All-Star An Article About Varsity Brands...

[Just-a-Mom]

Saw this on Instagram.

But... the article was positive about WE, and didn't say anything that remotely sounded like WE said/participated/contributed to the section about Varsity. So I'm confused.

And I'll just be the one to go ahead and say it: all this post does is validate that Varsity controls EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.

 

[WECC Allen]

But... the article was positive about WE, and didn't say anything that remotely sounded like WE said/participated/contributed to the section about Varsity. So I'm confused.

And I'll just be the one to go ahead and say it: all this post does is validate that Varsity controls EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.

I released that statement only because we were told the article was going to be about our kids winning their first world championship, and the hard work, dedication, leadership etc. that goes into putting yourself in a position to even have a chance to accomplish that goal. I believed it was going to be a positive article about not just our Generals but our sport.

I agree completely that the article was not negative about Woodlands Elite. We just prefer to try and stay away from the mostly unnecessary negativity that often surrounds our sport. Although I know our sport has much room for improvement, I believe it is going in the right direction and I believe it is a great activity for young people to be involved in. I am proud of the people I watch work with our kids every day, and I am proud to stand next to most of our peers in the industry.

I do not question the research or accuracy of Mr. Reigstad's article. I'm sure he was very thorough with his due diligence before publishing the article. I just wish he would have been honest with us from the beginning so we could have made an educated choice whether to willingly and openly be part of the article or not.

 

[Ashley]

I started reading it couldn't figure out what issues WE would have with it. But I kept reading it and the tone started changing. It felt less like objective reporting and more like someone on a message board with a bone to pick.

But man, this article is brutal. I guess I can't blame WE for trying to separate themselves from it, and good for someone for finally digging into this. @cheersafety was quoted in it. I wonder what thoughts she has about the article.

A woman who said her name was Chuks Uche and that she coaches for Cheer Nigeria said she trains about 12 girls in a grass field in Lagos, and said they don’t do difficult stunts besides “pyramids,” which is the same stunt Crace was doing at Kent State when she was paralyzed.

This is pretty funny. I highly doubt this Nigerian team is doing 2 1/2 high pyramids. There are definitely some things that are wrong, but nothing egregious, just little things that an outsider didn't quite get right.

 

[cheerisloving]

Obviously I will have some bias on the subject. But it felt like the author didn't understand the difference and separation between All Star and School teams in his arguments about safety and official sport status.

I agree, made it clunky and if I wasn't an athlete I would've been confused. But the argument was very eye opening, I never really looked at some of the issues that were mentioned in the article.

 

[UCFKnights07]

Probably a little off topic but who in their right mind buys their 17 year old a corvette....

 

[NJ Coach]

Poor WE...I feel so bad they are included in an article that became an attack on Varsity. It truly reads as 2 different articles, shame he couldn't just separate them. I would've read them both.

 

[TXcheermom]

Probably a little off topic but who in their right mind buys their 17 year old a corvette....

Im sorry, but where in this article did it mention that?? I dont see why that is being brought up....

 

[stuntjumptumble]

Very interesting article. When I was at UCA college camp last summer they did give us a whole speech about how cheerleading isn't a sport. My teammates and I were pretty appalled but at the same time it made sense. They explained how as college cheerleaders we are ambassadors for our school and there to promote spirit. Which I agree with. This is where the school vs all star argument comes in and there most definitely needs to be a distinction. If they had given that same speech to me on an all star team there probably would have been a fight, lol


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[CheerBank]

On the HS cheer circuit, a fellow parent and I have always said that if your uniforms were not Varsity and your team did not attend UCA summer camps to not even bother going to UCA HS Nationals.

 

[coachrah]

Obviously I will have some bias on the subject. But it felt like the author didn't understand the difference and separation between All Star and School teams in his arguments about safety and official sport status.

What are the differences for official sport status and safety between the two?

 

[King]

Very interesting article. When I was at UCA college camp last summer they did give us a whole speech about how cheerleading isn't a sport. My teammates and I were pretty appalled but at the same time it made sense. They explained how as college cheerleaders we are ambassadors for our school and there to promote spirit. Which I agree with. This is where the school vs all star argument comes in and there most definitely needs to be a distinction. If they had given that same speech to me on an all star team there probably would have been a fight, lol


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So here is the skinny on being a sport.

If there was no risk or safety involved then sideline cheerleading is definitely not a sport and no one would be pushing for it to be. Remove all the risky injury parts of sideline cheer and you are Duke, ground bound and just yell leading. That is fine! That is not a sport or athletic. It is everything that UCA college camp said it was.

Now factor back in skills and the risk of injury / safety comes back into effect. Whether you do a full on the sidelines or a full in a routine there is a risk of injury. Is throwing a full on a sideline significantly safer than competing to the point that you practically can't get hurt doing them? No. And this is the issue for Varsity. The risk factor of sideline

Here is where the waters get REALLY muddy. People want to classify sideline and competition (because competition rolls up nicely under sideline as it is the secondary activity for cheer) as a sport because there can be a minimum level of care and support that has to be applied. Being classified as a sport means things have to be measured (number of injury and RATE of injury) and a trainer must be provided and all safety aspects must be put into place. There is a chance that certain skills could get banned from cheerleading as a sideline activity as they really carry a high level of risk for their reward (crowd entertainment). But as a sport the standard of care and risk is out of the hands of us and is now in the hands of another group. That is a lot of the fear.

Throw in college teams are the biggest at risk. There are less trained coaches, larger athletes throwing things higher with bigger flyers on less safe surfaces. College cheer is one high profile catastrophic injury away from being banned everywhere or declared a sport. It could even come from a high profile school with good coaches (Kentucky had several stretcher injuries last year, but no one recorded them).

TBH sideline cheer will eventually be classified as a sport everywhere that allows skills or competes. There just isn't a solid argument for it not to be that holds up (I have tried to figure out how to position it that way just for the sake of discussion). So hopefully Varsity has a plan for it when it is a sport everywhere where they still are a player.

 

[King]

Obviously I will have some bias on the subject. But it felt like the author didn't understand the difference and separation between All Star and School teams in his arguments about safety and official sport status.

So.... sorry to put you on the spot but can you point out what is not factual in the article to help us all out?

 

[Ashley]

What are the differences for official sport status and safety between the two?

It makes a huge difference in college with Title IX and funding. I'm not sure that it matters as much in high school. It's a sport in Massachusetts if I remember correctly, and I can't imagine that we get more resources than cheer teams in Texas do. I don't think the training or hiring is any more rigorous. I still felt like we were treated inferior to the other sports.

 

[ScottyB]

So.... sorry to put you on the spot but can you point out what is not factual in the article to help us all out?

To be honest a lot of that information is out of my playing field so I can't really speak to what is facts and what is misinformation. Sorry!

 

[King]

To be honest a lot of that information is out of my playing field so I can't really speak to what is facts and what is misinformation. Sorry!

If there is misinformation it would really benefit Varsity to dispute line by line, not in a blanket statement as they normally do, what really isn't factual. To me when it's a blanket statement and things aren't addressed it usually means it's true.


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