All-Star Covid-19 / Varsity Response

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I was happy with our gym. They sent out policy that you have to opt in & consent to hands on or stunting. If you aren’t ready for direct contact it said don’t opt in. I didn’t sign consent because I want to see how policies work & because my daughter is about to visit 80 year old grandmother she has not seen in 7 months.

Policy did not matter. They had first practice. Coaches had everyone take off mask & stunt. I’m extremely disappointed & annoyed they would put something on paper for show, with no intention of following it.
Can I ask why people stay with gyms that do things like this? I hear things from parents on our school team about their gyms that are just horrible, and can only shake my head when they sign up again the following season. We have I think 5 all star gyms represented on our high school team and there are several more than that to choose from in this area.

Edit: I should add most of the gyms around us have teams that are competitive and other teams that are not, and there’s not really a gym with teams at every level killing it at every competition every year. Sometimes a little gym beats the bigger ones.

Unless there is no other decent local option why not take your money elsewhere?
 
I was happy with our gym. They sent out policy that you have to opt in & consent to hands on or stunting. If you aren’t ready for direct contact it said don’t opt in. I didn’t sign consent because I want to see how policies work & because my daughter is about to visit 80 year old grandmother she has not seen in 7 months.

Policy did not matter. They had first practice. Coaches had everyone take off mask & stunt. I’m extremely disappointed & annoyed they would put something on paper for show, with no intention of following it.

That is annoying. I would talk with the gym. I think there is nothing wrong with stunting, but if your daughter is visiting someone older, then it would make sense to protect the grandmother and have your daughter wait to stunt. Do you mind telling me what gym? Part of me wonders if they took it as a survey, and they were going to do the majority. like is majority voted to stunt, they were going to stunt, and if majority voted not to, then they were doing to wait? Just a thought.
 
Can I ask why people stay with gyms that do things like this? I hear things from parents on our school team about their gyms that are just horrible, and can only shake my head when they sign up again the following season. We have I think 5 all star gyms represented on our high school team and there are several more than that to choose from in this area.

Edit: I should add most of the gyms around us have teams that are competitive and other teams that are not, and there’s not really a gym with teams at every level killing it at every competition every year. Sometimes a little gym beats the bigger ones.

Unless there is no other decent local option why not take your money elsewhere?
There’s a parent meeting today and I plan on asking them about it. It does make me wonder how trust them regarding other policies etc. My daughter loves her gym but I this concerns me. It’s a slippery slope because even before covid-19 we all know athletes push it beyond what they should many times (at all gyms). No athlete wants to disappoint their team or coach.

I’m sorry but I don’t understand the rush to get back to every aspect of cheer. It was the first practice and many athletes are still struggling to get skills and stamina back. There are plenty of things to work on. Tumbling, conditioning, jumps...it’s not as if they would sit around idle.
 
There’s a parent meeting today and I plan on asking them about it. It does make me wonder how trust them regarding other policies etc. My daughter loves her gym but I this concerns me. It’s a slippery slope because even before covid-19 we all know athletes push it beyond what they should many times (at all gyms). No athlete wants to disappoint their team or coach.

I’m sorry but I don’t understand the rush to get back to every aspect of cheer. It was the first practice and many athletes are still struggling to get skills and stamina back. There are plenty of things to work on. Tumbling, conditioning, jumps...it’s not as if they would sit around idle.

Do you mind me asking what gym? also, I think stunting is ok, but there is no way we need to go straight to like double-ups and high to highs again in the 1st practice lol. Doing technique training and starting with easier stunts is ok though.
 
Can I ask why people stay with gyms that do things like this? I hear things from parents on our school team about their gyms that are just horrible, and can only shake my head when they sign up again the following season. We have I think 5 all star gyms represented on our high school team and there are several more than that to choose from in this area.

Edit: I should add most of the gyms around us have teams that are competitive and other teams that are not, and there’s not really a gym with teams at every level killing it at every competition every year. Sometimes a little gym beats the bigger ones.

Unless there is no other decent local option why not take your money elsewhere?
I used to call it "battered cheer mom" syndrome. Even when people knew it was horrible, they would stay and make all kinds of excuses for how and why it was going to get better if they just gave it the chance.
 
We were at a gym and everyone was miserable. Lots of shady things going on. There was obvious favoritism - girls with no skills moving up because of the the friendship with the moms. Unchecked behavior issues with a handful of girls that was causing a lot of lost practice times. And the teams just stunk. All anyone did was complain All
Season long about how disappointed they were, etc. We left after 1 year (branded un loyal traitors) everyone else is still there. And 2 years later they are worse if possible. I don’t understand it. Cheer is expense. I am not paying for sub-par coaching and drama making. We are so much happier at our new gym.


I used to call it "battered cheer mom" syndrome. Even when people knew it was horrible, they would stay and make all kinds of excuses for how and why it was going to get better if they just gave it the chance.
 
There’s a parent meeting today and I plan on asking them about it. It does make me wonder how trust them regarding other policies etc. My daughter loves her gym but I this concerns me. It’s a slippery slope because even before covid-19 we all know athletes push it beyond what they should many times (at all gyms). No athlete wants to disappoint their team or coach.

I’m sorry but I don’t understand the rush to get back to every aspect of cheer. It was the first practice and many athletes are still struggling to get skills and stamina back. There are plenty of things to work on. Tumbling, conditioning, jumps...it’s not as if they would sit around idle.

With COVID going on, I've had this convo with a lot of my mom friends in regards to tons of sports and activities, not just cheer.

My take:

Most owners and coaches and such are trying to do right by kids and protect them the best they can.

But really at this point, some coaches/studios/gyms/leagues are going to do what they want (especially in states where the stay home and closure orders are lifted and there are no real rules.)

Puts parents in a tough spot but the reality is:

PARENTS are going to have to draw a line in the sand and decide to protect their kids if gyms/studios/teams don't. Sometimes it means being THAT PARENT and refusing to let them participate if you don't think it's safe.

I know cheer makes that hard because (example) when you've tried out and your kid made their dream team - you don't want to be the "odd parent out" who sees a problem with what's going on. But, that > a sick kiddo.
 
The majority of the Houston and surrounding area gyms are already stunting. It definitely is not just WE.
Meanwhile, an exec for the hospital I work for mentioned this weekend that Houston is so bad, that the city and our hospital there are talking of another shutdown. There's a lot in the media I just ignore, but coming from the hospital itself, I tend to believe it more that things there are getting bad.
 
Question? If u u got FP bid $$ for Worlds and only used $$ for comp fees ....does varsity go after u for what’s left?
 
I don’t have the answers. I am just saying you can’t point fingers at one specific gym. Even before gyms opened back up I saw videos/pictures on Social media of groups stunting outside and groups of teenagers hanging out together. In a different state that has stricter restrictions, I saw pictures of kids hugging before and after practice. When inside the gym they had to use social distancing.
 
Meanwhile, an exec for the hospital I work for mentioned this weekend that Houston is so bad, that the city and our hospital there are talking of another shutdown. There's a lot in the media I just ignore, but coming from the hospital itself, I tend to believe it more that things there are getting bad.
While I totally believe it...(I too avoid Media) it’s been widely stated, even by Fauci himself another shut down will do nothing-Once it’s spread- it’s spread...We were never shut down for virus containment (you can’t “control” a virus only semi-manage it’s “pace”...) We were shut down to alleviate stress on the healthcare system. Once the virus has reached a certain point (which it also has been said we have passed that point) there is no “rolling it back in”...(In other words, it’s out-paced us now) you’re also going to have a very difficult time justifying a re-closing to anyone or even mention confinement while mass protesting is taking place... to both business and protesters. The general public (I believe For one of many reasons) will now flat out refuse compliance in mass.
surprises me that a hospital/city would consider that.

by me saying “you’re” I’m not referring to you, I’m saying “them” in general- just wanted to clarify.
 
We're in phase 2 of opening in my province. Next week we will move to phase 3.
We have around 4-5 cases announced per week. We're currently at 9 active cases.

We were required to do the following:
Our provincial organization submitted a return to play plan to our provincial sports governing body. This was submitted to provincial health authorities and approved.

We cannot stunt. Full stop, not allowed at this time. If we do, and are caught, we will be subjected to a fine of over $2000 for violating a public health order. We cannot spot kids or come into physical contact with them. Coaches must wear masks, however athletes are not required to unless they want to. We must strictly enforce keeping athletes 6 feet apart. We have highly specific sanitation, entry/exit, drop off/pick up and hygiene protocols that must be followed. We must symptom screen every human that enters the facility. We must document that this screening happened and a parent/guardian physically signs off that their athlete is symptom free.

We will jump, tumble, dance, condition, stretch and everything except stunt until contact sports are eligible to return. At this time, no sport is allowed any physical contact whatsoever, unless you super feel like paying a public health fine.

This is the world we live in. I cannot begin to consider what a business killer it would be to have a gym become an infection hot spot and to cause a localized outbreak. And this is coming from a province that has had just over 300 cases *total*. We have taken precaution beyond what our provincial organization has required because we do have a coach who works with the Canadian government on multiple federal committees regarding covid.

Our kids want to stunt. We get messages, emails, you name it asking us when it's possible. But seeing as its basically a crime to stand close to anyone right now, it won't happen.
 
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