The NCA Curse
If you actively participate in the religion of all-star cheerleading, then you’re well aware of the various voodoo magic, general witchery, and curses that the cheer gods have bestowed upon us. NCA begins today and Worlds-level teams take the floor on Sunday. Every year as we approach NCA, the topic of the Large Senior 5 Curse comes back.
For those of you who don’t know, there is an active and unrelenting curse haunting the cheerleading community. Some don’t believe it’s true, but I’m here to tell you that the facts and figures do not lie! The NCA large senior 5 curse is real and it is only the truth!
While the curse has been real and true for more than 10 years, there is a theory as to how it can be broken that was brought to my attention by @WeLiveCheer. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
What is the NCA Large Senior Curse?
If a large senior 5 team wins the NCA National Champion Title, they lose Worlds.
The NCA curse is as simple as that. World Cup Shooting Stars are the latest victims of said curse. In 2016, Shooting Stars won NCA and lost Worlds to Maryland Twisters F5. After Stars won NCA 2016, Elaine Pascale, World Cup All Stars owner, welcomed the curse! She thought that they would be the ones to beat it. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
I welcome the curse. Have some witches brew boiling ready to spread GAGA
— Elaine Pascale (@WCUPElaine) February 21, 2016
For reference, Shooting Stars and Panthers are the most familiar with the NCA curse as they are the only teams to have won NCA in that past TEN years. Look at the side-by-side results since 2006 below.
NCA and Worlds Large Senior Winner Since 2006
| Year | NCA Winner | Worlds Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Stingray All Stars Orange | World Cup Shooting Stars |
| 2016 | World Cup Shooting Stars | Maryland Twisters F5 |
| 2015 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | World Cup Shooting Stars |
| 2014 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | Stingray All Stars Orange |
| 2013 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | Cheer Extreme Senior Elite |
| 2012 | World Cup Shooting Stars | Cheer Extreme Senior Elite |
| 2011 | World Cup Shooting Stars | Maryland Twisters F5 |
| 2010 | World Cup Shooting Stars | Cheer Extreme Senior Elite |
| 2009 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | World Cup Shooting Stars |
| 2008 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | World Cup Shooting Stars |
| 2007 | Cheer Athletics Panthers | World Cup Shooting Stars |
| 2006 | Maryland Twisters F5 | Cheer Athletics Panthers |
It’s Not All Bad
But, in the case of every large senior team, losing NCA (or not competing) means that the opportunity to win Worlds still exists, like Shooting Stars did 2007-2009, Panthers in 2006, Maryland Twisters in 2011 and 2016, Orange in 2014, or Senior Elite in 2010, 2012, or 2013.
There are plenty of people who don’t believe in the curse. I get it. It sounds ridiculous. But, how can you deny the facts of the past! Upon further inspection, what’s really ridiculous is that Shooting Stars and Panthers have won NCA every year since 2006.
How @WeLiveCheer Believes the Curse is Broken
Cheer Extreme Senior Elite. Senior Elite is the only way the NCA curse is broken.
WHAT?! How is that so? Let me explain. Cheer Extreme Senior Elite has never won NCA, which is crazy. They won Worlds in 2010, 2012, and 2013 and are obviously capable of winning a high-caliber competition like NCA. But they’ve never been able to pull it off an NCA win.
This is where @WeLiveCheer‘s theory kicks in. If Senior Elite wins NCA this weekend, they will be immune to the curse and take home the World Championship title in April. Because they’ve never won NCA, the curse has never negatively affected them. However, it positively affected them the years they won Worlds. The logic here is simple and totally valid.
But what about Stingray Orange?! Couldn’t THEY break the curse? No. And that’s because they’ve won NCA and Worlds in the same year before, i.e. in 2013. You may say that it doesn’t count because it was a different division, but that doesn’t change the story. Orange has competed in small, medium, and large division. They were affected by the NCA Curse in 2014, albeit it was positive. Orange lost NCA and ended up winnings Worlds in 2014. You might not like my logic, but the proof is in the pudding.
The curse is cruel and unrelenting. But would you rather win NCA or Worlds? It’s a real question for the Large Senior 5 division. Other divisions are immune from this curse, and large senior will continue to suffer unless Cheer Extreme Senior Elite can pull off a win this weekend. C’mon CSP, we believe in you!
In Conclusion
Honestly, if this were to happen, I would LOSE it, as would the rest of the world. Every cheerleader has their own superstitions and rituals that they adhere to each competition. But, the NCA curse is special in that everyone has been able to watch and experience it since the inception of the NCA large senior division.
To each athlete competing at NCA this weekend, in the large senior division or not, good luck and I wish you the best of luck.
Do You Believe in the Curse? Vote in our Twitter Poll
Do you believe in the NCA Large Senior 5 ~curse~?
???????
— CheerTheory (@CheerTheory) February 24, 2017
Disclaimer: This post was written in good fun. We love cheerleading at Cheer Theory and thrive off the conversations that circulate the community. Good luck to everyone competing this weekend, we’ll see you in the arena. 🙂
