17TH ANNUAL
NEW ENGLAND CHEER AND DANCE COMPETITION

The New England Cheer and Dance Competition will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2008 at the Reggie Lewis Track Center located in Boston near Northeastern University. The Reggie Lewis Center is the number one track facility in the United States. The field house, which has over 100,000 square feet seats 3,000 spectators and will enable you to sit with your cheerleading teams in comfort. The separate warm up area contains three full size basketball courts. We will be offering two regulation competition mats 42 by 42 for the Mites, Pee wees and Junior high cheer divisions. All other divisions will have 9 full strips. Also this year, all FIRST AND SECOND place Cheer and ALL-star teams competing in the morning divisions will receive bids to compete at the National High School or National ALL-STAR Cheerleading Championships held at Disney World in Orlando, Florida in February and March of 2009.

Our competition has been the most successful in New England because it is less stress and places an emphasis on fun! Every squad will win a trophy. If there are 7 or more teams entered in any division, we will automatically divide it into at least two sections.

You have the option of placing your squad in a competitive or less competitive bracket within all of the divisions. Youth divisions only (a, b, c, d, e) must select either the advanced, intermediate or novice category. Please use the same category as you use in your league competition. As you know your squad’s ability level, please pick the proper bracket to make it fair for all the teams. We will attempt, if possible, to honor your selection; however we cannot guarantee it.

Over 175 cheer and dance teams competed in our competition last year and we hope to have a similar turn out this year. The competition will include: Mites, Pee Wees, Junior High, All-Stars, College, and Youth Divisions A, B, C, D and E and six Dance Divisions - Mites, Pee Wees, Junior High, High School, All Star and College.

Each team will have the opportunity to warm up their stunts, pyramids and tumbling prior to the competition and have them checked out by a safety judge. This will be done during a four minute time frame on a matted section of floor. Dance teams can warm up on the performing surface of their choice. Tentative check in, practice times and competition times for each division will be sent with your registration packet. Our web page will provide a listing of your team’s exact arrival time, practice and competition time. All coaches must go to our website on Friday November 14th to see your exact times. The teams will compete in alphabetical order.

Dance, Mites, Pee Wees and Junior High teams will follow National Federation rules. Youth Divisions will follow National Youth division’s rules. All Star Divisions will follow the USASF rules and College will follow the ACCA guidelines:

• Each Mite, Pee Wees and Junior High Cheer routine is limited to 3 minutes with maximum of 90 seconds of music.
• The Youth division Cheer routines are limited to 2 minutes and 30 seconds with a maximum of 75 seconds of music.
• All Star and College Divisions are limited to 2 minutes and 30 seconds with no music time limit.
• Each dance routine is limited to 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
• New this year – Dance teams can register to perform their routine in the ‘all styles’ division, which offers points on the scoresheet for many types of dance, or the ‘all hip hop’ division whichwill be scored with a different sheet focusing exclusively on hip hop elements. Teams are welcome to enter routines in both divisions if they choose to.
• Rules, T-shirts, pre-order forms, directions, and permission slips will be sent with your information packet after you register.
• All-Star teams should put their appropriate USASF level skill number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) next to each division that you are competing in. Please see www.usasf.net/safety.asp for find your team level. Please check current USASF age breakdown on the USASF website before registering your team to insure fair placement in the correct division.
• College Divisions will include dance, all-girl and co-ed.

• E Division (Mighty Mite Exhibition) is for ages 6, 7 and 8
• D Division (Junior Pee Wee) is for Ages 8, 9, 10, and 11
• C Division (Pee Wee) is for ages 9, 10, 11, and 12
• B Division (Junior Midgets) is for ages 10, 11, 12, and 13
• A Division (Midgets) is for ages 11, 12, 13, and 14.

*Please Note: If there are fewer than three teams in any age bracket, we reserve the right to move those teams to the next higher age group.

All Youth Division teams: You must send a copy of the application to your conference chair so that your team can receive official approval from New England Regional Chair Karen Pope.

An entry fee of $90.00 must be paid for each squad entering competition.

Please make checks payable to:
New England Cheer & Dance Competition
PO Box 1995
c/o Andy Yosinoff
Brookline, MA 02446.

A professional VHS or DVD of your division will be available through Color Guard Video for the cost of $35.00. "Instant DVDs" will also be available at the event. A professional photographer will also be on site taking group photos and action shots. The deadline for competition entry is Wednesday, November 12, 2008. Trophies will be awarded to all teams. Judges will be provided by the Universal Cheerleaders Association and Universal Dance Association.

Sponsors of the event are: The Best Western Inn at Longwood, John Robert Powers, Prime Time Sports, Nike, Varsity Spirit, Lubin’s Trophies, Pepsi Cola, Sports & Physical Therapy and Color Guard Video.

The Best Western Inn at Longwood - Host hotel of The New England Cheer and Dance Competition. Stay in comfort and close to the action. The Inn is conveniently located on Longwood Avenue on the edge of Boston's Back Bay. With 161 rooms and a full service restaurant, The Inn will surly make your next trip to Boston a great one. Admission to the competition is $9.00 for adults and $3.00 for children (6 and under). Not only are T-shirts priced at $15.00 each, but a new offering will be the ability of putting your name, team name etc on all clothing articles by special press machines at the event. We also will be accepting credit cards at the event for the purchasing of the clothing items. Each team’s head coach will receive one free T-shirt. DON'T FORGET TO DOWNLOAD THE COMPETITION FORMS you need for the event.

Please contact me if you should have any questions and/or need additional information. I look forward to seeing you at the Reggie Lewis Track & Field Center on Saturday, November 15, 2008.

Sincerely,
Andrew Yosinoff
Competition Director