All-Star Expansions, Openings, And Mergers For 2013-2014

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Salem is in no way trying to be another Kernersville or Raleigh, and never have been. You seem very opinionated about CEA gyms, and maybe... Just maybe... A little less than "well informed". I guess Ben Pope, Brandon Hale, Dawn Hicks, etc... Are all too "young" and "inexperienced" for you? Do we use some young coaches? Yes. Are they left completely on their own with teams? No. We quite obviously have a philosophy on a couple of things that you don't agree with: 1) having gyms that are smaller, "satellite" gyms for the bigger 3, 2) taking young alums who want to coach and giving them that chance by working with kids to see if they have 'it'. It is fine for you to disagree, but lets keep it knowledgeable in here.


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Actually, when Courtney was still coaching at Salem, we had several undefeated seasons. We were the same caliber as kville,and MtAiry was "the satellite gym".
No, those coaches are not inexperienced for me. Those aren't the ones I'm talking about. The ones I had probably aren't even there anymore.
And I will disagree with coaches being alone and never had coached before because I've been there, done that, and know what its like. It takes a Salem original to know what I'm talking about. Almost a decade of experience at Salem doesn't lie. Not trying to be rude, just stating facts.


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Off the CEA train, what is happening with PA Spirit Explosion? I saw cheer updates tweet that the owners will be taking back their LCI name, but I wonder what is happening to all the athletes.


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They can either stay as spirit explosion and travel to NJ or make the switch back to the LCI name...


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They can either stay as spirit explosion and travel to NJ or make the switch back to the LCI name...


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So here's the deal, the directors of the PA gym have decided to split from SE and take the old name back. For many reasons that we do not have to get into. Some of us have either before try outs made the switch to NJ or are making the switch now. In order to accommodate the families that would like to stay SE and not have to travel to NJ, Theapia held a meeting to see if there is enough interest in her opening a new gym in PA. It looks like that gym will open if enough families commit. I really hope that it can open as it seems that people are very interested in it. That gym would most likely be for the lower level teams, level 4 and 5 athletes will need to take the trip to NJ in order to stay SE. Side note extremely happy that I moved my cp to NJ at try outs, we dodged a bullet, I feel bad for our pa families that have been put in this difficult situation. I'm praying that that this all works out and that no families that would like to be SE have to find another option.
 
Salem is in no way trying to be another Kernersville or Raleigh, and never have been. You seem very opinionated about CEA gyms, and maybe... Just maybe... A little less than "well informed". I guess Ben Pope, Brandon Hale, Dawn Hicks, etc... Are all too "young" and "inexperienced" for you? Do we use some young coaches? Yes. Are they left completely on their own with teams? No. We quite obviously have a philosophy on a couple of things that you don't agree with: 1) having gyms that are smaller, "satellite" gyms for the bigger 3, 2) taking young alums who want to coach and giving them that chance by working with kids to see if they have 'it'. It is fine for you to disagree, but lets keep it knowledgeable in here.


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You shouldn't tell lies! I read your last post about CSP being 100% hands on with her worlds teams. I also know this to be true because my daughter cheered with your daughter for a few years at Kville. How is it possible to be 100% involved with worlds teams and still manage to oversee the younger coaches? The younger coaches are influenced by cheer mom drama/lies. There were good and bad moments at CEA Kville but the bad moments always had to do with parents lying to the coaches about other parents. Maturity is whats missing from younger coaches! The inability to confront situations and deal with them promptly and effectively. There needs to be more professionalism when dealing with athletes and parents. I am only stating what I have witnessed as a parent. My wife clearly stated that there would be a number of families leaving lower level Kville teams as a result but not limited to the things I have stated. She was right.
 
I didn't say SHE directly oversaw younger coaches. What I was saying was that coaches are not on their own for choreo, planning, coaching, etc... Do they occasionally have A practice to themselves? Yes, of course they do. Is it up to them for the whole shebang? Absolutely not. As far as Salem goes, I have been with the gym for 5 seasons, so I will speak for those years: Salem has never been a gym trying to keep up with Kernersville. It is still Ben's primary gym, and we have very good coaches in place there.


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SarahS, I think the problem that I had with her post is that she WASN'T relating her experience: what went right, what went wrong. She just made kinda vague statements that sound awful when read the way they are posted. We deal with a LOT of negative and simply false information about our gym all the time... mainly from gyms in our area doing their best to hold on to girls and keep them away from Kernersville. I have said it before, but it always kills me to hear some of the ridiculous lies and stories other gym owners and coaches tell about CEA to paint the gym in a bad light. Then we get the "nothing they said was true about this place" epiphanies at the beginning of every season. Does it make me/us a bit defensive? As you can tell... yes.
You shouldn't have a problem with my post then since I am relating my personal experiences as a parent from a Kville team. Ooohh the irony of hearing people say "it always kills me to hear some of the ridiculous lies"!
 
While u r on the subject of CEA, whats the scoop regarding their brand new Lake Norman gym? i've heard many things, including the fire marshall closed it down due to safety violations and the teams were having to drive to Winston Salem (more than an hour away). Is this true? And if so, why dont they move the teams to the new Concord gym?

Since the CEA folks are discussing things, how bout someone respond to the above question. Im sure SOMEBODY knows about this rumor.
 
I didn't say SHE directly oversaw younger coaches. What I was saying was that coaches are not on their own for choreo, planning, coaching, etc... Do they occasionally have A practice to themselves? Yes, of course they do. Is it up to them for the whole shebang? Absolutely not. As far as Salem goes, I have been with the gym for 5 seasons, so I will speak for those years: Salem has never been a gym trying to keep up with Kernersville. It is still Ben's primary gym, and we have very good coaches in place there.


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I wasn't speaking of Salem. The coaches are responsible for coaching! Brandon Hale, is awesome at teaching choreo. Why have coaches if they aren't responsible for the team they are coaching? Are you saying that Kville coaches just stand there and receive praise for .......? So then who coaches other than Ben, CSP, Brandon or Dawn? If they only coach A practice from time to time then why is it that every recording of practice I have for the past three years only shows the younger coaches coaching? My wife or I attending every practice and recorded them so that our little girl could learn her routine at home.
 
I didn't say SHE directly oversaw younger coaches. What I was saying was that coaches are not on their own for choreo, planning, coaching, etc... Do they occasionally have A practice to themselves? Yes, of course they do. Is it up to them for the whole shebang? Absolutely not. As far as Salem goes, I have been with the gym for 5 seasons, so I will speak for those years: Salem has never been a gym trying to keep up with Kernersville. It is still Ben's primary gym, and we have very good coaches in place there.


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So are you gonna sit here and tell me that for the past 3 years there HAVEN'T been a few primary young coaches coaching lower level teams like ME, Youth Excel, etc.? Was I watching a movie all these years?
 
Since the CEA folks are discussing things, how bout someone respond to the above question. Im sure SOMEBODY knows about this rumor.
Sorry, that I actually have no idea about.... lol

So is it too soon for this to become a cat thread?
You first since it's that time of the month... :p *inside joke*

Because not all kids want that experience... The big gym, level 5 experience. They feel lost in it. We have kids that want that in those gyms too, and spend their time in our smaller gyms, waiting for the chance to get on one of those "big time" teams... And they all know they will have to travel. Our coaches and owners choose to not spread out those worlds levels teams to all our gyms, in part because they want to play an active role in the coaching of all of them.... With as spread out as our gyms are, that would be impossible. We want all our athletes to have an opportunity to do something they love in an atmosphere they can handle. Not all can handle Kernersville, and that is understandable. Kids can get a bit neurotic about everything they do in the gym being watched, because sometimes it is in our largest location. They can get a taste in a different location, then decide if they want to try it at the kville location. Less pressure, less travel, less everything. We want everyone who dreams of wearing the uniform to get the chance to, and learn from some great coaches. Think of it like baseball... There are the big league teams (level 5) where space is limited and very competitive; triple A teams (level 4) where they are a step (or an injury) away from getting "called up"; and double A, single A, and rookie league teams (levels 1-3) where kids are still learning the game. Cheer gyms are the same set up. The Yankees couldn't be the Yankees without the Norwich Navigators and Oneonta Yankees... Just like Senior Elite or SSX can't be who they are without those programs that help us teach them. The commitment level is different around those worlds teams, and the girls (and guys) know it. They see it if they are ever around Courtney, Kelly, Sarah, Ben, etc... When they are coaching them. Maybe CSP is just not willing to be hands-off enough with those high level teams... She wants to be right in there at every practice.... I truly don't know. You may see it as a flaw, but I see the pride she takes in what goes on the floor with her level 5 teams as an asset. And I know where you are going here: "She should have that pride for ALL her teams" because that is the fierceboard mantra about CSP. Let me tell you from someone who interacts with her all the time: she cares about EVERYTHING that goes out in our vast array of uniforms . Every level. Every gym. Does that mean that all our gyms are throwing out level 5 worlds teams? No. They have to show that commitment at one of the "big three", because she wants control of those teams. Watching what she did with SE between days and (along with Sarah and the other coaches) on Lady Elite as a first year team at worlds, I am not going to question her philosophies to much. My daughter wants that SE, CE, SSX kind of dream, and we are chasing it in Kernersville. The only one of the BIG gyms she is truly hands off with is Raleigh, and her sister runs it, for goodness sake. It is a family business still, and her coaching family is pretty tight.




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With all due respect, I'm pretty sure most people on here would say that about any coach, not just CSP.

Also, regarding the other two bolded areas, I'm just curious when such the change of heart? Or have you always felt this way, but your wife hasn't? I'm in no way trying to attack you or her personally bc she was a great team mom in so many ways IMO that were pleasant but unexpected after hearing the things she had to say our first year, but the things she said the first year we were there in front of a ton of new parents cannot be unsaid (and some actually left next season bc they believed her); the postings on Facebook while she was the team mom eluding to the fact that y'all weren't happy there can't be erased. They can be deleted, but never erased- know what I mean? I'm just trying to keep things honest and get an honest response if you (or she) has had a complete 360 way of thinking.
 
While u r on the subject of CEA, whats the scoop regarding their brand new Lake Norman gym? i've heard many things, including the fire marshall closed it down due to safety violations and the teams were having to drive to Winston Salem (more than an hour away). Is this true? And if so, why dont they move the teams to the new Concord gym?
The fire marshal did come in because someone reported them for the ceilings. Those are currently being fixed and should be completed soon. Teams are driving to Salem because the Concord gym isn't ready to open yet.


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