All-Star Usasf Independence

BlueCat said:

I still believe that the opportunity cost of continuing to have it in that sardine can at WWOS is astronomical.

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BlueCat said:

So, here was my list of suggested improvements from earlier. Are there ones on here that people don't agree with? Are there other improvements that could be made?

1. No conglomerate/company/gym/person should have permanent board seats.
2. No conglomerate/company/gym/person should have a permanent executive position.
3. There should be free and open elections for all positions of power in an independent governing body.
4. The financials of the organization should be absolutely public. (A 5-6 line "summary" does NOT count.)
5. The financials of the organization should be done by an independent, outside accounting firm. (EDIT: The accounting firm should have the ability to redact limited salary information at THEIR discretion.)
6. The votes of the Board should be public.
7. There should be term limits for all elected/appointed officials.
8. Nominations and appointments should be based on merit, not seniority, friendships, "loyalty", or quid pro quo.
9. Board seats belong to the public, not to companies. (If a Cheer Athletics person resigns their seat on the board, then Cheer Athletics doesn't get to appoint the replacement. The replacement is decided by the same process that elected that seat in the first place.)
10. There should be a much more fair and representative distribution of board seats. suggestion - 1/3 EP, 1/3 coaches-gym owners, 1/3 "other". (Industry vendors, media, judges, neutral outside party, etc.)
11. Worlds must be moved to an adequate venue ASAP. Sub-contracting out the event deserves strong consideration.
12. No single conglomerate should control/occupy more than 3 total seats on the board.
13. Coach board seats should have regional representation. Nominations/Voting for those seats should be a completely open process.
14. The USASF should control all of the intellectual property of Worlds.
15. The USASF should not control what events athletes/gyms/judges/coaches can go to. If Worlds can't compete with other "World Championships", then make Worlds better. Don't threaten people with being banned from Worlds because your event can't compete on it's own merit.
16. Event Producers should be allowed to host bid-giving events wherever and whenever they choose (up to the number of bids they are qualified.) Protectionism for certain events and event producers is not acceptable. If those events can't compete with other events, then they should make their event better. Don't threaten event producers with being banned from USASF to help certain EPs.
17. Judge education/training, standardized scoring, coaches training, gym owner business training all need to be moved up the priority list.
18. Controlling the uniforms, tumbling rule decisions outside of the NACCC/Rules Committee, PR & focus groups, and the amount hugging/excitement allowed after performances should be moved off of the priority list.

I would add:

19. USASF offices and employees should be free from Varsity (or any other private company's) control. Any non-compete clause should be allowed to expire at it's normal rate. (If you have a Varsity non-compete for 2 years after cessation of employment, your time at USASF doesn't count as time at "Varsity" time.)

20. Bills/proposals/etc that get voted on by the board are made public prior to their vote. The secrecy that pervades the process is damaging to the legitimacy of the USASF and completely unnecessary. If a board member doesn't have the strength to vote for something and stand behind it publicly, then they either shouldn't be a board member or shouldn't be voting in a way they are ashamed of. (I am willing to stand behind and defend ALL of my votes if they want to make those public.) A VERY LIMITED amount of discretion regarding financially sensitive information should be allowed for. This power should rarely be used and only allowed when signed off on by the independent accounting firm. (see #5)

21. The entire contract with Disney should be made public. Any extension of this contract should be made with the full knowledge, oversight, and approval of the board. Any side deals, kickbacks, or collusion with other Disney contracts should be made available to the entire membership of the board.

22. Any board member or full-time USASF employee should be required to disclose any and all ownership in cheer-related businesses and all cheer-related business with which they are partnered/under contract for/have potential conflict of interest with. Also, all ownership interest of their employers must be revealed. (If you are a CheerSport employee, then the exact nature of CheerSport's ownership should be public information.)

Feel free to make other suggestions.

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King said:

Donate money to pay off said loan.

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newcheerdad said:

A few points:

1. I disagree with the concept that 2/3 of the seats on the board would be held by event producers and industry vendors. I would argue that at most they should have 1/3 of the seats on the board combined, and that's probably pushing it.

2. Totally agree with sub-contracting Worlds and opening it up to the highest bidder. I've been saying that for as long as I've been on the board. The USASF shouldn't be in the EP business.

3. No conglomerate should hold more than 1 seat on the board. Period.

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Future said:

LOAN FROM VARSITY TO USASF

1. Initial $1.7 million dollars interest free loan to USASF
2003 $1,700.000 loan
2004 $ ????? payment
2005$ ????? payment
2006$ ????? payment
2007$ ????? payment
2008$ 230,279 payment
2009 $ 391,202 payment
2010$ 287,808 payment
2011$ 150,112 payment
2012$ ?????? payment
$ 640,599 balance remaining without 5 payments
This means the unaccounted for loan payments could be as low as $129,000 per the 5 missing payment amounts…this loan appears to have been paid off and possibly then some…has anyone ever seen the original loan documents?

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King said:

Well seeing this is the biggest Worlds ever I would imagine it would be at least 150k. So without those 5 payments the guesstimated worst scenario is 4 more years? Where did you get those payments again?

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King said:

Well seeing this is the biggest Worlds ever I would imagine it would be at least 150k. So without those 5 payments the guesstimated worst scenario is 4 more years? Where did you get those payments again?

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SharkDad said:

The USASF is not in the EP business. They have a Worlds Advisory Committee, Chairperson Steve Peterson, but it was made very clear to me from a number of Disney WWOS and Youth Sports Representatives in a meeting I had with them last year that Varsity Corp is who holds the contract with them to hold Worlds. They didn't know what the USASF was until I described it to them.

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BlueCat said:

So, here was my list of suggested improvements from earlier. Are there ones on here that people don't agree with? Are there other improvements that could be made?

1. No conglomerate/company/gym/person should have permanent board seats.
2. No conglomerate/company/gym/person should have a permanent executive position.
3. There should be free and open elections for all positions of power in an independent governing body.
4. The financials of the organization should be absolutely public. (A 5-6 line "summary" does NOT count.)
5. The financials of the organization should be done by an independent, outside accounting firm. (EDIT: The accounting firm should have the ability to redact limited salary information at THEIR discretion.)
6. The votes of the Board should be public.
7. There should be term limits for all elected/appointed officials.
8. Nominations and appointments should be based on merit, not seniority, friendships, "loyalty", or quid pro quo.
9. Board seats belong to the public, not to companies. (If a Cheer Athletics person resigns their seat on the board, then Cheer Athletics doesn't get to appoint the replacement. The replacement is decided by the same process that elected that seat in the first place.)
10. There should be a much more fair and representative distribution of board seats. suggestion - 1/3 EP, 1/3 coaches-gym owners, 1/3 "other". (Industry vendors, media, judges, neutral outside party, etc.)
11. Worlds must be moved to an adequate venue ASAP. Sub-contracting out the event deserves strong consideration.
12. No single conglomerate should control/occupy more than 3 total seats on the board.
13. Coach board seats should have regional representation. Nominations/Voting for those seats should be a completely open process.
14. The USASF should control all of the intellectual property of Worlds.
15. The USASF should not control what events athletes/gyms/judges/coaches can go to. If Worlds can't compete with other "World Championships", then make Worlds better. Don't threaten people with being banned from Worlds because your event can't compete on it's own merit.
16. Event Producers should be allowed to host bid-giving events wherever and whenever they choose (up to the number of bids they are qualified.) Protectionism for certain events and event producers is not acceptable. If those events can't compete with other events, then they should make their event better. Don't threaten event producers with being banned from USASF to help certain EPs.
17. Judge education/training, standardized scoring, coaches training, gym owner business training all need to be moved up the priority list.
18. Controlling the uniforms, tumbling rule decisions outside of the NACCC/Rules Committee, PR & focus groups, and the amount hugging/excitement allowed after performances should be moved off of the priority list.

I would add:
19. USASF offices and employees should be free from Varsity (or any other private company's) control. Any non-compete clause should be allowed to expire at it's normal rate. (If you have a Varsity non-compete for 2 years after cessation of employment, your time at USASF doesn't count as time at "Varsity" time.)

20. Bills/proposals/etc that get voted on by the board are made public prior to their vote. The secrecy that pervades the process is damaging to the legitimacy of the USASF and completely unnecessary. If a board member doesn't have the strength to vote for something and stand behind it publicly, then they either shouldn't be a board member or shouldn't be voting in a way they are ashamed of. (I am willing to stand behind and defend ALL of my votes if they want to make those public.) A VERY LIMITED amount of discretion regarding financially sensitive information should be allowed for. This power should rarely be used and only allowed when signed off on by the independent accounting firm. (see #5)

21. The entire contract with Disney should be made public. Any extension of this contract should be made with the full knowledge, oversight, and approval of the board. Any side deals, kickbacks, or collusion with other Disney contracts should be made available to the entire membership of the board.

22. Any board member or full-time USASF employee should be required to disclose any and all ownership in cheer-related businesses and all cheer-related business with which they are partnered/under contract for/have potential conflict of interest with. Also, all ownership interest of their employers must be revealed. (If you are a CheerSport employee, then the exact nature of CheerSport's ownership should be public information.)

Feel free to make other suggestions.

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• Move athlete registration up the priority list (so no cheating with ages / non-registered athletes, etc. is possible)
• Only a part of the board members is elected each year to ensure continuity in their work (for example: if they are elected every 5 years, 1/5th of the seats are up for election each year, distributed evenly among the different groups represented).

King said:

Well seeing this is the biggest Worlds ever I would imagine it would be at least 150k. So without those 5 payments the guesstimated worst scenario is 4 more years? Where did you get those payments again?

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King said:

The NFL is a 501c6. But obviously not the governing body.

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coachrah said:

see pg 45 and 46 Appendix B: letters from Jim Lord and Greg Webb 2002.

http://www.ncwge.org/PDF/Title_IX_Coalition_Report_Final.pdf

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