All-Star #topoftheworlds - Usasf Has Big News On Monday??

[cheernerd5678]

It would be one thing if he was on there for, say, peeing in public. But for sexually assaulting girls ON HIS TEAMS.... And people still go there? That just blows my mind.


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[BlueCat]

There were a few of us that were seeing it then as it is now, even though we were all branded as conspiracy theorists and no names who since we hadn't coached or won worlds we knew absolutely nothing about the industry as a whole. My time in USGF and watching what happened between them and USAIGC is what clued me in to a lot of the potential happenings. I really wish some of those old threads on the old boards could be seen now in light of everything that has and is happening.

Make no mistake I think it can be fixed, but the until the focus changes from the top it won't. We are trying to effect change from the bottom up and there are enough guardians at the gates to keep any radical movement in the industry from proceeding but so far. They will always give crumbs out to appease a few without changing what they want to do structurally. There were two seismic moments since I have been in the industry when this industry could of split and both prospered serving two different core groups of gyms, EP's, vendors, parents and athletes. The first was when Jamfest bought Final Destination. The second was the initial creation of ASGA. Me thinks those times are gone and even if it splits now, it won't have the ability to survive because the tentacles of the monopoly have gotten bigger, stronger and richer.

Nearly everyone's first wish is for the USASF to fix it's structural flaws and become the type of organization we can trust and depend on to gently shepherd our industry in a positive direction. However, you would be surprised at the number of people who are not opposed to coming up with another option if change happens too slowly.

As it stands, the Board and officers have ultimate power. Several of them are firmly entrenched in positions of power and show no signs of giving up those seats. They justify it to themselves as "ensuring continuity" or "keeping the inmates from taking over the asylum", however it is ultimately about making sure that their own interests are covered. That doesn't make them evil, but they won't simply give those up without significant pressure to do so.

There should be term limits for everyone on the board. No company should "own" a seat or a vote. Board seats and officer positions (including chairman) should be freely elected by the membership. Board agenda and votes should be public information. None of those are unreasonable requests.

There are committees positions that they love to give away for political reasons, but nearly every committee has almost zero actual power.

 

[Jennie]

REVOLUTION.

Why did I just have visions of a Hunger Games type scenario with the Fierceboard vs USASF?

 

[kristenthegreat]

Nearly everyone's first wish is for the USASF to fix it's structural flaws and become the type of organization we can trust and depend on to gently shepherd our industry in a positive direction. However, you would be surprised at the number of people who are not opposed to coming up with another option if change happens too slowly.

As it stands, the Board and officers have ultimate power. Several of them are firmly entrenched in positions of power and show no signs of giving up those seats. They justify it to themselves as "ensuring continuity" or "keeping the inmates from taking over the asylum", however it is ultimately about making sure that their own interests are covered. That doesn't make them evil, but they won't simply give those up without significant pressure to do so.

There should be term limits for everyone on the board. No company should "own" a seat or a vote. Board seats and officer positions (including chairman) should be freely elected by the membership. Board agenda and votes should be public information. None of those are unreasonable requests.

There are committees positions that they love to give away for political reasons, but nearly every committee has almost zero actual power.

Question- How does it stand on the 'list of requests' that came out a while ago? I know several were addressed, but have we gotten any more taken care of? (if you know?)

 

[yojaehs]

Stay to Play is hurting our industry. Just wanted to remind everyone.

Baffles me a registered sex offender is allowed anywhere near anything cheer.


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[TitanCoach]

Being from Canada, we are limited in the number of EP available here. Our biggest EP has decided to jump on the stay and play bandwagon for this coming season for Nationals. I am actually very upset by it for numerous reasons but my biggest issue is that it takes Nationals out of our budget for our school team unless we can fund raise like heck to pay for the increase in cost. Previously we could pay a small additional fee to stay at non EP hotels. This is no longer the case. I have always taken my school team and stayed in a hotel that offered suites (6 girls to a room) and it included a free breakfast. Now if we want to go, we have to stay 4 per standard room in a more expensive hotel and no breakfast. Increasing the cost for my girls substantially. I would love to have a way out of this!

 

[piglet]

I still can't get over a convicted sex offender owns a cheer gym and paying for my child to attend. I'm guessing there's a lot more to the story? Something? The mind, it boggles. His current linkedin states that he's the president and owner. So does a 2012 GK Elite Cheer blog entry that, taken with his conviction(s) in consideration, sounds, um, creepy?:

"Our athletes look amazing in competition and want to wear their cheer uniforms the entire day. No more shedding hot, sweaty uniforms right when they come off the floor!"

I don't recall ever hearing or reading about any coach or gym owner who has discussed cheerleaders undressing! I understand that in full context, he was promoting the special fabric, but that's a big UGH! from me

 

[Mo' Bettah]

I'll admit that a registered sex offender wouldn't necessarily put me off. I'd need to know the specifics before getting concerned. There are too many (IMO) relatively innocuous crimes that get you on that list.

I wish I could shimmy this more than once. If you really look into that registry, there are people on there who "played Doctor" when they were children and got turned in to CPS. There are 17 year olds who get put on there for sleeping with their 16 YO girlfriends and there are some true sex offenders. The number of true sex offenders is much lower than you would think. Now, I , of course, would not allow a sex offender to work with my child if they truly were offenders. If it was a teen aged boy who was having underaged sex with his consenting girl friend? That is a completely different thing.

ETA: OK I now see he was 39-40 and doing something with a minor. That is NEVER OK!!

 

[Mamarazzi]

I wish I could shimmy this more than once. If you really look into that registry, there are people on there who "played Doctor" when they were children and got turned in to CPS. There are 17 year olds who get put on there for sleeping with their 16 YO girlfriends and there are some true sex offenders. The number of true sex offenders is much lower than you would think. Now, I , of course, would not allow a sex offender to work with my child if they truly were offenders. If it was a teen aged boy who was having underaged sex with his consenting girl friend? That is a completely different thing.

ETA: OK I now see he was 39-40 and doing something with a minor. That is NEVER OK!!

And yet Mo Jerralds gets a 20-year prison sentence for indecent liberties while DeSpain retains his entire livelihood. OK.

 

[dawgshow]

ETA: OK I now see he was 39-40 and doing something with a minor. That is NEVER OK!!

Yeah, there's NO EXCUSE for that.

 

[yojaehs]

On Stay to Play - It's not necessarily the EP's choice. It is being pushed on them by city chambers & convention centers to hold dates by proving #'s. IMO there HAS to be a better way to show/prove #'s than forcing people to stay at hotels. This is damaging our industry. Something (and idk what it is) HAS to be done about this.


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[cheerKT]

On Stay to Play - It's not necessarily the EP's choice. It is being pushed on them by city chambers & convention centers to hold dates by proving #'s. IMO there HAS to be a better way to show/prove #'s than forcing people to stay at hotels. This is damaging our industry. Something (and idk what it is) HAS to be done about this.


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I've thrown around the idea of starting a thread on this for people to discuss how it's effecting their travel plans and competition schedule. My mother is booking hotels for my sister and herself now and I know she is having a miserable time.

 

[tumbleyoda]

Nearly everyone's first wish is for the USASF to fix it's structural flaws and become the type of organization we can trust and depend on to gently shepherd our industry in a positive direction. However, you would be surprised at the number of people who are not opposed to coming up with another option if change happens too slowly.

As it stands, the Board and officers have ultimate power. Several of them are firmly entrenched in positions of power and show no signs of giving up those seats. They justify it to themselves as "ensuring continuity" or "keeping the inmates from taking over the asylum", however it is ultimately about making sure that their own interests are covered. That doesn't make them evil, but they won't simply give those up without significant pressure to do so.

There should be term limits for everyone on the board. No company should "own" a seat or a vote. Board seats and officer positions (including chairman) should be freely elected by the membership. Board agenda and votes should be public information. None of those are unreasonable requests.

There are committees positions that they love to give away for political reasons, but nearly every committee has almost zero actual power.

Actually I don't think I would be surprised at the number of people not opposed to coming up with another option. What I question is what does change happen too slowly actually translate out to? I am still a relative newbie to this industry (10 years) and in my experience in other organizations there comes a time when talk of change is just that - talk. Even those in charge so to speak know it, so while they monitor it they don't worry too much about it. Because many people don't want to lose what they have in order to create the change they seek.

Indulge an old man for a moment....

How many are really willing to lose Worlds/Summit/major competitions in order to make those changes? Millions of dollars have been poured into making those events the essence of being an All Star Cheerleader. Will they really take a threat to losing them lightly? How many leaders in the industry? How many EP's and vendors? How many athletes/parents would be willing to give those events up in order to "buck the system or make a statement?" What if the PTB says if you compete non sanctioned competitions/events you can not compete at their events? Your registered coach takes you and he/she is banned for the rest of the year? Talk about the potential for gym hopping! But if you have a key member gym located in key demographics...

You can't compete at their events without a registered coach or now being registered as an athlete of theirs. They can always pull it if they choose to and block athletes/gyms from competing. This is one of the pitfalls of registration if it is used in this manner.

It can happen, if a big enough threat was perceived by the PTB. Which is why I was opposed to that registration process until the changes @BlueCat has made numerous times over the years concerning the Board were in place. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It can happen. I have seen it happen in other organizations, conferences, groups, etc. All I am asking (rhetorically) is what if. Not predicting it will happen but the potential is there for it to happen, especially if we stay asleep in the car while they drive us wherever they want without us knowing where we are going.

 

[BlueCat]

For me, the big line in the sand is when they start taking memberships away from athletes/coaches for competing at non-USASF-sanctioned events. The USASF event producers have a big incentive to push for this.

 

[tumbleyoda]

For me, the big line in the sand is when they start taking memberships away from athletes/coaches for competing at non-USASF-sanctioned events. The USASF event producers have a big incentive to push for this.

Agreed. And IMO it is not if...but when.