: Rene Gonzalez 1 (323) 810 - 4804
C. Digital Spreadsheet of Hours
D. My original Independent Component was to get a back handspring, but I only completed the preliminary tumbling skills to a back handspring. My coach, who is also my mentor, wouldn't let me work on tumbling skills that exceeded my level until I had perfected the tumbling skills on my level, which I have done. A big part of my Independent Component 1, that I stated in my plan, was perfecting these skills, and perfecting them is actually a lot more relevant to my current EQ than it was to my working EQ. The end goal of my Independent Component 1 was to perfect the preliminary tumbling and conditioning skills to a back handspring. So perfecting my back walkover and conditioning to gain enough strength to perform a back handspring were the end goals of my Independent Component 1, which I completed.
Interpretive:
Tumbling is the hardest part of cheerleading to progress at. Any cheerleader will attest to that. It comes easier to some people, but it's the aspect of the sport you have to spend the most time on in order to gain skill. Then after you've gained a skill, you have to focus on perfecting it before you can move onto a harder skill. Tumbling is very time consuming, and the only way to get better is to practice it. Working on my back walkover for at least 30 hours was something definitely achievable because of this. A typical practice starts with conditioning and then we warm up our routine section by section, including tumbling. For the rest of practice we run through the routine multiple times focusing certain times only on stunting and others only on tumbling, or doing a full out which means we perform the routine doing all stunting and tumbling, like we would at a competition. So, every practice I attend with my team, counts as Independent Component hours.
The goal of my entire senior project is to get onto a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team, and in order to do that I need Level 2 tumbling skills, which means a back handspring. However, before I can just start throwing back handsprings, my coach has to use his judgement to decide whether I'm physically ready to learn a back handspring or not. The two main things taken into account are the perfection of my skills leading up to a back walkover and my strength. Tumbling is all about using your core muscles to control the way your body is moving while tumbling, so conditioning and strengthening your body to a point where you're physically capable of performing a back handspring is essential in the process to learn one. You can't skip it. Likewise, before you learn a new tumbling skill, especially one harder than any other you already know, you must have the preceding tumbling skills that act as a foundation to your learning down perfectly. According to the USASF Rules and Regulations, a back handspring is the tumbling skill that comes after a back walkover, due to level tumbling expectations and limitations. So, in order to achieve a back handspring and be able to progress to a Level 2 team, I must first perfect my back walkover.
Here is a video of me a few months ago (November I believe), doing my back walkover. Please excuse the poor quality of the video, it was filmed on a phone.
Here is a video of my new, perfected back walkover. Note how my toes are pointed and my legs are much straighter. I also kick over much faster than I previously did, and can do a back walkover in a tumbling pass, which is a lot harder than doing one from just standing,
Applied:
My topic is finding out which factor is most important to progress to a level two Allstar cheerleading team. By doing this Independent Component I've been able to test whether or not tumbling is an answer to my essential question, and it is. With this component I understand the importance tumbling holds to a cheerleader aspiring to be on a higher level and how difficult it is to progress in that area. Tumbling is something a lot of cheerleaders need to work on not only at practice, but outside of practice too, especially if they want to gain tumbling skills that exceed that of their level. I had a hard time getting over my mental block and trusting myself to just throw my back walkover, and I've noticed a lot of other girls on my team who are close to having back walkovers also have this mental block, and it's what stops you from tumbling. You have to practice the skill over and over and fall hundreds of times to get rid of it, and I only know that because that's exactly what I did. So, this Independent Component has provided me with an answer to my essential question, "What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team?" An important factor in progressing to a Level 2 Allstar cheer team is perfecting the tumbling skills of the level you're already on, and going into the gym outside of practice to work on tumbling skills for the next level above you. You have to dedicate extra time and effort if you want to gain skills outside of your level to move on.
A. I, Priscilla West, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B. Mentor/Coach: Rene Gonzalez 1 (323) 810 - 4804
C. Digital Spreadsheet of Hours
D. My original Independent Component was to get a back handspring, but I only completed the preliminary tumbling skills to a back handspring. My coach, who is also my mentor, wouldn't let me work on tumbling skills that exceeded my level until I had perfected the tumbling skills on my level, which I have done. A big part of my Independent Component 1, that I stated in my plan, was perfecting these skills, and perfecting them is actually a lot more relevant to my current EQ than it was to my working EQ. The end goal of my Independent Component 1 was to perfect the preliminary tumbling and conditioning skills to a back handspring. So perfecting my back walkover and conditioning to gain enough strength to perform a back handspring were the end goals of my Independent Component 1, which I completed.
Interpretive:
Tumbling is the hardest part of cheerleading to progress at. Any cheerleader will attest to that. It comes easier to some people, but it's the aspect of the sport you have to spend the most time on in order to gain skill. Then after you've gained a skill, you have to focus on perfecting it before you can move onto a harder skill. Tumbling is very time consuming, and the only way to get better is to practice it. Working on my back walkover for at least 30 hours was something definitely achievable because of this. A typical practice starts with conditioning and then we warm up our routine section by section, including tumbling. For the rest of practice we run through the routine multiple times focusing certain times only on stunting and others only on tumbling, or doing a full out which means we perform the routine doing all stunting and tumbling, like we would at a competition. So, every practice I attend with my team, counts as Independent Component hours.
The goal of my entire senior project is to get onto a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team, and in order to do that I need Level 2 tumbling skills, which means a back handspring. However, before I can just start throwing back handsprings, my coach has to use his judgement to decide whether I'm physically ready to learn a back handspring or not. The two main things taken into account are the perfection of my skills leading up to a back walkover and my strength. Tumbling is all about using your core muscles to control the way your body is moving while tumbling, so conditioning and strengthening your body to a point where you're physically capable of performing a back handspring is essential in the process to learn one. You can't skip it. Likewise, before you learn a new tumbling skill, especially one harder than any other you already know, you must have the preceding tumbling skills that act as a foundation to your learning down perfectly. According to the USASF Rules and Regulations, a back handspring is the tumbling skill that comes after a back walkover, due to level tumbling expectations and limitations. So, in order to achieve a back handspring and be able to progress to a Level 2 team, I must first perfect my back walkover.
Here is a video of me a few months ago (November I believe), doing my back walkover. Please excuse the poor quality of the video, it was filmed on a phone.
Here is a video of my new, perfected back walkover. Note how my toes are pointed and my legs are much straighter. I also kick over much faster than I previously did, and can do a back walkover in a tumbling pass, which is a lot harder than doing one from just standing,
Applied:
My topic is finding out which factor is most important to progress to a level two Allstar cheerleading team. By doing this Independent Component I've been able to test whether or not tumbling is an answer to my essential question, and it is. With this component I understand the importance tumbling holds to a cheerleader aspiring to be on a higher level and how difficult it is to progress in that area. Tumbling is something a lot of cheerleaders need to work on not only at practice, but outside of practice too, especially if they want to gain tumbling skills that exceed that of their level. I had a hard time getting over my mental block and trusting myself to just throw my back walkover, and I've noticed a lot of other girls on my team who are close to having back walkovers also have this mental block, and it's what stops you from tumbling. You have to practice the skill over and over and fall hundreds of times to get rid of it, and I only know that because that's exactly what I did. So, this Independent Component has provided me with an answer to my essential question, "What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team?" An important factor in progressing to a Level 2 Allstar cheer team is perfecting the tumbling skills of the level you're already on, and going into the gym outside of practice to work on tumbling skills for the next level above you. You have to dedicate extra time and effort if you want to gain skills outside of your level to move on.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Blog 12: Third Interview Questions
Questions for Interview 3
My EQ: What is the most efficient way to excel at tumbling and stunting in All-Star cheerleading?
1. What is the most efficient way to excel at tumbling and stunting in All-Star cheerleading?
2. How would you determine whether or not someone is excelling at stunting?
3. How would you determine whether or not someone is excelling at tumbling?
4. How can you determine what qualifies as an efficient way to excel at either of these?
5. Is excelling efficiently something an All-Star cheerleader should be good at or hold as a priority?
6. Do you believe there are multiple ways to determine whether or not someone is excelling at stunting or tumbling efficiently?
Follow up: If so, what do you believe are some ways a person can excel at stunting and tumbling efficiently?
7. From your experience in the industry, what do you believe are the most important/significant aspects of cheerleading as a sport?
8. How fast should All-Star cheerleaders be progressing throughout the season as athletes, and how would you measure that progress?
9. Is there a part of All-Star cheerleading that is harder to learn or progress at?
Follow up: If so, what can an athlete do to make sure they progress in that area as fast as they should be?
10. What do you believe an All-Star cheerleader's biggest concern/priority should be and why?
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