All-Star Usasf Rules Gurus - Please Read

[rpm99]

I feel bad for all of those athletes and really hope it all works out for them. Last year a parent at our gym warned EVERYONE against the owner of the gym you're referring to (when they 1st surfaced last year after the ICC horror story). She warned us that the said owner was bad news, had questionable financial, moral and business dealings. Yet this parent CHOSE to go with that gym anyway herself. I will NEVER go to a start up gym, they are not tested, regardless if the athletes are. Having said that, just watching that gym from afar and hearing the rumors and issues from other parents, I would have been gone. I know a parent at another gym, with another owner who sucks in Illinois left as soon as she saw the same crap she did to ruin last season for a whole team right before Worlds, this parent left in October. People at this gym are still hanging around and hanging around and she just totally screwed a lot of athletes last night, now they're stuck. Again, observing that gym from afar, the writing was on the wall when she took over last season.

Choosing a gym in Illinois is becoming a crap shoot. You take your chances and hope for the best. So far drama free at our gym, from where I stand at least (knock on wood). Maybe parents in Illinois should stop looking at the brand name and size of the gym and go for stability and a competitive track record. Works for me and my kid.

 

[SkyBlue]

If you truly know something is illegal going on with kids why are you not reporting it to the police?

Kingston, I never said something illegal was going on "with" the kids. Her illegal activities are things that will take significant time to go through the court system. I contacted the USASF regarding what was going on and got a cookie cutter answer, which is not acceptable. I will attempt again to lay it out and try to escalate this up the chain on behalf of not only my child but the other level 5 athletes that left.

 

[shadow]

In this situation why did they all wait around? Why didn't they leave sooner? And now that it is a real situation I think Just-A-Mom sees when you have to apply to the situation it looks like a lot of people made bad choices. I think the rule stands. It doesn't sound like it was an out of the blue thing?

Guess some of us do not listen to gossip. That's what we are told to do. Ask the owner. So we do. Answer seems plausible, end of discussion. I do not sit in the viewing area, never have. That's what the owners want, so I stay out. Kid seemed fine I was fine. After we left my kid filled me in on a ton of stuff that was going on while she was there. She never told me because she knew I would have freaked out. All the sudden all the pieces fit. The gossip was all true. I chose to believe the direct source, not the gossip. I was wrong. Sometimes you do everything you think is right only to find out late you were the only one trying to do right.

 

[SkyBlue]

I feel bad for all of those athletes and really hope it all works out for them. Last year a parent at our gym warned EVERYONE against the owner of the gym you're referring to (when they 1st surfaced last year after the ICC horror story). She warned us that the said owner was bad news, had questionable financial, moral and business dealings. Yet this parent CHOSE to go with that gym anyway herself. I will NEVER go to a start up gym, they are not tested, regardless if the athletes are. Having said that, just watching that gym from afar and hearing the rumors and issues from other parents, I would have been gone. I know a parent at another gym, with another owner who sucks in Illinois left as soon as she saw the same crap she did to ruin last season for a whole team right before Worlds, this parent left in October. People at this gym are still hanging around and hanging around and she just totally screwed a lot of athletes last night, now they're stuck. Again, observing that gym from afar, the writing was on the wall when she took over last season.

Choosing a gym in Illinois is becoming a crap shoot. You take your chances and hope for the best. So far drama free at our gym, from where I stand at least (knock on wood). Maybe parents in Illinois should stop looking at the brand name and size of the gym and go for stability and a competitive track record. Works for me and my kid.

I had no knowledge of this owner before hand, I wish that I had done more public searching before committing. With that said, we chose this gym because of the coaching staff. In 9 years of competitive gym, we have been with 2 gyms before this season. Leaving was the most difficult thing we did.

You are absolutely right that choosing a gym in IL is a crap shoot! Even some long time gyms have their own skeletins that are public record and this is where the USASF has to do more to protect the parents and athletes, not only in possible abuse situations, but in all situations. There would be no all star gyms without the support of the thousands of parents who pay thousands of dollars, not only to gym owners but in competition fees. Who is really looking out for these kids?

 

[laughAlittle]

Believe it or not, not every parent has the time to listen to the gossip in the gym.

 

[wcdad]

From all of the other threads, regarding Coaches Certifications, and Safety, It is your job as the parent to look out for your kids.

The USASF as it has been stated here and many other threads and by Bluecat, and Kingston has much bigger issues that need to be resolved that have a greater impact on the safety and the wellbeing of our children as well as the growth of cheerleading.

Yes you spend thousands of dollars a year to have your child cheer. You are the consumer and have a choice of where you are going to spend that money and with whom. I have to ask why anyone would pay everything up front and risk losing everything on a team or program that dies not have a track record or a proven business plan.

In most cases where there is smoke there is fire. If the “rumors” everyone talks of were about the owner and coach why anyone would dismiss them by what was said with out having a conversation with your child. It was clear from Shadow’s post that she would have freaked out had she had a conversation with her child and found out what was going on. Perhaps dealing with this issue long before the deadline.

Talk to your children. I would not say things they tell you that are going on is gossip or rumors.

 

[King]

From all of the other threads, regarding Coaches Certifications, and Safety, It is your job as the parent to look out for your kids.

The USASF as it has been stated here and many other threads and by Bluecat, and Kingston has much bigger issues that need to be resolved that have a greater impact on the safety and the wellbeing of our children as well as the growth of cheerleading.

Yes you spend thousands of dollars a year to have your child cheer. You are the consumer and have a choice of where you are going to spend that money and with whom. I have to ask why anyone would pay everything up front and risk losing everything on a team or program that dies not have a track record or a proven business plan.

In most cases where there is smoke there is fire. If the “rumors” everyone talks of were about the owner and coach why anyone would dismiss them by what was said with out having a conversation with your child. It was clear from Shadow’s post that she would have freaked out had she had a conversation with her child and found out what was going on. Perhaps dealing with this issue long before the deadline.

Talk to your children. I would not say things they tell you that are going on is gossip or rumors.

As well this can be a GREAT teaching moment for the child. Because you kept something secret you should not have you will not be able to go to another gym and be on a Worlds team. Yes it does stink about a bad coach or situation messing up her chances at competing at Worlds, but it is important in life that you do not sit idly by while these things go on and just let them happen. You either take action OR remove yourself from the situation. Do I think shadow's kid will ever hold back on craziness that he/she hears about the gym owners from now on? No. And that, for the safety if shadows family and just a good life lesson in general, is a good thing.

 

[nlow]

There is nothing wrong with listening to gossip or rumors, sometimes it's the gossip or rumors that gives you a heads up on something really important. With a little research all bs can be dispelled.

 

[flcheermom]

You would be surprised what some parents choose to ignore. I am NOT speaking about my current gym, nor speaking about the situation mentioned here or accusing anyone in this discussion of doing so. Why parents stay in situations that I have seen I have no idea...I think some of them feel trapped financially (not having to pay as much as they would elsewhere) and by the loyalty aspect which at some gyms runs pretty deep no matter what is going on.

 

[SkyBlue]

From all of the other threads, regarding Coaches Certifications, and Safety, It is your job as the parent to look out for your kids.

The USASF as it has been stated here and many other threads and by Bluecat, and Kingston has much bigger issues that need to be resolved that have a greater impact on the safety and the wellbeing of our children as well as the growth of cheerleading.

Yes you spend thousands of dollars a year to have your child cheer. You are the consumer and have a choice of where you are going to spend that money and with whom. I have to ask why anyone would pay everything up front and risk losing everything on a team or program that dies not have a track record or a proven business plan.

In most cases where there is smoke there is fire. If the “rumors” everyone talks of were about the owner and coach why anyone would dismiss them by what was said with out having a conversation with your child. It was clear from Shadow’s post that she would have freaked out had she had a conversation with her child and found out what was going on. Perhaps dealing with this issue long before the deadline.

Talk to your children. I would not say things they tell you that are going on is gossip or rumors.

I'm sorry wcdad, but I am totally confused! First the coaches we had are certified and the safety of our kids in their hands was not an issue. Are you saying we need to become private eye's to find out the background of gym owners. Can you provide a couple of links to the bigger issues needing to be resolved and are you saying that unethical gym owners is not an issue to the growth of cheerleading? As I said in a previous post, double the member fee for gyms and run background checks, gym owners should be running background checks on coaches, but who is policing the owner? Any owner not passing a background check or who has serious financial issues in their background should not be allowed to be members.

I personally have had many conversations with my children regarding rumors, whether its in their gym or their friends at school or any other type of rumor and my conversation is always the same. The spreading of rumor without fact to back it up is not how i raise my children. The owner was arrested in Aug, there were many rumors as to why. She was confronted with the rumors and we were lied to. In order to find the facts for the arrest took many hours of research and only those that really know how to look were the ones to find it. By the time FACTS came out we were past the first competition.

Regarding Shadow's post, you make it sound like we do not have conversations with our children. She clearly said that her child would not tell her, are you suggesting we need to force our kids to tell us exactly every conversation and rumor they hear?

 

[shadow]

Wow, I am shocked. Adults coaches, ect tell a 13 14 year old kid "don't tell" and you blame the parent and the child and say she should be punished for listening to her coach? I address every rumor with the owner and you say its my fault for not believing the gossip.
This rule will never change.
Parents and kids all need to do better. Owners.. its all good.
The culture within the whole community needs to change if people blame kids for being manipulated by adults. Disgusting.

 

[nlow]

There is more than enough proof and if what they are doing is illegal, they should have thought of that before doing it. I have NO worries on slander or defamation. The owner, however, should seriously worry about what she is spreading around about coaches and parents in an attempt to keep people in that gym.

This is so wrong but: Grundy County Court, il, public records no fear of slander there!!!!!

 

[flipflop101]

This is so wrong but: Grundy County Court, il, public records no fear of slander there!!!!!

Wow nlow! Girl Scouts....this can't be true??

 

[SkyBlue]

Wow nlow! Girl Scouts....this can't be true??

And when confronted a week ago about this, she threw her daughter under the bus and claimed she took the fall for her daughter!

 

[rpm99]

Here's an example: I was told by people from other gyms that our gym was in trouble. I went DIRECTLY to the coach/owner and was told everything was fine. I have NO reason to not believe owner. EXCEPT----- I have thousands of dollars invested and many many hours of my time and my CP's time. So I researched myself via connections that I have. It all seems fine and on point with info I was given on both ends. I'm satisfied and happy for now. Rumors/Gossip can be hurtful and inaccurate at times, but they can also save your tail. I listen (never spreading) to rumors and issues and sometimes discuss with a few (3 to be exact) other cheer moms from other gyms. We like to keep each other AWARE of whats going on in our area. I have yet to hear a rumor that didn't turn out to be close if not 100% true. Including the gym in question, heard about that broad and her crap LAST January.