All-Star Cea Chicago

[Fiercecheermom]

Kaley was going to leave with some of the coaches who went to GTIL last year, but after lots of promises from Darlene did not. While all of the other Ice coaches signed a noncompete, Kaley did not. She regretted staying at Ice within a couple months and started talking to CSP about some kind of partnership with CEA. The plan was for Kaley to finish the year at Ice and then open CEA Chicago. Darlene got wind of this plan and was worried about more athletes leaving and repeating what happened when GTIL opened, so she fired Kaley thinking that most athletes would stay and at least finish the year, giving her time to convince them to stay.

It backfired. Darlene isn't around Ice much and is a little out of touch at the gym. She didn't realize how many people were generally unsatisfied.

It seems weird to me that people would fault Kaley for looking for a new job. Isn't this the way people generally do it? You interview while you still have your old job. It doesn't make you disloyal. Why are cheer coaches held to some different standard?

As far as loyalty to a gym, that should be a two way street. Darlene thinks nothing of replacing a "loyal" athlete who isn't performing at the level she thinks the athlete should be, with a new better person who walks in the door midseason,. If it is OK for a gym to replace an athlete when a better one walks in the door, why isn't it OK for athletes to join a new gym when a better one comes along?

You reap what you sow.

Thank you for shedding some light on the situation. Your post touches on a few different things. I don't think anyone is faulting Kayley for looking for a new job. That is her prerogative and I defend her ability to do so. I understand that even though "after a couple of month (Aug/Sept) she was unhappy, she stayed and continued looking for a job. Five months later she works out a deal with CEA to begin after the season ends (3 1/2 months later). The owner finds out and fires her. Which we all could have forecasted because NOTHING IS SECRET in the cheer world. As a business owner, I would have done the exact same thing. Darlene probably thought most kids would stay because it is so late in the season, the parents have pretty much paid for everything, etc. Unfortunately, this didn't happen and kids left. Again, I wouldn't let my CP do this. Since, according to your info above, there was not dangerous/felonious/extenuating circumstances, we would complete our commitment to the team/parents/gym. Basically what you are saying is that all was fine until Kayley decided to leave. There were probably other issues, but nothing that would make them leave UNTIL KAYLEY LEFT. That is a form of buyer's remorse. No team is guaranteed a specific coach and in my opinion not a reason to leave mid season. It IS a reason to not return the next year after finishing your commitment. I ABSOLUTELY know of which I speak as I had a similar situation last year. I did not play it out on FB because that is not the person I am or the person I want my CP to be. Our situation almost bordered on egregious/dangerous and I thought about pulling her, but she didn't want to let her team/coach down. I was proud of her, and I believe that it was a great learning experience and brought her (and I) to where we are now.
Please keep in mind that ANY/EVERY gym will replace a "loyal" athlete if they are not performing as they think they should be...including CEA. That is what is fair to the team. That phrase usually means as long as your athlete keeps their skills they had at tryouts, a GOOD ATTITUDE (probably most important), attends practice regularly, etc. Does it stink to have a "loyal athlete" replaced on a team? YES! But it stinks more for the team as a whole if that athlete is not a good fit. Contrary to what some parents think, a coach/owner is not going to pull a "loyal/qualified" athlete because "they don't like them". I have seen "loyal/qualified" athletes with bad behaviors given WAY more chances to change than they ever should have. Luckily, there are new rules in place for the Worlds teams so that it eliminates some of the switching of athletes during bid season. I think Summit needs some of the same rules to include the crossovers as well. Again, not trying to offend anyone. I think there is still more going on with this situation that may never surface. At the end of the day, I feel very bad for the remaining ICE athletes and I wish them GOOD LUCK for the rest of their season. I will be watching and rooting for them!!!!

 

[cheerKT]

Sometimes a non compete is not enforceable if you are terminated. Completely depends on the wording.

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

And also as far as what happened when GTIL opened? Some athletes left to go there, it wasn't a good fit for them, and many of those that left came right back to ICE. It wasn't the mass exodus that some people portray it to be. Depending on the final location of CEA for next season (it's in Addison, IL for the rest of this season) I think ICE, UA, and some of the smaller gyms around here all can expect to lose some athletes. That's just the nature of the beast.


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[catlady]

Kaley was going to leave with some of the coaches who went to GTIL last year, but after lots of promises from Darlene did not. While all of the other Ice coaches signed a noncompete, Kaley did not. She regretted staying at Ice within a couple months and started talking to CSP about some kind of partnership with CEA. The plan was for Kaley to finish the year at Ice and then open CEA Chicago. Darlene got wind of this plan and was worried about more athletes leaving and repeating what happened when GTIL opened, so she fired Kaley thinking that most athletes would stay and at least finish the year, giving her time to convince them to stay.

It backfired. Darlene isn't around Ice much and is a little out of touch at the gym. She didn't realize how many people were generally unsatisfied.

It seems weird to me that people would fault Kaley for looking for a new job. Isn't this the way people generally do it? You interview while you still have your old job. It doesn't make you disloyal. Why are cheer coaches held to some different standard?

As far as loyalty to a gym, that should be a two way street. Darlene thinks nothing of replacing a "loyal" athlete who isn't performing at the level she thinks the athlete should be, with a new better person who walks in the door midseason,. If it is OK for a gym to replace an athlete when a better one walks in the door, why isn't it OK for athletes to join a new gym when a better one comes along?

You reap what you sow.

While I'm not involved in the situation, I do think this is an important discussion. While I'm not a huge fan of athletes being replaced mid season, I do understand most of these athletes and parents have been talked to, as far as, skills required to stay on the team. What I'm not prepared for, is to have paid for a uniform, warm ups, shoes, bows, tees, music, choreography and comp fees and have half of my kids team walk out in the heart of the season with only a few months left. While some parents may be able to justify and pay for the new and any past penalties, there are many parents that have sacrificed to give their kids an experience and that's not an option for them so, they're just left in the dust with options that may or may not work for them.

If an employee is fired or quits, by all means, I expect them to find a job and move on. With that said, some regard should be taken concerning kids when you are in a kid business. In this case, I don't have to know the entire story because, tumbling and prep classes could have been held for three months and then tryouts could have taken place for the 16-17 season. I wish both businesses great success but, when you are dealing with kids, I respect those that can put their egos aside. The timing was about making a point and had nothing to do with consideration for all of the kids or their team.

 

[MissCongeniality]

I totally understand athletes being replaced because of attitude or failure to maintain skills. Sadly, I have also witnessed multiple times when Susie and/or Sam (despite awesome attitudes and maintaining skills) was replaced in January when Sally/Steve decide they're coming back out of "retirement".

 

[scaliaa]

Assuming all of this is true, this changes things in my perspective. I think several of us said what we thought we would do, but we also acknowledged that there were too many unknown factors to say for certain.

I'm curious though-do you think you will stay at the end of this season or look elsewhere? You mention a lot of people are unhappy (not just the ones who left). I'm just wondering what kind of mass exodus this will result in at the end of the season.


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We will finish out the season at Ice and then look elsewhere. We will probably go to either GTIL or possibly CEA, depending on what level teams they have next season. I should say that we haven't had a bad year, just not a very good one. In my opinion the quality of coaching has gone down. The coaches are spread really thin.

I don't know if there will be a mass exodus or not. There is a core group of moms who are blindly loyal to Ice and get a little nasty to anyone who suggests they might leave. So there isn't a lot of open talk, just whispers. I think the feeling is that the days of Ice domination in IL are over, and we will see 3 or 4 equally competitive big name gyms in the area. Which is not a bad thing.

 

[RaRaMama]

We will finish out the season at Ice and then look elsewhere. We will probably go to either GTIL or possibly CEA, depending on what level teams they have next season. I should say that we haven't had a bad year, just not a very good one. In my opinion the quality of coaching has gone down. The coaches are spread really thin.

I don't know if there will be a mass exodus or not. There is a core group of moms who are blindly loyal to Ice and get a little nasty to anyone who suggests they might leave. So there isn't a lot of open talk, just whispers. I think the feeling is that the days of Ice domination in IL are over, and we will see 3 or 4 equally competitive big name gyms in the area. Which is not a bad thing.

Well I hope you find something that makes both you and your CP happy. I know first hand how it stinks to hang on when you're unhappy.


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[EmmytheFlyer]

There is no reason that my post should have been given a gossip rating @IACheerMom - I make it very clear that I didn't have the full story like everyone else doesn't have the full story.


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[Fiercecheermom]

I totally understand athletes being replaced because of attitude or failure to maintain skills. Sadly, I have also witnessed multiple times when Susie and/or Sam (despite awesome attitudes and maintaining skills) was replaced in January when Sally/Steve decide they're coming back out of "retirement".

Luckily, on Worlds Teams now, only 3 TOTAL Sally/Steve's can be put back on a team.

 

[catlady]

There is no reason that my post should have been given a gossip rating @IACheerMom - I make it very clear that I didn't have the full story like everyone else doesn't have the full story. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She rated my opinion as gossip, as well. I gave you a shimmy to offset her "gossip".

 

[EmmytheFlyer]

She rated my opinion as gossip, as well. I gave you a shimmy to offset her "gossip".

Ditto. Thank you!


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[catlady]

I totally understand athletes being replaced because of attitude or failure to maintain skills. Sadly, I have also witnessed multiple times when Susie and/or Sam (despite awesome attitudes and maintaining skills) was replaced in January when Sally/Steve decide they're coming back out of "retirement".

I'm sure this happens, as to why I said I'm not a huge fan. But, I don't think the two situations are comparable since you are dealing with individuals versus a whole team. I guess I'm just not prepared as a parent to spend this much money to have a mass exodus right before Nationals.

 

[NoOneSpecial]

Employees have every right to work where they are and secretly negotiate their future for when the season ends. The risk they would run on doing that is their employer finding out and they would have to be prepared for the consequences, whether it be sidelined for the remainder of the season or terminated. Empolyer is still running a business, protecting her product/service and client base.

What i don't understand and where i would question professionalism, integrity and ethics is the RUSH to open a temporary facility. Just why? Stick with the plan and open the new facility at the end of the season. Be the role model and coach the existing athletes to see through their commitment not only for themselves but for their team that they are currently apart of.

 

[SL&AM]

Employees have every right to work where they are and secretly negotiate their future for when the season ends. The risk they would run on doing that is their employer finding out and they would have to be prepared for the consequences, whether it be sidelined for the remainder of the season or terminated. Empolyer is still running a business, protecting her product/service and client base.

What i don't understand and where i would question professionalism, integrity and ethics is the RUSH to open a temporary facility. Just why? Stick with the plan and open the new facility at the end of the season. Be the role model and coach the existing athletes to see through their commitment not only for themselves but for their team that they are currently apart of.

ICE fired her so the idea of staying with the commitment is moot. Even if she wanted to stay with ICE to finish this season she wasn't allowed to.

As for the rush, she likely has bills she needs to pay like the rest of the world and sitting around for three and a half months for a paycheck likely won't end well.

 

[SL&AM]

We will finish out the season at Ice and then look elsewhere. We will probably go to either GTIL or possibly CEA, depending on what level teams they have next season. I should say that we haven't had a bad year, just not a very good one. In my opinion the quality of coaching has gone down. The coaches are spread really thin.

I don't know if there will be a mass exodus or not. There is a core group of moms who are blindly loyal to Ice and get a little nasty to anyone who suggests they might leave. So there isn't a lot of open talk, just whispers. I think the feeling is that the days of Ice domination in IL are over, and we will see 3 or 4 equally competitive big name gyms in the area. Which is not a bad thing.

Good luck to both you and CP on finding a better fit next season.