All-Star Usasf Routine Interruption

[cupieqt]

I couldn't handle watching one of my athletes move around the floor like that. I would have stopped the routine. It was VERY early in the routine so scoring only from the point of injury would've been a great option for them.
When it came time for the pyramid I was holding my breath. I couldn't take my eyes off of him the whole time and I was truly afraid something really bad was about to happen. That was a classic case of STAHP.

 

[kristenthegreat]

I too think injury stoppage rules should be mandatory notice PRE-competition (if not this year, then next). That way everyone knows up front what they're getting into, and you don't run the risk of teams withholding injuries because they're afraid that stopping will hurt the team. I also do NOT like the message Varsity just sent- basically making it known to all and sundry that the injury doesn't matter because, HEY- they got a paid bid! For a company trying to make it seem like every team is important, no matter age/level, they kinda just sent the message that it's the bid that counts..

 

[Jason]

I couldn't handle watching one of my athletes move around the floor like that. I would have stopped the routine. It was VERY early in the routine so scoring only from the point of injury would've been a great option for them.
When it came time for the pyramid I was holding my breath. I couldn't take my eyes off of him the whole time and I was truly afraid something really bad was about to happen. That was a classic case of STAHP.

Yeah that was painful and scary to watch. I was thinking the same thing.

 

[YourNewObsession]

This hypothetical scenario where this is a recurring injury & the coaches are prepared for it makes no sense. That's basically saying that they're fine with him risking his safety & the safety of others to continue the routine. What if he had a catch/throw role in the pyramid? That could have been disastrous.

Lets forget about the Coaches, there were dozens of other people who should have stopped that routine (Judges, EP Officials, USASF Safety Judges, etc). Where were they?!

 

[gymcatmomx2]

We had an injury at our last comp where one of the cheerleaders tripped over the mat tape when walking to her spot. She was crying and grabbing her ankle. Our coaches and some of the girls were waving their arms to not start the music. The EP told the team to exit the stage and the next team on deck performed. That allowed the girl time to recover and regroup and the team came back on the floor and performed immediately after. That situation was handled properly and professionally by everyone involved.

 

[CheerBank]

1:45 after not doing anything else. Does that make it ok?

As kristenthegreat said, these rules need to be addressed pre-competition with all teams, from TG to Craptastic, so that they know what will definitively happen in the case if an injury.

For me, it makes it worse that he attempted to base than if he had done nothing the whole routine. He is now risking the safety of his fellow teammates. The only way I could justify this routine not being stopped was if the injured athlete was not involved in any stunt but that was not the case. They are lucky that no one else was injured.

And Varsity may want to rethink their stance and their tweets on the priority of the athletes' safety over getting a bid.

 

[mstealtoyou]

I couldn't watch the video and I'm not sure I want to. Bless his heart for continuing on in this routine to the best of his ability. Come on...tell me nobody is surprised by this situation? Allstar cheer is a "The show must go on" sport. All of our kid's have competed hurt whether it was hurt during a routine or prior to a competition, most of them have done it. Push through. Suck it up. We've all said it. Prayers that his shoulder is feeling much better and that this is an isolated incident for him!!

 

[5-6-7-8]

Looking at the description of what quantifies injury I would say the athlete met 2 of the 3 statements. He did not participate in a single thing after his injury. If he was a spot for something could he have also still be considered a spot for legality? He was incapacitated from actually participating in the routine.

Good point on the legality issue. If an athlete is partially or fully incapacitated, perhaps he/she should not be able to be counted for legality, since those requirements were created (I assume) in the name of safety.

 

[GreatWhite92]

I couldn't watch the video and I'm not sure I want to. Bless his heart for continuing on in this routine to the best of his ability. Come on...tell me nobody is surprised by this situation? Allstar cheer is a "The show must go on" sport. All of our kid's have competed hurt whether it was hurt during a routine or prior to a competition, most of them have done it. Push through. Suck it up. We've all said it. Prayers that his shoulder is feeling much better and that this is an isolated incident for him!!

I think there is a difference when you know you can do the stunts and catch your flyers. It's when you can't do anything and like I said before it gets to the pyramid and they are launching flyers to different groups. How do they know he can't physically catch her? He obviously was unable to do any stunting so it should have been stopped.

 

[mstealtoyou]

I think there is a difference when you know you can do the stunts and catch your flyers. It's when you can't do anything and like I said before it gets to the pyramid and they are launching flyers to different groups. How do they know he can't physically catch her? He obviously was unable to do any stunting so it should have been stopped.

I'm not disagreeing with you. LOL Just making the point that for all these year's we've been telling these kids the show must go on so we can't really be surprised that he kept going and at least attempted to finish the routine.

 

[King]

Before the issue gets clouded with emotions, I think we should establish a hierarchy of how these decisions should be made of if the routine should continue.

From the second someone presses play a coach must constantly be giving their approval that the routine can continue. That does not mean active approval (they don't have to keep nodding their head or something) but the coach is first stopping point.

The second stopping point is the EP. The EP cannot care about the feelings of the coach or team of any hardship they might place upon that team in the name of safety. It is a new responsibility for the EPs and i think this case kinda sucks because it was such a highly visible team. But we can't learn from these instances until we go through them.

Think of each of them as circuit breakers (the coach then the EP person lined up in serial) and if either of them is 'tripped' the routine stops. The second one does NOT need approval from the first... it can trip on its own.

Last, IDK why but I tend to think of things as happening in threes. So we got one more big time one that will happen this season. Let us see if we improve.

 

[ASCheerMan]

This response from Varsity on Twitter really shocked me, is safety not more important than a Worlds Bid?

The Varsity tweet was certainly not intended to send the message that a Worlds Bid is more important than safety. That isn't the case at all. Our goal was to celebrate the positive in every routine covered.

Twitter can become a sticky situation--especially when dealing with a 140 character limit. We certainly are hoping and praying for a speedy recovery.

 

[L5cheermom]

Can't help but wonder what his mother was thinking. It was probably the longest 2.5 minutes of her life.