All-Star Cea Chicago

[luv2cheer92]

I'm just impatiently waiting for the day when the Worlds release rules take effect for all levels.

 

[KDCheerMom]

I'm just impatiently waiting for the day when the Worlds release rules take effect for all levels.

I think this is coming - now that we have athlete registration.

 

[Fiercecheermom]

Cheer is a business.
Supermarkets are a business.
Clothing is a business.
Food is a business.

You don't always go to the same supermarket/clothes store/cafe. Say you go to whole foods, but then traders joe opens up in town. You go to traders joe and you prefer it, so you keep going there. It's a business and it offers better, so why keep going to the other one? Just like cheer, if a new business opens up and you prefer it there is no reason to keep going to the other one.

Say your dry cleaning place SUCKS, so you refuse to tip as you are not satisfied with their job. You are not paying for something that you don't like, right? So if your cheer team has a monthly fee of $150, but the team never learns anything and is disorganised, and you refuse to pay the fee and you pull your child out. Again, you aren't paying for something that doesn't deserve your payment.

+leaving fees. Why should you have to pay a fee for being able to leave something you hate? They just confuse me.

First, I would HOPE you would have noticed that your athlete wasn't learning anything quite a bit earlier in the season. At this point, most teams have been together/practicing 8 months, so that, and the disorganization should have been apparent BEFORE we hit the "meat" of the competition season. This is a situation where it was okay to attend this gym and be a part of these teams UNTIL a coach left and another option appeared. IMO this is not a valid reason to negate a contract (if they have one) and leave teams mid season. Not sure if ICE had a contract with these athletes who left, but again would LOVE to hear back from someone from that gym who knows the situation. As I have stated a few times, if the reason the athletes left was for something serious/felonious/dangerous, then I can respect that.
No one should have to pay for something they "hate", but when did they decide that they "hated" it? And if it took that long to decide that they "hated" it, that is still not a valid moral/ethical reason to not fulfill their obligation. Kind of like buying a car. If you decide hate it after paying for 8 months, you don't just stop paying for it. There are ways to extricate yourself, but you have to do it correctly and not stop paying for it because you have "buyer's remorse" Unfortunately, you shouldn't compare
grocery stores/restaurants/car purchases to cheerleading where others than yourself are concerned and your decisions affect them. Of course, this is where moral character and ethics become an issue and as we all know these can definitely fluctuate person to person.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

I am sure no one is this case is getting any refunds from ICE. Not having rules about athlete registration /releases - 1. allows for gyms to recruit even after the season starts and 2. makes it easy for athletes to change mid season if another gym is willing to take that athlete.

And guys having rules about changing organizations is not a new thing - many youth sports have this.

We have strict rules in youth travel soccer. The rules for rec soccer are similar to what we have in cheer now.

For travel soccer we have to sign a contract saying we will stay with the club for the duration of the year (both fall & spring seasons). Once the club turns the contract in to the state, the athlete is bound to that club until the end of the year i.e. June. The athlete may ask for a release in the off season (Nov-Mar), but the club and the state have to authorize it unless the family moves more than 50 miles from his club (not just the kid). An athlete can appeal to the state if the club refuses to release them, but they better have a very good reason for asking. The players have ID passcards issued by youth soccer with their picture, club, and team. The players are only allowed to play up 2 age groups or levels listed on their ID passcard. They must show this at every game in order to play.

Soccer also has strict poaching rules in effect from the time the contract is signed until the last day games are allowed to be played in June. Anyone working for the club can not approach a player in regards to switching clubs. The athlete can approach a club and parents/players can approach another player, but not a coach, board member, etc.

If a coach switches clubs, they are not allowed to coach any of the kids they coached at their previous club for one full year. If so, they are banned from coaching for a year. This prevents teams from following a coach. I understand why they have this rule, but teams still implode when a favorite coach leaves.

Obviously these rules are very strict for what we want to see in cheer, but moving toward some form of these is a good thing IMO.

I would like to see the USASF ID cards used for comps. It would take time, but EP's would get on board after awhile. Make it mandatory for all bid comps and train the EP's on how to implement it so the process doesn't require more staff or is time consuming. It takes 5 minutes to check in a team of 18 for soccer including checking cleats/shin guards and giving the players their expectations for play. One Ref holds a printed roster and the other holds the ID cards. One reads the names from the cards, the player steps forward (most refs compare the picture to the player even if it's a glance), and the other ref checks the name off the roster. It's a fairly quick process. Something similar could be done as the team enters warmup.

I also think some kind of release for all full travel athletes is a good idea. Leave prep teams alone, but create rules for full travel athlete releases. They should protect BOTH the athlete and the club. Make the level 5/worlds teams release more strict, but something should be in place for the other levels. If it is only implemented for full travel teams then a lot of mini teams and some level 1 teams will be excluded since those are often teams with newer kids just entering the sport.

 

[KDCheerMom]

Totally agree with @AlwaysLearning Volleyball has similar rules about in season club registration. I think it would give everyone pause at the start of the season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[UCFKnights07]

i can see why its good to learn a valuable lesson and stick it out for something you committed to in the beginning, but i also dont believe in forcing yourself to be miserable. Granted i dont know the real reason why all those kids jumped ship, but its a business that the parents are clearly paying for, and if they no longer like it they are allowed to take their money elsewhere. Is it fair, no. But unless gyms start forcing people to sign contracts (which i still dont think will make a difference, people break contracts all the time) then its a free market for people to leave as they please.

 

[SL&AM]

That's not bad. Most are $500 or even $1000 here!

The contract they were switching to in Missouri was $500 I think. We had to leave after try outs but before the comp season started because of the Army, so we weren't subjected to pay it thankfully.

Most gyms also states when you leave the gym during the season no refunds. So all competition fees are lost.

Ours is also no refunds on anything paid up until that point and our gym does the inclusive pricing so essentially everything is paid for well in advanced.

 

[icequeen]

What division is passion in? Were?

 

[luv2cheer92]

What division is passion in? Were?

R5 I believe

 

[SL&AM]

First and foremost, I hope CEA Chicago a successful quarter year and years to come.

That being said, and I know this is a very unpopular opinion, I can't honestly say I would force CP to stay with a gym she's committed to if her coach was fired mid-season. This is purely hypothetical since her current coach is also an owner so I doubt he's going anywhere, but without knowing all the facts on why this coach was released, I can't say I wouldn't let her follow with 100% certainly. I do believe in following through with what you've committed to, but imo, coaches make this sport not necessarily what uniform you're wearing or name on your chest. I can definitely think of scenario's where following a coach is okay even if it is mid-season.

And I know it's totally unpopular.

 

[topxofxmyxgame]

Fiercecheermom you make some really outstanding points in regard to this situation and I share many of your very insightful views.

What I find most interesting about this situation is the continuous statements claiming "It's a business" or better yet the suggestion that something may have been wrong with the product at ICE and this is the reason people are choosing to leave mid season. There seems to be a general idea from those who approve of this behavior that somehow the customer (athletes and parents) are receiving a different service by switching to an unestablished CEA expansion. How could any of this be possible if the same person is coaching the team? They're not walking into Kernersville, Raleigh or even any of the several other CEA expansions. The same coach they had in blue is the same coach they'll have in teal so other than changing the clothing you wear and who you write your monthly check to what's so different?

 

[gofriars610]

First and foremost, I hope CEA Chicago a successful quarter year and years to come.

That being said, and I know this is a very unpopular opinion, I can't honestly say I would force CP to stay with a gym she's committed to if her coach was fired mid-season. This is purely hypothetical since her current coach is also an owner so I doubt he's going anywhere, but without knowing all the facts on why this coach was released, I can't say I wouldn't let her follow with 100% certainly. I do believe in following through with what you've committed to, but imo, coaches make this sport not necessarily what uniform you're wearing or name on your chest. I can definitely think of scenario's where following a coach is okay even if it is mid-season.

And I know it's totally unpopular.

I agree.

 

[njallday]

this may not be the place to ask this... but how does CEA do expansion? are they just franchised and paying CSP to use her name or can I call CSP to financially bail out my failing gym or to be my investor into a new gym for a percentage? All of their gyms may have their name and colors, but you never know what you're going to get. Whereas Cheer Athletics, for example, clearly gives off the one unit feel with all decisions going through their corporate office and making sure they have one consistent product.

As big names seem to take over and grow in number of facilities, I am just curious to see how each does things and which ways work better than others.

 

[RaRaMama]

First and foremost, I hope CEA Chicago a successful quarter year and years to come.

That being said, and I know this is a very unpopular opinion, I can't honestly say I would force CP to stay with a gym she's committed to if her coach was fired mid-season. This is purely hypothetical since her current coach is also an owner so I doubt he's going anywhere, but without knowing all the facts on why this coach was released, I can't say I wouldn't let her follow with 100% certainly. I do believe in following through with what you've committed to, but imo, coaches make this sport not necessarily what uniform you're wearing or name on your chest. I can definitely think of scenario's where following a coach is okay even if it is mid-season.

And I know it's totally unpopular.

I definitely understand this position and I can see where you're coming from. I guess this whole situation has more to it than anyone knows. Financially I'm not sure I would want to lose all my money from comp fees just because a coach left. That's not a drop in the bucket, and then to have to pay them again....I don't know. I think there would have to be more of a reason for me to allow CP than "I want to follow my coach". Now, at the end of the season, if she wanted to switch, no problem, I understand that. Yes, cheer is a business and we are consumers-but it would be interesting to know if these kids were unhappy before this announcement or if it was "coach is opening a new gym, let's follow her".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Markiesgirl]

Passion started off as being a worlds level team and was dropped to restricted at the end of the summer. Remember this is a team that for several years very successful as a large 4. Nca and summit wins. This season the team has yet to receive a summit bid of any kind. The "unbroken promises" someone earlier in this thread alluded to as the reason there was drama. I am wondering if they had hoped to go back up to a worlds team and the owner said no. I have seen several tweets from athletes about not giving up on their dream etc....just makes me think this is about bids and worlds. They were all perfectly happy to be ICE when they were winning nca and summit.