2023 Recap - Part 1 ⌛️
Here's what happened the first half of the year!
We're on holiday break for two weeks, but didn't want to leave you with nothing! Enjoy two special pre-written newsletters, recapping the past year ✨ Normal newsletters will resume on January 8th.
In today's newsletter, we'll be covering the months of January-June. Next week, tune in for the rest as we dive into moments from July to December!
But first…
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January
Cheer Athletics Cheetahs received a paid bid after a scoring error
“Varsity has come forward and apologized to Cheer Athletics Cheetahs, as they would've won if the mistake wasn't made. They also received a paid bid to Worlds since they would’ve won that as well.”
Cheer Central Suns became part of Cheer Athletics
It was announced that Cheer Central Suns would join Cheer Athletics in May after the season was over - becoming their newest gym locations.
Which was a step forward for USA Cheer and the Olympics (more on the Olympics in part 2 next week).
UCA College Nationals happened & resulted in this famous photo
“I feel like this is gonna become a meme on cheer twitter” - Well, they weren’t wrong!
The Majors took place - do you remember who won?
And the winners were…
February
Varsity updated the scoring for level 6 & 7 divisions
An update in the middle of the season lowered the number of athletes needed to perform jumps and tumbling for "majority", "most" and "max" quantity on the scoresheet.
USASF proposed new age grid & rule changes
Which included the removal of Senior Open 6 divisions, and requiring all athletes on Senior Open/International Open teams to be 18+ years old.
Cheersport Nationals took place, and it was a big weekend for the locals 🤙
The Stingray Allstars won big, taking home three major wins in the Medium Senior (Peach), Large Senior (Orange) & Large Coed (Steel) level 6 divisions!
Speaking of Cheersport, there was something else that caused reactions…
Introducing: “The crowd problem”
The biggest competition in the world, NCA Nationals, happened & here’s a recap
It was chaotic, to say the least!
March
The “House of Cheer“ live tour was announced
Only to be canceled in May, more about that later.
“8-year-old won competition after her team didn't show up“
Still the cutest story we've ever written about 🥹
Team lost NCA due to judging mistakes & then the same thing happened at UCA…
Both Pittsburgh Superstars Supermodels and Infinity Allstars Legacy would’ve won if the mistakes weren’t made.
UCA also managed to announce the wrong results
They forgot it was 2023, and not 2022…
Article exposed banned USASF coaches breaking the rules
“FITSNews“ investigated how banned USASF coaches can break the rules, apparently without any consequences.
Varsity agreed to pay $43.5 million to settle lawsuit
“Varsity Brands has agreed to pay $43.5 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit brought on behalf of a class of all-star cheerleading gyms, according to a copy of the agreement filed in the case.”
April
Remember when a mascot got a deduction at NCA College Nationals?
Only in cheerleading 😂
First major end-of-season event: ICU Worlds - here’s a recap
Results, the Team Germany athlete who did NOT skip leg day at the gym, the most graceful way to get down from a shoulder sit you’ll see, Norway’s double medals, “Sweden is genuinely built different“ & which country took home the most medals?
Next up: Worlds! Here’s the first recap
History-making teams, 3-peats, wedding proposal, first win since 2011, best-dressed coach & more.
Top Gun Allstars setting multiple records, more 3-peats, first time in 10 years & talk about commitment!
May
Up next was The Summit, see our recap here
The first-ever team from the Nordics to medal, a tie for first place, top 10 scores, the “it girls“ of level 4 & more.
With much more Navarro drama to come…
And lastly, D2 Summit & Allstar Worlds recap
Disqualified team, crazy pyramid, “Best Performance of probably the ENTIRE AllStar Worlds“ & this team won both Allstar Worlds and D2 Summit!
Lawsuit related to the “Cheer Live“ & “House of Cheer“ tours
A full breakdown of the lawsuit!
And the “House of Cheer“ tour was postponed/canceled
It was confirmed by the tour's official accounts, with hopes of rescheduling it in the future.
New lawsuit dropped, this time against the USASF
At this point, it felt like we were covering a new lawsuit every week…
USASF announced a new Worlds division
Big news for small gyms! 📢
June
The 5x Summit Champions from England, Zodiac Allstars, became Top Gun UK
And you guys shared your thoughts about big gyms expanding in a poll!
We took a quick holiday break & shared tons of tips and recommendations: Here’s part 1 (“Best cheer shows & movies? 🍿“) and here’s the second part (Things you should know 👀)
Everything from cheer-related things to do at home, quizzes, and training tips, to rules, coaching tips, and prop + theme ideas!
The best & biggest cheerleading YouTube channel got deleted
But was thankfully brought back in October (under some specific conditions though, more on that next week)
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