POST HO 2012 - thoughts and suggestions.

Hi all,

We have a few questions from a few of our readers with regards to the recently concluded NTU HO Season 2011/2012

Disclaimer: The following blog entry is done at my own capacity* and is not representative of Wildcards/Team Spectrum. Any resemblance to any individuals/teams is not intentional and should be treated as purely coincidental. Reader discretion is advised.

1) Do u think that the ban on certain cheer stunts as illegal will make the cheerleading teams in SG boring?

CR: Actually, part of your question was previously addressed by one of BPOM's winners. I have also added some comments with regards to this issue. Please refer to Stanley's blog post here

CR: I will assume that your question is geared more towards the recently concluded NTU HO Season 2011/2012 as compared to our annual National Cheerleading Competition (NCC)

I personally feel that the keyword ''boring'' can be subjective - it all depends on the ''objective'' of the competition and under what rules the said competition is governed by.

The organisers of NTU HO are probably more concerned about safety, which prompted them to take a stand to ban pyramids exceeding 2.5 human height and basket tosses that involves head over heels (eg: back tuck/layouts). Honestly, if this is what the organisers want, participants have no choice but to follow (unless you intend to be the organiser yourself then you can run the show how ever you want it)

I feel that preparing for a competition is like studying for an exam: you need to train for what is being tested. But definitely, one should never equate high level stunts to being ''exciting''. From my perspective as a coach - if you cannot execute a high level stunt properly, there is no value in doing it.

Audiences, however, relate very differently to a cheerleading routine. As an audience, you will probably want a routine that is clean, neat, sharp and full of energy. Having difficult stunts does not necessarily equate to having a routine that is ''exciting'' in the eyes of the audience. You can have a full squad one arm rewinds but this will amount out to nothing if 9 out of 10 rewinds end up dropping.

PS: I personally feel that organisers of NTU HO should have given one season's notice to effect the change of rules. This is because, many halls started their training as early as May 2011 based on the old scoring system; only to be informed that the rules have been changed by the organisers only in late Oct 2011. This is not being fair to the halls who put in the effort to start training early.

2) Would u feel that a trophy-winning cheer team equals to doing extreme high flying stunts?


CR: Again, this voices down to what rules the said competition is governed under. For example, we have the classic example of IFC vs. ICU. If I were to put it in layman's terms, IFC emphasizes more on ''execution before difficulty'' while ICU emphasizes more on ''difficulty before execution''.

I personally feel that ''a trophy winning cheer team'' equals to doing stunts with ''confidence and consistency''. And doing difficult stunts alone does not produce a trophy winning cheer team. If you stunts cannot hit, they will not count.

3) The banning of ''difficult stunts'' in NTU HO will remove the challenge of cheerleading

CR: I do not agree with this statement. I feel that NTU HO is a very good platform for new-to-cheer individuals to experience this sport. If you are keen to bring your passion/ambition to the next level, there is always the school's varsity team (NTU ACES) or external teams such as Astros, Wildcards, Legacy, Denvers, DECS to cater to your needs. You simply need to decide for yourself which team will best suit your learning style/personality as all teams are unique in their own way.

Again, the level of game play at Nationals level is very different from NTU HO. This is an apple and orange comparison. You need to decide for yourself what is it in cheerleading that you are seeking.



*About the author: Chaang was previously a player/coach for NTU HO (hall 13) between 2005-2008 and has been a coach for Wildcards from 2008 - present