Just a few things that have to be cleared up throughout the previous comments:
1st: NCA and UCA have two different styles of competing. UCA focus completely on stunts/tumbling whereas NCA focuses on stunts/tumbling but with more focus on presentation/jumps/dance/etc than UCA. Both are prestigious in their own right. Try telling Louisville (Hint: the school that won the Sugar Bowl and the Final Four) that NCA is not as good. They've been dominant for the last decade or so in D1A at NCA nationals except for the last few years when Oklahoma State has won. Also, NCA is televised on CBS Sports Network. Other scompeting are teams like Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Texas Tech, which are by no means small schools. The last fact is that UCA competes in January and NCA in April so schools take that into account as well when deciding where to go.
2nd: Michigan competed in the Intermediate Coed 1 division because there were restrictions on the team from the Athletic Department at U-M, not because they or the coach chose to. The restrictions were just recently (as in earlier this year) lifted so this should change in the next few years.
3rd: Dance and Cheer nationals are very different; UCA vs. NCA doesn't matter in that regard. The higher divisions for Cheer focus on more dangerous stunts/pyramids/etc. For dance, there is no intermediate because dance is about movement and synchronization, not 'risker' or 'more dangerous' dance moves. Also, dance has 3 areas (Hip Hop, Pom, and Jazz) at UDA and U-M placed into finals in hip-hop, and got 12th. Congrats to them all the same, but you can't really compare cheer/dance there.
4th: The article clearly states what division Michigan won (Intermediate Coed I) so I'm confused as to where the incorrect persuasion is.
5th: Michigan solely didn't make the finals because they were assessed safety deductions during the pyramid portion of the prelim routine. Without those, they would have been 3rd going into the finals. It had nothing to do with lack of skill. After prelims there is the Challenge Cup (in every single group from D1A on down) where the teams that didn't make the finals get to do the routine again and the winner advances to the finals the following day. Michigan fixed the safety issues and won the Challenge Cup by a huge amount (the score they received actually would've placed 2nd in prelims). They then went on to win with a perfect routine.
6th and final: There are two cheeleading teams at Michigan: Co-ed and All-Girl Competitive Cheerleading. The Co-ed team is considered a varsity sport and is university sponsored (expenses paid by U-M) whereas for All-Girl the expenses are paid by the team members.
No offense, but looking at a website and mixing that with assumptions does not result in facts. It results in misleading information that paints the program in a negative light. Next time, please actually do your homework before 'stating facts.'
Michigan did very well and the Michigan athletic community is very proud of them, as should any fan of Michigan athletics. Go Blue!
Recent Comments
Just a few things that have to be cleared up throughout the previous comments:
1st: NCA and UCA have two different styles of competing. UCA focus completely on stunts/tumbling whereas NCA focuses on stunts/tumbling but with more focus on presentation/jumps/dance/etc than UCA. Both are prestigious in their own right. Try telling Louisville (Hint: the school that won the Sugar Bowl and the Final Four) that NCA is not as good. They've been dominant for the last decade or so in D1A at NCA nationals except for the last few years when Oklahoma State has won. Also, NCA is televised on CBS Sports Network. Other scompeting are teams like Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Texas Tech, which are by no means small schools. The last fact is that UCA competes in January and NCA in April so schools take that into account as well when deciding where to go.
2nd: Michigan competed in the Intermediate Coed 1 division because there were restrictions on the team from the Athletic Department at U-M, not because they or the coach chose to. The restrictions were just recently (as in earlier this year) lifted so this should change in the next few years.
3rd: Dance and Cheer nationals are very different; UCA vs. NCA doesn't matter in that regard. The higher divisions for Cheer focus on more dangerous stunts/pyramids/etc. For dance, there is no intermediate because dance is about movement and synchronization, not 'risker' or 'more dangerous' dance moves. Also, dance has 3 areas (Hip Hop, Pom, and Jazz) at UDA and U-M placed into finals in hip-hop, and got 12th. Congrats to them all the same, but you can't really compare cheer/dance there.
4th: The article clearly states what division Michigan won (Intermediate Coed I) so I'm confused as to where the incorrect persuasion is.
5th: Michigan solely didn't make the finals because they were assessed safety deductions during the pyramid portion of the prelim routine. Without those, they would have been 3rd going into the finals. It had nothing to do with lack of skill. After prelims there is the Challenge Cup (in every single group from D1A on down) where the teams that didn't make the finals get to do the routine again and the winner advances to the finals the following day. Michigan fixed the safety issues and won the Challenge Cup by a huge amount (the score they received actually would've placed 2nd in prelims). They then went on to win with a perfect routine.
6th and final: There are two cheeleading teams at Michigan: Co-ed and All-Girl Competitive Cheerleading. The Co-ed team is considered a varsity sport and is university sponsored (expenses paid by U-M) whereas for All-Girl the expenses are paid by the team members.
No offense, but looking at a website and mixing that with assumptions does not result in facts. It results in misleading information that paints the program in a negative light. Next time, please actually do your homework before 'stating facts.'
Michigan did very well and the Michigan athletic community is very proud of them, as should any fan of Michigan athletics. Go Blue!