All-Star Ideal Governing Organization

[BlueCat]

I think most would agree that the USASF has done some great things and had a few missteps along the way. There have been a few tentative steps toward restructuring and transparency, and they appear to be at least hearing SOME of the complaints out there. However, any change basically requires the people currently in power to give up some of that power. That is difficult to achieve in the best of circumstances.

As a purely hypothetical exercise, what should the ideal governing body for all star cheer look like?

1. What would be it's main priorities? (specifics - not just a generic mission statement)
2. Who (or what type of people) should be in charge?
3. What should be the mechanism (if any) for rotating people in and out of "power". (voting? certain groups have permanent seats? Who gets to nominate new officers? etc.)
4. How much of the financial and other "inner" workings of the organization would be made public?
5. Which (if any) meetings and votes should be public and which should be secret?
6. What limits (if any) would you put on the amount of power/influence that the group would have overall?
7. What limits (if any) would be put on any individuals and the amount of time they can serve in positions of power?
8. What limits (if any) should the organization be able to put on critical opinions of their policies?
9. What controls (if any) should they have over where/when/what type of events EPs can have?
10. What controls (if any) should they have over coaches? gym owners? athletes?
11. How should this organization be funded?

Please try to be as realistic with your answers as possible.

 

[WorkToWin]

All I know is that after the World's price increase funding should not be an issue

 

[NJ Coach]

1. What would be it's main priorities? (specifics - not just a generic mission statement) Growth of the industry, uniformity of rules, scoring and judging.
2. Who (or what type of people) should be in charge? I think that there should be people from within the industry that should make up the board. EP, Gym Owner, Coaches ect. I like what the FIG has going on, with multiple Councils, made up of Federations within a country (we could use states) and a Congress.
3. What should be the mechanism (if any) for rotating people in and out of "power". (voting? certain groups have permanent seats? Who gets to nominate new officers? etc.) I don't believe there should be a permanent seat. I think that leads to complacency. Like our Senate, there should be overlapping terms. If we had state federations, they could nominate someone for a seat. All members of the organization would then be able to vote.
4. How much of the financial and other "inner" workings of the organization would be made public? All of it. Full disclosure keeps people honest.
5. Which (if any) meetings and votes should be public and which should be secret? Minutes should be kept and available for all major meetings.
6. What limits (if any) would you put on the amount of power/influence that the group would have overall? I think the governing body should be able to create and enforce the rules of the sport. I also think they should be responsible for a unified and universal scoresheet. I think the EPs should be able to ratio scoring how they think best fits their particular competitions.
7. What limits (if any) would be put on any individuals and the amount of time they can serve in positions of power? Like I said above, I like the idea of overlapping terms. I don't know what a perfect time limit would be though.
8. What limits (if any) should the organization be able to put on critical opinions of their policies? If the events of the past year are any indication, you are not going to be able to stifle critical opinions. Critical opinions, if you use them correctly, will foster growth.
9. What controls (if any) should they have over where/when/what type of events EPs can have? I'd like to see them limit EPs to 1 National competition a season. They may have as many regional and local competitions as they want. I believe there is currently some regulation on bid events.
10. What controls (if any) should they have over coaches? gym owners? athletes? Gyms that want to compete at events under the umbrella of the governing body, must be members. Athletes and coaches must be registered in a database.
11. How should this organization be funded? Fees associated with gyms becoming members. Dues by athletes and coaches, payable once a year. I've also been toying with licensing, EPs paying to host comps ect.

 

[cheermommaRN]

1. What would be it's main priorities? (specifics - not just a generic mission statement) growth of the sport/industry, establishing and regulating rules, SAFETY of athletes
2. Who (or what type of people) should be in charge? There should be representatives from across the industry including EP's, gyms, and one representative from the PAC
3. What should be the mechanism (if any) for rotating people in and out of "power". (voting? certain groups have permanent seats? Who gets to nominate new officers? etc.) It should be a vote by the members of the overall organization, members can nominate others with their approval.
4. How much of the financial and other "inner" workings of the organization would be made public? Everything should be transparent to avoid "conspiracy theories"
5. Which (if any) meetings and votes should be public and which should be secret? I don't believe anything should be in "secret" and all meetings must be available for web viewing...for free...so that ALL gyms or members can view the process. The only exception should be in instances where someone's privacy needs to be protected.
6. What limits (if any) would you put on the amount of power/influence that the group would have overall? They can not regulate how each gym operates their business or how EP's chose to run their competitions. Example: A gym must have credentialed coaches and observe safety rules but where they practice or how they run their gym is in their hands. Also if Billy Bob's Grand Nationals wants to have 300 individual categories (best high kick while smiling ages 3-5) so be it.
7. What limits (if any) would be put on any individuals and the amount of time they can serve in positions of power? Limit should be 2 years.
8. What limits (if any) should the organization be able to put on critical opinions of their policies? If the opinion is based on heresy and lies, they should be able to shut it down immediately, but an honest critical opinion should never be stifled, it should be listened to so the board can hear what that particular group is looking for.
9. What controls (if any) should they have over where/when/what type of events EPs can have? None except for mandatory safety rules and unified scoring.
10. What controls (if any) should they have over coaches? gym owners? athletes? Same as above...free enterprise should let the gyms function as they see fit but there has to be mandatory credentialing per level and mandatory safety procedures that they are required to show each year they are maintaining (ie emergency cards for all kids that MUST be with the coaches at all times, documented catastrophe plans in case of fire or weather)
11. How should this organization be funded? By membership dues based on a scale (gyms pay a different fee than Susie and her mom)

 

[kristenthegreat]

The two above posts are essentially the answers I would give, so instead of typing it all out, I'm going to just express my agreement.

 

[TheUltimateFan]

1. What would be it's main priorities? (specifics - not just a generic mission statement) Growth of the industry, uniformity of rules, scoring and judging. Safety - and not a subjective and arbitrary determination of what is safe based on other sports and the media, safe as supported by research and statistics gathered from within the member organizations.
2. Who (or what type of people) should be in charge? I think that there should be people from within the industry that should make up the board. EP, Gym Owner, Coaches ect. I like what the FIG has going on, with multiple Councils, made up of Federations within a country (we could use states) and a Congress. Agree. And for owners, coaches, etc. these should be dispersed across programs of all sizes, proportionate to the distribution of member athletes. Not as a popularity contest, as a fair representation of the members.
3. What should be the mechanism (if any) for rotating people in and out of "power". (voting? certain groups have permanent seats? Who gets to nominate new officers? etc.) I don't believe there should be a permanent seat. I think that leads to complacency. Like our Senate, there should be overlapping terms. If we had state federations, they could nominate someone for a seat. All members of the organization would then be able to vote. I agree with the above.
4. How much of the financial and other "inner" workings of the organization would be made public? All of it. Full disclosure keeps people honest. 100% agree but in fairness ....what possible logical or business reason could be given for secrecy?
5. Which (if any) meetings and votes should be public and which should be secret? Minutes should be kept and available for all major meetings. Agree, published on the USASF site and retained for the period of the terms of the voting board members.
6. What limits (if any) would you put on the amount of power/influence that the group would have overall? I think the governing body should be able to create and enforce the rules of the sport. I also think they should be responsible for a unified and universal scoresheet. I think the EPs should be able to ratio scoring how they think best fits their particular competitions. If fairly representing the industry, I would say unlimited. However, perhaps we need to consider whether there is an impeachment option?
7. What limits (if any) would be put on any individuals and the amount of time they can serve in positions of power? Like I said above, I like the idea of overlapping terms. I don't know what a perfect time limit would be though. I would like to see a minimum of two years - one to analyze and identify the need for change, one to implement change. A maximum of two consecutive terms so that those memebers who are most effective can both be recognized for their successes and continue the course. Some ideas/changes take more than two years to fully evolve.
8. What limits (if any) should the organization be able to put on critical opinions of their policies? If the events of the past year are any indication, you are not going to be able to stifle critical opinions. Critical opinions, if you use them correctly, will foster growth. Absolutely agree - only fools, incompetents and dictators fear dissent.
9. What controls (if any) should they have over where/when/what type of events EPs can have? I'd like to see them limit EPs to 1 National competition a season. They may have as many regional and local competitions as they want. I believe there is currently some regulation on bid events. Finally. Way past due. Local/Regionals/Nationals/Worlds. At the regional level, participation should be restricted by geographical area so those states where cheer is just developing (e.g. NW) can compete against peers.
10. What controls (if any) should they have over coaches? gym owners? athletes?Gyms that want to compete at events under the umbrella of the governing body, must be members. Athletes and coaches must be registered in a database. Agree, responsibility is a two-way street. I'd also like to kick around the idea of having judging panels be responsible to USASF instead of under the influence of individual EPs. But I haven't really thought through how that could work. Universal scoring would then be an absolute requirement.
11. How should this organization be funded? Fees associated with gyms becoming members. Dues by athletes and coaches, payable once a year. I've also been toying with licensing, EPs paying to host comps ect. Same.

Response in PURPLE, of course.

 

[xomckenzieee]

1. What would be it's main priorities? (specifics - not just a generic mission statement) Safety- a unified code similar to what a professional sports team would have to adhere to and if said code is not followed... fines should be issued.
2. Who (or what type of people) should be in charge? I think there should be a board similar to an executive board of a company with people from inside the industry and a few from outside to bring an unbiased "business or law" kind of opinion.
3. What should be the mechanism (if any) for rotating people in and out of "power". (voting? certain groups have permanent seats? Who gets to nominate new officers? etc.) I think voting for whomever would come down to popularity and money, so I believe people should be nominated and then can be voted upon.
4. How much of the financial and other "inner" workings of the organization would be made public? Records need to be made public... shady stuff occurs when secrets are kept and information is hidden from the public (take Enron, etc.)
5. Which (if any) meetings and votes should be public and which should be secret? Again all information should be made public and view-able on USASF, as well as sent out to all coaches/USASF certified gyms, even if there is no change of anything.
6. What limits (if any) would you put on the amount of power/influence that the group would have overall? They should have the power to create new laws/rules but then I think gyms should also get a vote in the matter. Checks and balances kind of a thing.
7. What limits (if any) would be put on any individuals and the amount of time they can serve in positions of power? This is similar to an above question and I honestly don't know what kind of time frame should be used. That's tough to figure out.
8. What limits (if any) should the organization be able to put on critical opinions of their policies? Critical opinions are sometimes good and can help change or add new rules and regulations. That's why gyms need a say...
9. What controls (if any) should they have over where/when/what type of events EPs can have? I agree with what someone said above about how this should work, no other ideas of my own.
10. What controls (if any) should they have over coaches? gym owners? athletes? I don't think they should possess too much control as I believe gyms need to have a say. Control isn't the correct word.
11. How should this organization be funded? Bake sales and car washes... kidding but I think someone mentioned "dues" I like that idea.

 

[ASCheerMan]

I'd be President with an excessive personal expense account. And anyone that dared to ask where my designer jeans came from wouldn't be killed... they would just quietly go away only to never be heard from again.

And NCA Dallas. would be the Worlds Championship. Oh, and nobody would ever complain about it.

 

[BlueCat]

I'd be President with an excessive personal expense account. And anyone that dared to ask where my designer jeans came from wouldn't be killed... they would just quietly go away only to never be heard from again.

And NCA Dallas. would be the Worlds Championship. Oh, and nobody would ever complain about it.

That is not the worst idea I've ever heard. (not than the vanishing dissenters part) I'd personally buy you all the Jordache jeans you could wear if you just moved Worlds somewhere that doesn't stifle the growth of the sport.

Jordache being the first brand to come to mind makes me think that I shouldn't be the one to pick out your jeans.

 

[CoachTamara]

That is not the worst idea I've ever heard. (not than the vanishing dissenters part) I'd personally buy you all the Jordache jeans you could wear if you just moved Worlds somewhere that doesn't stifle the growth of the sport.

Jordache being the first brand to come to mind makes me think that I shouldn't be the one to pick out your jeans.

I always pictured Justin as the Bugle Boy type....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ASCheerMan]

JORDACHE JEANS?!? Do they still make those? This isn't 1982, Jody and there shouldn't be a picture of Brooke Shields or Farrah Fawcett hanging up in your locker, either.

 

[xpressjag]

My question is , what is sparking this revolution against the USASF and what they are currently doing? We didn't have anything before, and now we have people who truly dislike the USASF. I feel like people want things regulated with unlimited freedoms to what they deem is "necessary to run their business".

 

[CGAcheer]

My question is , what is sparking this revolution against the USASF and what they are currently doing? We didn't have anything before, and now we have people who truly dislike the USASF. I feel like people want things regulated with unlimited freedoms to what they deem is "necessary to run their business".

the surprise changes in March...
there were people before with the varsity/usasf conspiracy theories etc.
but the March Changes is what set everyone off. Changing rules and age grids without following any type of process or giving any kind of notice. Finding out from kids at practice that found out via twitter and we had no idea.


to take the simple government minimalist approach- the allstar governing body should do the following and only the following:
Set Leveled Safety Rules
Age Grid (divisions)
Time Limits
performance surface standards (i.e. 54x42, at least 3ft away from falling off a stage, etc)
minimum Warm up Standards (time, number and type of mats)
and a Universal Scoring System

that way no matter what competition you go to, you know what to expect and everyone is "playing the same game"

I could look back through the threads for what I've posted about the details of voting, membership fees etc

 

[King]

That is not the worst idea I've ever heard. (not than the vanishing dissenters part) I'd personally buy you all the Jordache jeans you could wear if you just moved Worlds somewhere that doesn't stifle the growth of the sport.

Jordache being the first brand to come to mind makes me think that I shouldn't be the one to pick out your jeans.

Honest question: do people non ironically wear Jordache jeans?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

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