I always get a lot of questions about competition this time of year. I’m hoping I can answer most of them for you. Please email me at anne@EastsideDreamElite.com if you have additional questions!
Competition season generally starts in mid-November and goes through February. Most competitions in our area offer rec divisions, and if they don't, you can usually email the competition director and request they add a rec division. We don't have a ton of rec teams in this state who compete, but the numbers are increasing! The upcoming competitions and contact information are listed on the calendar at the WSCCA website, www.wscca.com. Rec/Jr High/Middle School State is scheduled for Monday, January 18th (MLK Day) at Bellevue High School. It will be the same day as the High School Last Chance Qualifier.
We follow the NFHS rules for rec in this state. If you don’t have a rules book you can get one at: http://www.nfhs.com/c-229-spirit.aspx
Our age divisions are as follows. There will be a tumbling and a non-tumbling division in each age category:
Youth - 11 and under
Junior - 14 and under
Senior - 18 and under
We have new score sheets this year. They are similar to the last two years, but with a few big and small changes. Two of the big changes are:
Single-base stunting is its own category in the Music section. You must have single-base stunting to score in this category (even a single-base thigh stand counts!)
More points are awarded now for tumbling – wahoo! Cartwheels and round-offs get points now where they didn’t before. So polish up those basic tumbling skills and get ready to earn some points!
Please make sure, if you are competing, that you become very familiar with the score sheets and you design your routine so as to maximize points. The score sheets are the same as the high school score sheets and can be found here:
http://www.wscja.com/#!directors-tools/c1cey
The rec routines generally look like the high school competition routines as far as format goes, so I would look up some of our local high schools on YouTube or at the WIAA website to get ideas of how to put a routine together. You can also hire a choreographer, but that gets really pricy for something that for most rec teams is a fun extra to their season.
Please let me know if you have questions—I’m happy to try to help! I hope to see many of you out on the Big Blue Mat!