Greetings to all Dance, Hip Hop & Step Coordinators, and Coaches!
I hope your season is off to a great start. Would you believe it is already time to start thinking about competition? During the years off we have been busy planning the return of the annual New England Cheer & Dance Competition. We have been reviewing feedback from coaches on alterations they’d like to see and securing top-notch judges. We hope this competition will be one of the highlights of your season.
Don’t forget our early-bird entry fee! Register your teams by October 28th to pay the $100.00 fee. Teams registering after October 28th will be charged $120.00.
This year’s competition will again be held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center, the number one indoor track arena in the United States. Dancers can be dropped off right at the entrance, and ample parking is available between 100 and 500 yards away, with signs to direct you and security personnel on hand to assist you and your fans.
We will continue to have the pre-competition warm-up time in the schedule for your dancers in the back gym. This will occur shortly before they take the floor to compete. We will also still be offering the opportunity for teams to have a few minutes to set their spacing out in the field house on the actual surface where they will compete as we have done in past years. This earlier spacing time will be optional, you may choose to arrive later with your team and just use your assigned back-gym warm-up time if you prefer.
There will again be marley floors for our dance teams to perform on! Hip Hip teams may still opt to perform on the mats (please see the diagram posted on our website for layout and velcro striping) and will also have their spacing and warm-up on this surface. **Don’t forget to select “mat” on the registration form if this is the surface your team would prefer to compete on!**
- Arrival/check-in times, early am stretching, field house spacing, back-gym stretching, warm-up and competition times will all be assigned during the week prior to the competition and will be available for viewing on our website. Please see an example of how this flows posted online under “Sample dance grid format”.
- There will be two locker rooms available to teams, as well as two separate bathrooms.
- If you are taking advantage of the early am spacing time slots, please bring your team immediately into the field house following check-in. They will have an early am warm-up/stretch time starting ten minutes prior to their field house spacing time slot. Each team will have four minutes to work in the area they have chosen to compete in, which will be either on the Marley floor or on the carpeted mat cheer floor.
- Once a team has completed their field house spacing check, they are free to go until their official back-gym stretching and warm-up times arrive. This warm-up will take place on a regular gym floor and each team will be given four minutes.
- Teams may use music during both their early am spacing and back-gym times, though you must provide your own sound system in the field house. There will be small systems available for your use in the back gym.
- Once a team has completed their back-gym warm-up, they will be escorted directly to the field house and be seated in lines by their performance area. After they have competed they will move to the other side of their area to view the rest of the performances and await the awards ceremony.
- Teams who are delayed in their arrival may be placed at the end of their division.
Performance spaces are back to back, with a couple of yards between, and each space has its own panel of judges seated with their backs to the crowd. This setup allows fans to be in front of their teams as they perform. Signs will be posted, visible upon entering the facility indicating which divisions will be facing which sides, so fans can select where to sit. If your team is assigned to compete on the ‘West’ side, instruct your fans to turn left upon entering the field house, the ‘East’ side will be to the right. This information will also be available online prior to the competition.
If you have any questions please call Lisa Moskow, judge’s coordinator, at 413-531-2095 for more information.
You must check the web site (ayosinoffcheerdancecamps.com) on Friday, November 8th for the finalized schedule or call 617-877-8049 to confirm your check-in and competition times.
Please contact me if you should have any questions and/or need additional information and I look forward to seeing you at the Reggie Lewis Track & Field Center on Saturday, November 9, 2024.
Sincerely,
Andrew Yosinoff, Competition Director