All-Star Discuss Your Usasf Struggles Here

[tumbleyoda]

Likely they did not. Sadly this industry is one in which you are black balled if you speak out. Our kids are taught to stay quiet or be replaced... As parents we learn that should we dare to say anything our kids will take the brunt, so we are kowtowed into silence. Gym owners who might want to speak up are held in check by their bank accounts and the cash cow that is Varsity.

How can this happen? I used North Korea as an analogy earlier but I think WWII/Europe/Hitler is a good historical example here. How many of us say "how could they let that happen?" when reading about those years. "How could everyone look the other way and stay silent?"

As you have said, those that speak out or are blackballed. Many of the people that I know that have spoken out the most publicly have been put on that list. I have seen those who were as anti Varsity/USASF as could be now happily working for them and pushing whatever product they have them pushing. As one friend told me "if they gave me what I needed to sustain my lifestyle and take care of my children, I would sell out in a second." The others who won't sell out, or join their team they minimize and marginalize saying they are just jealous they aren't winning, who are they really, etc. The sad truth is IMO most gym owners have bought into the dream of Worlds and Summit that has been sold to them and now understand that they can't financially sustain that push without major help. Who comes to bail them out? The same ones who sold them the dream of course. And that comes with a price.

The one thing we have had over the years are these social media platforms to get the word out. If we keep talking not in an attacking way, but putting information out as it comes to light, it is the best way to keep it from being a complete annihilation.

Major props to you for using "kowtowed!"

 

[tumbleyoda]

I feel like, metaphorically, Varsity also "owns" gyms as in gyms have no other choice than to feed into Varisty. Like gyms that are in remote areas where the ONLY option for competitions are Varsity events.

But in reality all gyms are metaphorically "owned" by Varisty because a gyms success is measured by their placements at Varisty and USASF events. If you want to grow and be successful, you HAVE to use Varsity. NCA, UCA, Jamfest Nationals, Worlds, Summit (ETA: I forgot CHEERSPORT is also Varsity). Those are the premier events in the cheer world. A gym is deemed successful, for the most part, by how many of those titles they hold. You really can't escape Varisty.

But that is a whole other argument

This is why I have been encouraging gym owners, especially small gym owners to diversify and not put all their eggs into the All Star basket. To rethink how they structure their cheer program and look for alternatives if there are any in their market. But when your eyes are filled with bling and your only goal is a ring and for someone to say that you are the best, that often clouds gym owners and coaches judgement. Especially the younger ones, which seems to be where the majority of gyms are struggling and failing budget wise.

 

[kristenthegreat]

Someone was asking about an athlete's union (for lack of a better term), doesn't gymnastics have that with USAG? Maybe it's only for the event, but I remember hearing about it even though I can't find it. I know they have a representative of some kind at an event. Taryn Humphrey was it for a while, I remember.

 

[quitthedrama]

World's needs to be 100% indoors. If that means *gasp* moving it from Disney, then move it. They also need to consider lowering the number of bids. I know that neither will happen because of the $$$$$ and other behind the scenes things. But for an event that has such a danger potential, the need to have these top tier athletes performing under the most ideal and controlled conditions possible.

I agree no one should be competing outside, but IMO this has nothing to do with the number of bids. I don't feel there are too many teams at Worlds. There is nothing wrong with having a 3 day event. The problem is the capacity of the venue. It is a simple fix. Move everything inside. Friends and family of athletes buy passes ahead of time. The pass is stamped with the division the athlete is competing in. They get priority in to the venue when their division is competing - a reserved section where the number of seats equals the number of passes purchased. The remaining seats can be first come first served as it is now, and if you can't get in you can watch it on the jumbotron - and have more than 2 and make sure they are easily viewable (the one on the lower level of the fieldhouse was not this year). I didn't go near the baseball stadium because I don't have an athlete in either division and I wanted the parents and family members to be able to see their athlete compete.
The new arena that is being built will not solve the capacity issue. There needs to be a plan in place so this madness is avoided in the future.

 

[AngelsMum24]

I feel like, metaphorically, Varsity also "owns" gyms as in gyms have no other choice than to feed into Varisty. Like gyms that are in remote areas where the ONLY option for competitions are Varsity events.

But in reality all gyms are metaphorically "owned" by Varisty because a gyms success is measured by their placements at Varisty and USASF events. If you want to grow and be successful, you HAVE to use Varsity. NCA, UCA, Jamfest Nationals, Worlds, Summit (ETA: I always forget CHEERSPORT is also Varsity). Those are the premier events in the cheer world. A gym is deemed successful, for the most part, by how many of those titles they hold. You really can't escape Varisty.

But that is a whole other argument

That first sentence...being in a rural area bites big burritos when it comes to the variety of competitions to choose from. There isn't a variety at all.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

I am merely a parent who cheers for my teams. I've not been "behind the scenes" much as a team goes on stage. I am fairly clueless about backstage events and staff so excuse any ignorant questions.

Say a team takes the stage and is getting in their starting formation. Susie notices the stage is wet. She turns to Sally and says hey does the mat seen wet to you? They turn to Jane and she confirms the mat is wet. At that point, they are concerned enough about the safety of their competing surface.

Who do they address their concerns to? What repercussions are they possibly facing by delaying the start of their performance? At this point the coaches are in front of the stage. Is there someone backstage to talk to? What about the spotters? Are they only there to dive roll to catch kids or are they responsible for making sure the floor remains safe to compete on?

Is the team risking deductions because they ask for someone to verify the safety of the floor? Are the kids allowed to call their coach up to the stage to address their concerns?

The spotters were there all night. Did they not notice the mat was wet?

These are kids. When they are told to take the stage (by adults) they should have the confidence that their performance area is safe and clear of any visible hazards or defects.

Is there one head honcho present in every arena who is ultimately responsible for their arena's competition? There should be a chain of command for addressing issues and one person responsible for overseeing every staff member working that stage from warmups through to judging. If a concern is brought to the staff it should be able to be addressed or moved up the chain.

I don't understand why these concerns were not addressed. Were they brought to different people and the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing? Or were they simply being brushed off and ignored?

I watched the whole debacle and am thanking God there were not any injuries. It could have been much worse than it was. My heart breaks for every one of the teams.
They all looked so amazing!!! Congrats to F5 for pulling off the most solid performance under such adverse conditions. That was not an easy feat.

 

[amy1k]

This! ^^^

I don't understand how it works when there's a problem on the surface of the performance area. My daughter's team performed earlier in the season on a floor that was covered in vomit. I'm unclear why nobody noticed before they took the floor. None of the judges saw an athlete vomiting numerous times? My daughter was told she would have needed to say something before the music started. But to whom should she she have spoken? Also, she didn't even see it until after the music began and she saw it was in the path of her forward roll (she avoided it, but obviously the choreography suffered). There had to have been an adult who saw what was happening. Let me tell you, vomit is not only disgusting to perform in, but unsafe as well. Why don't the adults make sure the performance surface is safe? Why are we relying on the athletes at all???

 

[mamabear]

Does the Safety Judge take on any of the duties mentioned previously? Do they take the time to walk the mat and see if the playing field is safe for the athletes. Blinding lights, problems with the mats, obstacles near the mats, etc. could all hurt our CPs. I think that we should expect that USASF monitors itself for infraction as diligently as it does when a team "hugs" too long.

 

[emo_wifey]

Just wondering, where does the Rebel Alliance play into all of this? Isn't this part of what they started it for? I've seen things here and there but don't really know what's going on with it or what Rebel's end game is.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[MomMomMamaMom]

My heart hurts for the athletes that felt as though they were unsafe out there, and for the teams who faced circumstances that they feel obstructed their capability to perform. But to be fair, my heart hurts for all the teams that had any issues at Worlds. I go back and forth on the stadium issue, it seems sad that F5's amazing accomplishment is being diminished. They were the team that adapted which is sometimes how it is, and often is what makes people champions, in all sorts of sports.

And I am swayed by the fact that it would not have been a unanimous decision by the coaches in the division to redo the division. To me this is not just cold hard calculating ( i.e. We already hit, and you didn't so "no") but an issue of fairness, if some of them felt it was wrong to redo, then it wouldn't exactly be fair to them to have to redo because a team that normally hits under better circumstances wants another chance.

I do, also, see that it was an equipment issue. Which raises the USASF's responsibility in this circumstance. I see why that means it shouldn't have been left up to the coaches. But then they would have been faced with deciding exactly when the floor became unsafe, and I'm not sure how they could have equitably done that. What a mess!

The blessing is that no one got seriously injured, and that there are some phenomenal top level athletes out there who were able to do such amazing things under such dire circumstances. I would be shocked if there wasn't a change in venue next year. And I do believe the USASF needs to step up its game. It's inexcusable if they are not able to minimize this type of risk after knowing about it now. And who the heck is the catastrophic injury insurance underwriter who would allow them to insure the event in the future?

ETA: by phenomenal athletes, I mean all of them, not just the winners. While I am not sure it was safe for them to be put out there to perform, I do admire the heart and talent of each of those kids who did!

 

[mstealtoyou]

Likely they did not. Sadly this industry is one in which you are black balled if you speak out. Our kids are taught to stay quiet or be replaced... As parents we learn that should we dare to say anything our kids will take the brunt, so we are kowtowed into silence. Gym owners who might want to speak up are held in check by their bank accounts and the cash cow that is Varsity.

How can this happen? I used North Korea as an analogy earlier but I think WWII/Europe/Hitler is a good historical example here. How many of us say "how could they let that happen?" when reading about those years. "How could everyone look the other way and stay silent?"

Long slow clap!!!

 

[cheer25mom]

Are programs still getting kickbacks fromVarsity for attending events and buying apparel from them?
I assume so because of the "Family Plan" but what are the details of it?

Varsity All Star Cheerleading - The Varsity Family Plan

Yes, and the amount of money involved is substantial.

 

[kristenthegreat]

It's been a while (a very long while) since I competed, but from what I can remember, when we were on deck (or maybe even when we were on double deck) our coach/minder would leave, and it'd just be us and the one worker backstage sending teams through. We never competed at any super large comps (NCA/UCA etc), so I don't know how many people you had with you there. But you wouldn't see the floor or know what was wrong until after you walked out, and with the new regulations and time movements (because hurry hurry hurry so we can take our sweet time doing god knows what in between), you probably wouldn't know how bad it was until after the music started and things got going. I mean, assuming you take 10 seconds to go out and set, you're not really looking at the floor because why would you? You'd just expect it to be fine as it should be.

After competing, you're off in a different direction from where you came usually (so you can't tell the guy sending people through) and trying to breath and maybe checking in with your teammates but even if you decide something was wrong you don't always have the time to ask for someone in between and then trying to stop everything? It could easily take 10 minutes or so to get to someone who has that authority, which is stupid.

Even if you noticed a few seconds in, there's ZERO time with these jam-packed routines until maybe standing/running tumbling to even signal a coach, if you've managed to confer with everyone in between stunts that something isn't right.

Know what hurts? These girls who were wiping hands and feet probably thought 'If we're still on here, and nobody is stopping us, we have to keep going.' Because in their minds if it was that bad their coach would have held them off. I said from the start outdoor competitions were a bad idea, but who wants to listen to a little old retired cheerlady?

 

[coachrah]

This! ^^^

I don't understand how it works when there's a problem on the surface of the performance area. My daughter's team performed earlier in the season on a floor that was covered in vomit. I'm unclear why nobody noticed before they took the floor. None of the judges saw an athlete vomiting numerous times? My daughter was told she would have needed to say something before the music started. But to whom should she she have spoken? Also, she didn't even see it until after the music began and she saw it was in the path of her forward roll (she avoided it, but obviously the choreography suffered). There had to have been an adult who saw what was happening. Let me tell you, vomit is not only disgusting to perform in, but unsafe as well. Why don't the adults make sure the performance surface is safe? Why are we relying on the athletes at all???

When you are part of a regulated industry most often education takes front seat. My staff is trained by an OSHA professional. However, I am secondary to the process as a certified Athletic Trainer is at everything we do and any airborne hazard (blood, vomit etc) and its removal would be overseen. The athletes, too, are brought into a compliance meeting annually and allowed to know all of their rights. They are educated/ trained on how to report any and all violations that compromise their safety and well-being. It is part of the sport's process. It is mandatory. So many here are stating there is a culture of fear and silence. That needs to change...if the industry is promoting that culture whether intentionally or by the conflicts of interest stated in this thread someone needs to get in the driver's seat and advocate. I am sure that there is someone out there, free from restraint, that can get this done...

 

[Foxwen]

This is crazy! I'm looking at just USASF 2014 financial statement. They made from just Worlds 1.4 million. That is after they paid Disney, Ins, etc... I couldn't find 2015 yet. At the end of 14' they had cash on hand of (close to) 2.7 million.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk