All-Star Covid-19 / Varsity Response

Welcome to our Cheerleading Community

Members see FEWER ads... join today!

OK, ill leave and no longer share my opinions on here.

I'm not going back to read everything that was said, but your opinions hold value whether people agree with them, or not. What is a board, if it isn't a gathering of people of many ages, socio economic backgrounds, careers, races, morals, and opinions? I do agree with the fact that masking, distancing, washing hands, staying at home when possible and avoiding large crowds are the best for a pandemic, but we also know that people have jobs and need jobs. Every state governor has advisers keeping them on top of their individual state's standings on things such as hospital capacities, hospital staff, supplies, treatments, poverty level, eviction standings, state laws and authority, court standings on authority, .... The Karen in all of us wants to express what we feel is best, and the truth is, none of us have a clue to all the intricacies that are going on in every state as a result of this pandemic.
Your voice is no more or less important than anyone else on this board, don't let people silence you.
 
I'm not going back to read everything that was said, but your opinions hold value whether people agree with them, or not. What is a board, if it isn't a gathering of people of many ages, socio economic backgrounds, careers, races, morals, and opinions? I do agree with the fact that masking, distancing, washing hands, staying at home when possible and avoiding large crowds are the best for a pandemic, but we also know that people have jobs and need jobs. Every state governor has advisers keeping them on top of their individual state's standings on things such as hospital capacities, hospital staff, supplies, treatments, poverty level, eviction standings, state laws and authority, court standings on authority, .... The Karen in all of us wants to express what we feel is best, and the truth is, none of us have a clue to all the intricacies that are going on in every state as a result of this pandemic.
Your voice is no more or less important than anyone else on this board, don't let people silence you.
I agree- every opinion matters- at the end of the day NOBODY really KNOWS much about this virus, even our most established and accomplished “experts” have been very wrong multiple times through this horrible time. I don’t care how much “research” any of us claim to do- we are ALL still very in the dark about all this... and we all sit experiencing it from very different perspectives.
 

I'm sure they're preparing for another surge in cases after Christmas and New Years, it says they plan to keep it open through January.
Lil Big South (youth volleyball tournament) is still on the calendar for January 16-18 at the GWCC (obviously things can change). If anyone is interested in their protocols <click here>. Their athletes are not required to wear masks during play: Players who are in an active role on the court may play without a face mask.
 
If competitions can't be held at their usual venues and there are no options for relocation, maybe the bigger competitions could be pushed back a couple months instead of completely canceled or virtual. With people starting to receive vaccines, it seems like there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. It would be nice to at least have a real Worlds, NCA, Cheersport, etc. And if you're going to severely limit the number of people in the venue at a time, you don't have to hold competitions in gigantic buildings; it's possible you could just find someplace smaller.
 
Last edited:
If competitions can't be held at their usual venues and there are no options for relocation, maybe the bigger competitions could be pushed back a couple months instead of completely canceled or virtual. With people starting to receive vaccines, it seems like there may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. It would be nice to at least have a real Worlds, NCA, Cheersport, etc. And if you're going to severely limit the number of people in the venue at a time, you don't have to hold competitions in gigantic buildings; it's possible you could just find someplace smaller.

According to the CDC and Dr Fauci, it'll be April-July when it's available for the general public. I'm not sure a Worlds/Summit as we know it (meaning huge crowds) will happen until next season. If it does happen this season, it will be very limited.

We just aren't seeing the decrease in numbers on covid. Right now it's the Thanksgiving spike. In 3 weeks it'll be the Christmas spike. Also, in 3 week is Spirit of Hope in Atlanta. To me, just has been a giant circle of super spreaders since July 4th. And I want nothing more than to have life get back to normal. This is my oldest's last season. And this is the LAST thing I'd want for her. I know I'm not the only one with those same thoughts.
 


This was posted and is interesting.

I want to see the economy open. I want to see business thrive. I live 50 miles away, and I love Atlanta. I do not want to see the cheer industry or any gym go under or close. I do not. However, the response from Varsity and the other sporting events is just flat out irresponsible. Having major sports competitions right next to an ancillary covid hospital is irresponsible. It doesn't matter if they are just mild cases. Bringing in thousands of athletes and their families right next door and sharing the same parking lot as patient families and health care workers is irresponsible. I know that this the GWCC. I know they are trying to do what they can to stay afloat. I get it. But geesh. At this point, this is also on the parents. I know. You want your kid to be happy. I get the mental health aspect. I get the pressure. But at some point, you have to set limits too.

I am super on edge today. I am trying to be calm and civil in my approach, but I want to scream. I have dear friends in the hospital with this on ventilators. I know people who lost family members and are spending their first Christmas without them. These were not people who were reckless. They are people who did everything right and are now suffering. Seeing all of this breaks my heart. I do not know what the answers are. I know there is no easy fix. I just wish people cared more about the impact of their actions on others.
 
Just make it virtual and be done, i get varsity and others are trying to keep as many people as possible employed by continuing to hold comps in person. But holding it in the same building that might be used as overflow for covid patients is just plain stupid, i dont care how big that building is, or how much separation they could put between the two.. If there is covid patients there and the comp is still pushed to continue as a parent/gym owner/coach i cant imagine not side eyeing that decision.
 


This was posted and is interesting.

I want to see the economy open. I want to see business thrive. I live 50 miles away, and I love Atlanta. I do not want to see the cheer industry or any gym go under or close. I do not. However, the response from Varsity and the other sporting events is just flat out irresponsible. Having major sports competitions right next to an ancillary covid hospital is irresponsible. It doesn't matter if they are just mild cases. Bringing in thousands of athletes and their families right next door and sharing the same parking lot as patient families and health care workers is irresponsible. I know that this the GWCC. I know they are trying to do what they can to stay afloat. I get it. But geesh. At this point, this is also on the parents. I know. You want your kid to be happy. I get the mental health aspect. I get the pressure. But at some point, you have to set limits too.

I am super on edge today. I am trying to be calm and civil in my approach, but I want to scream. I have dear friends in the hospital with this on ventilators. I know people who lost family members and are spending their first Christmas without them. These were not people who were reckless. They are people who did everything right and are now suffering. Seeing all of this breaks my heart. I do not know what the answers are. I know there is no easy fix. I just wish people cared more about the impact of their actions on others.


I'm pretty sure you missed the news coverage that showed this facility. This exhibit hall has loading dock doors that go directly into the facility and this is at the far end of the GWCC where patients are taken in. You are not sharing hallways or parking lots with these patients. With this logic every apartment dweller that shares hallways and parking lots is doomed.

One thing I will agree with is actions have consequences. Our hospitals, staff and supplies can not be overwhelmed and governors are making tough calls to prevent that from happening. If allowed, and families and/or gyms feel the risks outweigh the benefits, they won't go. Just a reminder, there are 7.7 billion people still living. Not taking into consideration education, anxiety, depression, suicide, job loss, foreclosures, poverty, evictions, and MASSIVE loss of tax revenue to our government employees and those on assistance programs is just as reckless. Interesting article on evictions and rising COVID19 cases:
Evictions have led to hundreds of thousands of extra Covid cases
 
I agree- every opinion matters- at the end of the day NOBODY really KNOWS much about this virus, even our most established and accomplished “experts” have been very wrong multiple times through this horrible time. I don’t care how much “research” any of us claim to do- we are ALL still very in the dark about all this... and we all sit experiencing it from very different perspectives.

I think this is a bit of a misrepresentation about how scientific research and medical advice is performed. It’s not that we don’t know anything, it’s that as our sample size grows we move more from traditional treatment methodologies to more specialized ones. When this started we said we don’t know how to treat this coronavirus, but we know how to treat others so we’ll start with that. Then as more people get sick our knowledge of what is best grows and becomes more accurate.

This is conflicted by political and economic pressure pushing once trusted agencies to release data based on bad science that is now being refuted by those on the front lines and foreign research.

We are very much not in the dark about this. We may not be 100%, but to say we are in the dark is a gross oversimplification of the situation.

Also, I think putting experts in quotation marks makes it pretty clear where you stand in the issue. They are experts. Full stop. They have literal decades of education specifically in infectious disease and epidemiology.

1 in 1,000 Americans died from Covid-19 in the year 2020.
 
Last edited:
I would love it if we could stop arguing about masks everywhere including these boards.
The great thing about cheer is there is no requirement to participate. If you find the safety policies at your gym to lax you don’t have to cheer- your family gets to make that decision. You or your loved ones may be a high risk group- so you can decide to sit this season out.
If you don’t like the Varsity position on masks you don’t have to participate.
We all have free will here. We don’t get to police and judge other people on what they are comfortable with regarding their own family decisions. Be kind people this is a difficult time for everyone.

1 in 1,000 people died in 2020 from Covid-19. I think it’s completely appropriate to be critical of people not taking it seriously.

Gyms like WE not wearing masks for practices are being dangerous and showing reckless abandon for human life. Full stop.
 
1 in 1,000 people died in 2020 from Covid-19. I think it’s completely appropriate to be critical of people not taking it seriously.

Gyms like WE not wearing masks for practices are being dangerous and showing reckless abandon for human life. Full stop.

This is also an over-simplification. To state a gym choosing not to wear a mask during warmups or performance may or may not have anything to do with the gym owner taking C-19 seriously. I have watched hundreds of performances, live and virtual, and there are masks shifting during performance. With that said, the masks seem to fall under the nose and chin versus over the eyes. Perhaps that's physics, maybe they've been lucky, but whatever the case, hopefully gym owners are consulting their insurance company on risk and liability. And you're right, there are experts, and it appears there has already been professional discussion about cheer and mask wearing.

Legal Liability and Requiring Masks

Are There Risks With Athletes Wearing Masks? Quote from this article: The first release from the VHSL said some sports, including wrestling, gymnastics, cheer and swimming, would be exempt from the mask rule. The Virginia Department of Health said that masks in those sports "could become a choking hazard or inadvertently impair vision and should not be worn."

Pediatricians Call For Kids to Wear Face Masks During Most Youth Sports Quote from this article: However, the guidance stresses there are some youth sports where face masks could be a hazard and should not be worn including competitive cheerleading, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and diving.
 
Last edited:
I think this is a bit of a misrepresentation about how scientific research and medical advice is performed. It’s not that we don’t know anything, it’s that as our sample size grows we move more from traditional treatment methodologies to more specialized ones. When this started we said we don’t know how to treat this coronavirus, but we know how to treat others so we’ll start with that. Then as more people get sick our knowledge of what is best grows and becomes more accurate.

This is conflicted by political and economic pressure pushing once trusted agencies to release data based on bad science that is now being refuted by those on the front lines and foreign research.

We are very much not in the dark about this. We may not be 100%, but to say we are in the dark is a gross oversimplification of the situation.

Also, I think putting experts in quotation marks makes it pretty clear where you stand in the issue. They are experts. Full stop. They have literal decades of education specifically in infectious disease and epidemiology.

1 in 1,000 Americans died from Covid-19 in the year 2020.
You’re misinterpreting what I said. Obviously there are FACTS that have resulted from research... science is trial and error - (that goes without saying)
Yes, there are things we clearly have come to understand... however there is a LOT of information that still remains unknown and there is STILL ROOM for opinion on some things- and if you revert back to some of my early posts...I “feel” we often make others feel “stupid” by kinda slapping our personal OPINIONS on others sprinkled with THAT knowledge...
Note: I wasn’t calling anyone specifically out for doing that on this forum - but I saw a specific poster said “I just won’t say anything anymore and keep my opinions to myself”...
I’m not exactly sure what all built up to that... but I didn’t think that was right- I didn’t want them to feel made like they shouldn’t or couldn’t speak. One will never become educated if they feel like they can’t have a dialogue.
So I was explaining that they should feel free to express their thoughts (right or wrong) and likewise someone can feel free to give their contrasting opinion back.
It’s the “You're totally wrong, educate yourself”...
Kinda behavior I had spoke about before I was referring to and his/her attitude of “well fine I just won’t say anything” I was trying to explain we are all on an even playing field. Unless you’re literally a virologist/epidemiologist you have just as much ability to google what’s going on the world as anybody else....
because person A has read 7 articles and has a cousin who’s a trauma nurse doesn’t make your ability as person B to become JUST as informed.
And yes, Im sorry... I DO believe we are in the dark- we don’t know much. Besides: it spreads fast, wash your hands, stay 6 ft away, wear a mask and it ravages through our elderly and those with pre existing conditions, etc etc... besides what we see on CNN and read on google, MSN and hear from our family and friends in the medical community. We know very little.
I know we LIKE to think we are informed with our articles and stats but in the grand scheme of things I am humbled to understand I know very little.
I read about this daily... specifics about what it does to your body or places to “avoid”... what we’ve learned about how it spreads and how we are treating it and why we are treating it those ways.
Then we get to how to Manage this?! It’s VERY far from managed anywhere unless you’re lucky to be a small, low populated country surrounded by water and even they still have small surges pop up occasionally. If you even read deep enough Fauci expresses some clear uncertainty that immunization will be a silver bullet to returning to normal with even 90% of the population getting the vaccine.
Everything I read and am told is extremely contradictory and heavily debated in the medical community. Just the other day they were going back to the idea that surface spread may be contributing again when it was determined it wasn’t really a factor. Asymptomatic spread being a major driver and testing, PCR level, long term issues, mutations, we don’t even know how long we REALLY are immune after we have caught COVID, if at all...(this is the latest hot button issue) there’s a ton we just don’t know ...SO MUCH straight from the WHO and CDC on all of these things, split opinions on a lot of information.
So Yes, we as civilians- I believe are pretty close to being in the dark... if not, what we DO know I would deem as extremely “surface area”.
My neighbor who is a very respected doctor said what the medical community fears about COVID MOST is what they DO NOT KNOW... I’m inclined to believe we know even LESS...
Last, you have zero clue where I stand on the issue not that it’s relevant to the conversation-b/c this isn’t about “me”... it was about being able to have a dialogue in a FORUM. (Knock me over, but isn’t that the purpose of said forum)
Me putting quotations around “experts” was broad and general. No, everyone who claims to be an expert is not an expert and you have no clue of what “experts” I’m speaking about. We have had an abundance of individuals with “lab coats” claiming to be at the top of their field shoved on TV/you tube to tell us all sorts of stuff doesn’t mean we should eat up everything they say. That’s why it’s called PRACTICING medicine. I mean this respectfully, please don’t pigeon hole me based on quotation marks.
Hope that clarified...
 
Last edited:
Be responsible, listen to the medical professionals, and get over the desire of wanting things to go back to normal.

If your state/gym will not enforce safe policies it is your job as a parent to enforce your own. Parents are not victims here.

The individualism of American society is exactly why we have failed so miserably at this, this virus has exposed so many of our known weaknesses.
 
Back