All-Star Gyms Releasing Athletes

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Jan 10, 2017
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If you've been following the cheer world on Twitter, there is an athlete from WE on Generals that left just before NCA for PA for a spot on Midnight. Based on how it happened, the gym is not releasing her to compete at Worlds with PA. I am curious as to your take on this.

Many in the twitterverse are saying that WE are being petty and she's a teenager and she has the right to be happy. WE's stance is that she was still part of the team when she decided to miss a Generals practice to go and check out Midnight. She was still part of Generals routine just she had been taken out of flying in a main stunt. They don't plan on releasing her.

I'm in the camp of if she had talked to the gym and said she wanted off the team and then looked at another gym, I'd be more inclined to say release her. However, based on her account of why she went to PA and WE's account of how it went down, I'm on WE's side.

So, just curious as to your take.
 
As a mom, if my CP chose to walk out on her team mid-season, there would be no way I would enable her going to another team that season. You just don’t do that-you made a commitment. If you absolutely cannot fulfill it, you sit out for the rest of the season, but it would take a LOT (like an abusive coach or severe bullying) to make me OK with my child quitting and leaving a team that she had committed to, especially during Nationals season. In a severe situation, quitting is warranted-but the cost would be sitting out the resf of the season (and I’d want to seriously look at options to avoid such a situation again).
 
I posted in a different thread (New Random thread has a discussion going), but the release rule is completely one-way. This gym has removed several athletes from teams and replaced them with "better" athletes. If that's their culture then they should allow their athletes to come and go as they please just as they can up and replace them at their whim.
 
It is a young kid, whose acting a lot young athletes do.

But both her mother, and the new gym knew that she would need a release to go to worlds. They knew this before she left, and before she competed with another team. Neither addressed this at the appropriate time. If they had, then the girl wouldn’t be in this predicament.

I’m all for leaving toxic environments. It doesn’t matter if it is your fault, or someone else’s fault. if the environment doesn’t work for you, you have the right to try to be non-toxic and sometimes that requires a new start. But, a new start sometimes requires you to start at the beginning. Leaving something behind sometimes means losing a bit too. In May, June, July, August, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, and possibly January she was committed to a World’s team. When she decided in Feb to change direction, she doesn’t automatically get the opportunity to go to Worlds with someone else.

The new gym absolutely knew this before they put her on the floor in February. I’d wager that her mom did too. The fact that they waited until March to ask for a waiver is an issue now. The old gym has the right to take a stand against this. And considering their proximity, it could be wise to take this stand. While they are doing well without this particular athlete, it doesn’t follow that that want a neighboring gym to have free access to their seasoned athletes during Worlds season. The waiver rule is specifically there to prevent that.
 
I am not commenting on this specific situation, but think the wording of the release is interesting. Most people don't realize you need a release regardless of the level you competed at. You even need a release if you exhibitioned.

"USASF CHEER PROGRAM RELEASE WAIVER 2019 All athletes participating on a team at The 2019 Cheerleading Worlds must be a registered member of that team’s program during the 2018-2019 competition season. Any athlete that has exhibitioned or competed on the floor with a team in any level from a program (Primary Program) during The Cheerleading Worlds competition season (November 1, 2018 – May 1, 2019) will have to have a USASF Program Release Waiver signed by the owner of the Primary Program before that athlete is eligible to compete with another program (Secondary Program) at The 2019 Cheerleading Worlds."


https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amaz...USASF_Worlds_Cheer_Program-Release-Waiver.pdf
 
I posted in a different thread (New Random thread has a discussion going), but the release rule is completely one-way. This gym has removed several athletes from teams and replaced them with "better" athletes. If that's their culture then they should allow their athletes to come and go as they please just as they can up and replace them at their whim.
While I get this in theory, I also know you are technically committing to a program at the beginning of a season. Your commitment isn’t to a team, or spot on a team. That being said, the rules definitely favor the gyms over the athletes. And this definitely gets abused.
 
If she was so easily replaced. Which im guessing by the timeline she was replaced before nca, why hold an athlete hostage at that point. Youve replaced her, and by what ive read and seen clearly had no intention of putting her back on generals. At that point she should have been given the option to be released right after or before nca. I do understand the rules that are in place. But as the paying customer I think I should be allowed to explore other options if im unhappy. That is just something i cant get behind, where gyms hold all the power and the customer who is paying out the rear end just has to sit back and take it.
 
If she was having a definite problem with the team and didn’t get a response from her coaches then why didn’t she just quit. The way she and her mom handled it was all wrong. She sneakily went and tried out at the other gym and made sure she made it there before quitting.
 
My opinion is if a kid doesn't want to be on your team, for whatever reason, let them go. If they don't want to be there, their attitude shows it, and that spreads to others. Regardless of how she left, cut the cord. I can't think of any way a team benefits by their program not releasing an athlete that has left the team. That one child will not make or break whatever team they go to... but if you truly find them going to another team a threat, focus on improving internally.
 
If she was having a definite problem with the team and didn’t get a response from her coaches then why didn’t she just quit. The way she and her mom handled it was all wrong. She sneakily went and tried out at the other gym and made sure she made it there before quitting.
I would think even if she flat out quit and re tried out for another gym she would still need a release? Yes or no?
 
I posted in a different thread (New Random thread has a discussion going), but the release rule is completely one-way. This gym has removed several athletes from teams and replaced them with "better" athletes. If that's their culture then they should allow their athletes to come and go as they please just as they can up and replace them at their whim.
I agree it appears one sided but this is all known ahead of time and I do not think specific roles or even team placements are typically guaranteed. I also agree with @catlady that an appeal board might be an appropriate forum if one believes staying the year was not tolerable (for obvious bullying that was not addressed or similar severe situations) and therefore a release should be granted.
 
There’s a lot of gray area here, but what matters ultimately is: she signed an agreement. Mom and daughter knew the rules and didn’t live up to them. It sounds like this girl tried to cover all her bases and snuck over to PA to check out the scene before officially giving up her spot on WE first. Can’t do it, kid.

There’s been a lot of back and forth about “Oh she should just be happy” and “If they can win NCA without her why are they keeping her?” Not the point. The contact is there for a reason and she didn’t honour it. Strictly speaking, WE is not at fault here and is under no obligation to release her. In fact, if they did release her at this point it would set an extremely bad precedent for the future. It’ll teach anyone at that gym that if they complain loud enough, the rules can be tailored to their demands. Which you just can’t allow. It’d be akin to a coach demanding that a judge remove a tumbling deduction because “Can’t you just let the athlete be happy? Look how sad she is because of this. Just undo it.” Nope. Those are the rules. You agreed to them when you signed up. If you can’t afford the tumble bust, don’t throw the pass.

I don’t know about the other allegations of bullying. If they’re true, my heart goes out to her. I was bullied on my first HS cheer team. It blows and it’s not right. But it begs the question: if the bullying was that bad, why didn’t she just quit outright? Mom and daughter could’ve handled this in about a billion better ways.

And lastly, if she doesn’t get to compete at Worlds this year as a result of this, it’s not the end of the world. She’s young still. If she’s good enough for WE, then she’s got a bright future ahead of her wherever she goes and will have plenty of chances to win Worlds at the senior level with whatever team she chooses. She’ll be fine.
 
There’s a lot of gray area here, but what matters ultimately is: she signed an agreement. Mom and daughter knew the rules and didn’t live up to them. It sounds like this girl tried to cover all her bases and snuck over to PA to check out the scene before officially giving up her spot on WE first. Can’t do it, kid.

There’s been a lot of back and forth about “Oh she should just be happy” and “If they can win NCA without her why are they keeping her?” Not the point. The contact is there for a reason and she didn’t honour it. Strictly speaking, WE is not at fault here and is under no obligation to release her. In fact, if they did release her at this point it would set an extremely bad precedent for the future. It’ll teach anyone at that gym that if they complain loud enough, the rules can be tailored to their demands. Which you just can’t allow. It’d be akin to a coach demanding that a judge remove a tumbling deduction because “Can’t you just let the athlete be happy? Look how sad she is because of this. Just undo it.” Nope. Those are the rules. You agreed to them when you signed up. If you can’t afford the tumble bust, don’t throw the pass.

I don’t know about the other allegations of bullying. If they’re true, my heart goes out to her. I was bullied on my first HS cheer team. It blows and it’s not right. But it begs the question: if the bullying was that bad, why didn’t she just quit outright? Mom and daughter could’ve handled this in about a billion better ways.

And lastly, if she doesn’t get to compete at Worlds this year as a result of this, it’s not the end of the world. She’s young still. If she’s good enough for WE, then she’s got a bright future ahead of her wherever she goes and will have plenty of chances to win Worlds at the senior level with whatever team she chooses. She’ll be fine.

This is what my point was originally. If she was unhappy, then leave. Talk with the coaches/gym and part on good terms. Then if you want to seek out another team, so be it. No one should have to stay in a situation were they are unhappy and being mistreated. It's the way the athlete and her mom went about it. It doesn't set a good precedent for WE or PA. I am not clear if PA knew she wasn't committed to another gym at the time they offered her the spot. Either way, releasing her for the sake of her happiness is not what this is about.
 
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