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.
Showing posts with label Independent Component. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Independent Component. Show all posts
Thursday, May 9, 2013
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.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Blog 10: Senior Project Update
1) What are you currently doing in your Independent Component?
I am currently going to practice 2 times a week (3-4 times a week during the week preceding a competition). Each practice is 2 - 3 hours, although it is more commonly 3 hours. I am going to start counting my practices as hours for Independent Component next week, when my doctor says I am fully cleared to start practicing again. Since I've been sick lately I haven't been practicing like I normally do. These last 3 weeks or so I've been taking it easy since I've been in bad health. However, this week I have been stunting and I threw my backwalkover at practice on Monday and Wednesday for the first time in over a month. I will be tracking my progress for Independent Component starting on Monday, the 10th of December.
2) The most recent piece of research I've gotten for my senior project would have to be my first cheer competition of the season. My team competed for the first time against another team and we got first place! I've been to many All - Star cheer competitions, but I've never competed in one before, so I learned a lot from my experience of being on a team and having to go through the day as an athlete and not a spectator. Being able to review the scoresheets from the competition and see what the different aspects of our routine were scored would have to be the most resourceful thing I got out of the competition. My science fair project has to do with the scoring of tumbling and stunting sections in routines and focuses on how to maximize the score of the routine. So this competition was very useful for that aspect of my project. In addition, since my senior project is focusing specifically on stunting and tumbling, the scoresheets were very helpful since they're divided up into three sections: stunting, tumbling, and dance/formations. This competition made me realize how crucial those aspects of the routine are, and it reinforced my confidence in choosing the right aspect of the sport to focus on. The next place I will be going to in my project will be to excel at these categories of the sport, which will be easy since my routine is currently under a 'makeover' process in which our choreographer is adding more difficulty to the stunting and tumbling aspect of our routine.
3) This is a picture of my team, coaches, and I at our competition with our 1st place trophy and banner!
I am currently going to practice 2 times a week (3-4 times a week during the week preceding a competition). Each practice is 2 - 3 hours, although it is more commonly 3 hours. I am going to start counting my practices as hours for Independent Component next week, when my doctor says I am fully cleared to start practicing again. Since I've been sick lately I haven't been practicing like I normally do. These last 3 weeks or so I've been taking it easy since I've been in bad health. However, this week I have been stunting and I threw my backwalkover at practice on Monday and Wednesday for the first time in over a month. I will be tracking my progress for Independent Component starting on Monday, the 10th of December.
2) The most recent piece of research I've gotten for my senior project would have to be my first cheer competition of the season. My team competed for the first time against another team and we got first place! I've been to many All - Star cheer competitions, but I've never competed in one before, so I learned a lot from my experience of being on a team and having to go through the day as an athlete and not a spectator. Being able to review the scoresheets from the competition and see what the different aspects of our routine were scored would have to be the most resourceful thing I got out of the competition. My science fair project has to do with the scoring of tumbling and stunting sections in routines and focuses on how to maximize the score of the routine. So this competition was very useful for that aspect of my project. In addition, since my senior project is focusing specifically on stunting and tumbling, the scoresheets were very helpful since they're divided up into three sections: stunting, tumbling, and dance/formations. This competition made me realize how crucial those aspects of the routine are, and it reinforced my confidence in choosing the right aspect of the sport to focus on. The next place I will be going to in my project will be to excel at these categories of the sport, which will be easy since my routine is currently under a 'makeover' process in which our choreographer is adding more difficulty to the stunting and tumbling aspect of our routine.
3) This is a picture of my team, coaches, and I at our competition with our 1st place trophy and banner!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Plan Approval
1.
I plan on learning tumbling skills that surpass the
level of tumbling I need to be on the team I am currently on. Teams are broken
down by level of difficulty and depending on what level they decide to be for
the season, everything they learn is based off of what is legal under their
level. I am on a level 1 team, which is very basic everything. The tumbling
permitted on level 1 teams includes (but is not limited to) back walkovers,
front walkovers, forward rolls, backwards rolls, back extension rolls,
cartwheels, roundoffs and a combination of any of the skills for a tumbling
pass. Tumbling skills that exceed level 1 include back handsprings, back tucks,
aerials, front punches, front handsprings, layouts, fulls, and many more.
Throughout the season the team and individuals on the team work on achieving
the tumbling skills that are within their level. If someone wants to excel in
tumbling and learn skills that are past their level they have to come in on
their own time and work at achieving them independently. Coaches will not take
valuable time away from practice to teach kids upper level skills that they
aren't even going to be allowed to perform; long story short it's a waste of
practice time. So, if someone wants to excel in tumbling they have to sacrifice
their own time and go in on their days off to get the tumbling skills they
want. This is what I'm planning to do for my Independent Component #1.
2.
Meeting my 30 hours of work requirement will be
extremely easy, especially since I'm learning tumbling, and it is not something
that comes easy to me. At my gym we have "Team Tumbling" days every
Friday where the kids from all the teams come in to work with the coaches on
their tumbling skills. If you already have the tumbling skills on your team's
level down perfect then the coaches will allow you to start working on upper
level skills. So in addition to learning higher level skills I'm going to have
to perfect the level 1 tumbling skills I already have in order to learn new
ones. Therefore tumbling time I spend in practice perfecting my level 1
tumbling will count as work hours. After perfecting my tumbling in level 1
skills I will continue to go to team tumbling on Fridays from 5:00 - 7:00, and
I will come to the gym on my off days to work for 2 - 3 hours. I am very
confident I will be able to fill the amount of work hours required by this
component because there are so many tumbling skills beyond level 1 that there
is no way I'll be able to learn all of them within 30 hours. I'll be lucky to
even learn one!
3.
My working EQ is: "What is the most
efficient way to excel in tumbling in All-Star cheerleading?" By learning
skills that are beyond my team's level of difficulty I will be excelling in
tumbling. Through gaining these skills I also hope to gain an answer to my EQ.
What works best for me? Why did using this technique while doing a back
handspring help me more than another technique? The answers to the questions
I'm going to get from my independent study component will help me answer my
ultimate question, the EQ that drives my project. By making myself excel in
tumbling I'm going to be finding some answers to my working EQ.
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