Disclaimer: We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, sponsored by, or in any way officially connected with Varsity Spirit, or any of its other brands or affiliates. This post is for informational purposes only.
Breaking news!
Just a few hours ago, Varsity announced some new changes they’ve made for the 2020-2021 season and the reactions from the cheerleading community are, as always, very different.
Here’s what’s changing:
Regional Summit Championships
“Conquer the climb close to home” seems to be the slogan of the new form of Summit competitions all over America. The competitions will take place in different regions (see where the events are here) of the country and teams will compete for the “Regional Summit Champion” title.
Just like with The Summit & D2 Summit, teams will have to earn a bid in order to compete at the Regional Summit. All ages and levels will be able to compete for bids.
No more youth divisions at The Summit
Since 2013, which was the first year of The Summit, youth teams have been able to compete against the best of the best and be crowned Summit Champions.
This is now a thing of the past, as Varsity also announced that they will remove all youth divisions from The Summit, starting next season. All youth teams will still be able to earn bids for the Regional Summit Championships.
As mentioned, the cheer community’s reactions and responses to these changes vary. These are some of the main pros and cons we’ve seen so far:
Pros
+ Competitions closer to home are cheaper = families are saving money
+ Some say it’s better for youth athletes to not travel that far
+ Youth athletes will have more to look forward to & might cheer for more years
+ Bigger and better regional competitions
Cons
– Youth teams who earned a bid to The Summit 2020 will not be able to compete there next year
– Takes away the “best of the best title” for youth teams & the fun of going to Disney
– Could be complicated for families with athletes on different teams/levels