LESS THAN A MONTH TO NATIONALS!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
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
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 hereCR: 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
Friday, February 10, 2012
NTU HO 2012
Hi guys,
Would really like to congratulate everyone who participated in HO 2012 and a job very well done to the teams who fulfilled their objectives for HO 2012.
NTU HO 2012 is the first year that the competition was judged under a new set of rules. Besides the halls let us thanks the coaches who made it happen and i present you with the first unofficial coach list with the results below.
***Disclaimer: the above list is collated by word of mouth and is believed to be correct at the time of publication. Please let us know if any of the information is incorrect and we will endeavor to make any immediate corrections.
Subsequently i proudly present to you the top 5 placed routines at HO 2012!
1st Position: Hall 9
2nd Position: Hall 13
3rd Position: Hall 1
4th Position: Hall 8
5th Position: Hall 3
I hope HO 2012 has been an awesome experience for all those competing. Subsequently we also strongly encourage those who would like to take their passion further and continue to compete in SNCC 2012!!! Your cheer journey only starts now!
Quote from Coach Mentor Chaang below!!!
"NTU HO 2012 is the first year that the competition is being judged under a new set of rules. If you have met your objective, congrats to you and your team! If you did not meet your objective, do not start hating those that finished ahead of you because it is not their fault that they won.
Both winning and the process of cheerleading are equally important. Pick yourselves up, and continue to move forward!"See you at SNCC 2012, there is still time for registration!
Coaching....nothing comes close!
Hi team,
With the recent conclusion of the HO cheerleading competition, I am glad to have reached another milestone in cheerleading. Having got my coaching certifictation just about a year ago, i decided to take the plunge and took up hall 3 as my first competitive cheerleading team and boy what a journey it was. It was tough, stressful and yet was one of the most immensely fulfilling time of my life and i encourage more people to dare to take up the challenge for the benefits it offers.
First of all, I would like to thank every one who have helped me reached where i am today. From my team mates, to my coaches, to my bros and many more. All these would not have been possible with you all and I just want to share a few things I learnt along the way.
1) Besides knowing how to handle people, a coach has to constantly upgrade his skills to stay relevant
One of the traits of being a wildcard, is that we never stop learning. And i am thankful that I had the fortune to be introduced into this sport through Wildcards. That being said, becoming a coach really woke me up, telling me that I can no longer stall at this level.
As a coach, with limited ability, you can only be able to impart limited skills.
With that in mind, no matter how good you are at coordinating your people, there is only so much you can offer to impart to them. As a coach, i feel that i would be a let down to my students as i am short changing them. And if you are unable to do it, how do you expect your students to be able to or believe that it is manageable.
Hence, one has to continuously upgrade to make sure that your students are able to learn the best set of skills.
2)The power of team spirit and mentality
The power of team spirit is often brought up in many sports stories. And rightly so given how important it is in real life too.
If the goals and mentality of a team is not aligned to a single focus, it would be hard for them to work together as they would have different levels of motivation.
On person in doubt can cause the downfall of the whole team.
3)Trust and believe your team
One thing that really struck me was my team's ability to learn. Due to the rather massive sizes of my team mates (YES! YOU ALL!) I had the mentality that only big guys could stunt well.
Damn! i was proven so wrong. Hall 3 surpassed my expectations, learning at such incredible speeds. At first i was apprehensive and unwilling to put too much pressure on them. However, their passion to learn was so overwhelming and it really left me feeling stupid. I had to admit that my eyes were opened and I learnt that a coach must believe in his team and never put a cap on someone's opportunity to grow.
Hence, impart all that you know and allow them to absorb these skills at their own pace. Drop the inhibitions and let your team surprise you. If you don't believe in them, they never would believe themselves.
4)There is an "I" in every team
Contrary to the famous quote " there is no "I" in the team", i beg to differ. There is an "I" in every team, and that is called taking up one's personal responsibility. Every one has a part to play and every one is important to the team.
Being an "I" in the team means taking charge of your stunt and carrying all your responsibilities right to hit your routine.
At the end of the day, there is no one that would save your stunt if it falls. Hence, we have to be responsible to our team mates as in our hands, we are holding up the fates of 20 over people.
5)Being a coach enriches your life
Lastly, as a coach, i felt my life being enriched by those that I take charge of and those that took care of me along the way. I miss them now even as I type this. Its rare to have 20 over people working to help achieve the same goal, watching them go through the pain, sweat and all that embodies sacrifice on their part and finally that immense joy as they hit their routine beautifully as you look on, so proud of them.
Being a coach changes your life, not only in cheerleading but in life in general as well.
Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people.
Chaang:
I am really honoured to have you as a coach. Thanks for all your faith and believe in me and thank you for passing on the good ways of cheer leading. Thank you for never giving up on me and always challenging me to push new frontiers, assisting me along the way. I was privileged enough to learn from the best and I hope to spread the good ways of cheer leading as I coach more and more people.
My team mates:
My dear team mates, my bros. Thank you for helping me develop as a cheerleader, being my fiercest critic yet my closest friends. I am lucky to have met you all and without you all, i wouldn't be where i am today. Special mention goes out to Hann Bin, Zhi Liang, Gary, Jayson, Augus for being ever encouraging and helpful with my team. I owe you all much =)
Eunice:
Thank you for being so patient and understanding throughout my time of coaching =) I LOVE YOU!
NTU Hall 3:
Last but not least !My champions, as i write this post and remember all the things we went through together, i can't help but to feel a tinge of sadness as some how i know, i might not be fortunate enough to coach another team as wonderful as you all. I thank you all for being ever so receptive to what i have to coach, being forgiving for the times I screwed up and for believing in our routine and making it look so beautiful on the competition day. When it was all over, it did not matter that we were not first or whatever. You all gave me the best coaching experience of my life and i have nothing more to ask for. You all are a big part of my life and as i said, medals only mean so much to me. I was sad on HO day not because we did not win, but because it was the last day that i was coaching the bunch of you. You all made up a great part of my life and made it so much better. To me, you all were like my family, learning and growing together as you all taught me important life lessons as well. Treasure each other as you all are a special bunch of people and i can't wait to meet up with you all! Thank you again GOJIRAS! it was such an amazing feeling watching you all hit your routine with so much pride! I love you all!
Im so so proud of you all!
Monday, February 6, 2012
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