All-Star Asga Survey Results And Letter To Board

[Ceacoach]

Good Morning,I am writing to you all on behalf of the 1500+ members of the ASGA. It is my sincere hope that you will take the independently gathered data above to heart and read through the information with an open mind. In less than 20 hours exactly 217 gym owners/coaches took their time to take this survey in order to voice their collective opinion. What we all have in common is a sincere desire to increase not only membership, but also expand the positive influence our sport stands to offer to the next generation of youth. All politics aside, we all devote an exceptional amount of time towards what we like to call the "betterment" of our sport. Most of us have devoted our lives to it. I ask on this very historic morning of decision that you channel your 10 year old self before you make any final decisions.Tonight, I put my 8 year old to bed and ask her as I do nightly what she wants to be when she grows up...for the past few nights her dream is consistent. Carley wants to invent the first real dragon or be a fashion designer. I am reminded of a little girl I once knew who owned exactly one hand me down leotard and a used pair of grips whose father turned her swing-set into uneven bars, and made her a beam out of a 2X4. That little girl used to host neighborhood Olympic games and despite the very obvious observation that she had NEVER once taken an official gymnastics class...nevertheless whole heartedly believed that she was going to represent the US in the Olympic games if she could just save a little more money for a few months training. Quite clearly, any adult in a 10 mile radius should have set that little girl's dreams straight with a hard dose of reality. But you know what? No one did. For four straight years, that little girl who grew up to own Cheer Extreme, hosted her own neighborhood Olympics. I believed with all my heart that my dream was going to come true. I would have bet anything on that conviction. You see no one had the heart to destroy that dream, no matter how far fetched it seemed. My hope is that somewhere inside of the adult self you have become you remember your own 10 year old self. Remember when saving the world seemed like a piece of cake? Remember when you were going to be an astronaut? I ask because everyday in my gym I see athletes that enter wide eyed and poised to believe in themselves and others for that matter no matter what until the harsh reality of the real world comes crashing down. When the governing body of the sport I love makes rules that squash those dreams regardless of how unrealistic they are for most athletes, the 10 year old swing-set gymnast in me has to cry foul. How dare you? It makes no difference whether these kids will ever possess the athleticism to achieve these skills you have put on the "chopping block", in their own little minds...they don't quite realize yet that they most likely won't ever be able to compete them. Who are you or we to take their dream away from them before they are able to answer that question for themselves? I beg you as the board of directors to take a hard look at the data provided to you above that is compiled with no agenda, no preconceived reality, and no purpose other than the truth. I ask that you consider this: Now that the world of allstar cheerleading is watching with its full focus that you put faith back into the process you created. Now that we all know what the sentiments of the board of directors who carry ultimate, final decision making power are that we the people be given the opportunity to vet out our differences and VOTE in a democratic fashion towards our own destiny on each and every rule separately. I ask that you restore faith in our sport by granting the constituents that fuel the industry their rightful say so through due process. You may very well have all had the best interest of the sport long term in your heart of hearts. If that is the case, the truth will prevail as it always does on it's own in the end, an end that we will all help to write. If "together we are stronger" is to remain paramount at the forefront of the future of allstar cheerleading...then the ASGA with all due respect asks you to make decisions TOGETHER so that we can indeed be stronger.Sincerely,Courtney Smith-Pope

 

[Ceacoach]

ASGA React Report

ASGA Survey Results​