All-Star An Article About Varsity Brands...

[Official OWECheer]

I guess I'm one of those big bad parents that truly believe Varsity is not the enemy we make them out to be. I worked for a Fortune Five that was extremely cash rich for many years and received a lot of criticism because it was so wealthy, right up until the point it was taken over by a bigger and wealthier fish in the pond.

There's enough business for everyone? Yes, if you want to keep it small but, that's not what people are wanting. Vernon and Pearl can't put on an NCA or Cheersport. I would love for a college student to call the GWCC or the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and see what they have to provide to get a date reserved. Then go to hotels and make sure they have 18,000-20,000 rooms available for that weekend and find hotels willing to trust someone to block off that kind of money without anything in return.....But, I used to be able to find my own room for half the price. No kidding, back in the good ol' days when it was half the size. Last year I rented a car for $17 per day, this year $38. Last year my flight cost 7,000 points per ticket, this year 12,500. Varsity doesn't control them, what happened? We happened.

I'll go ahead and be odd parent out, my kids love the events, they have fun, they rarely feel judging isn't what it should be, and that's what I pay for. Except for those moments of bad weather, I have found the venues to be clean and staff helpful. Varsity hires many young people that truly seem to love what they're doing, and IMO, do a great job. You want bigger and better but, you also want all the Vernon and Pearls to have room in the industry, too. It doesn't work that way, financially they can't keep up with our demands, and if they try, that's when they start knocking on the big guys door to take them over because they're in debt to their eyeballs. "How greedy can they be." are the last words of every single person right before they watch the corporation across the pond take them over.

Yup! I think that Varsity is definitely responsible for fixing some things, but I have a hard time taking any gym's anti-Varsity stance seriously when they are constantly ordering apparel from Varsity. The majority of their income comes from apparel.

But oh, the rhinestones are so pretty! And the crazy competition lights are so pretty (it's our fault that they still exist; if people made it clear that all they wanted were simple lights, EPs would give us just that)!

I guess preserving bright lights and pretty uniforms are more important than preserving our sport. God, cheerleaders are superficial.

The larger a group of people get, the easier they are to manipulate. Seeing Twitter recently was just more proof of that fact.

Has anyone noticed what's happened with Comcast over the past few years? Once they created a monopoly over the cable industry, they DROPPED the QUALITY of their services, while INCREASING the COST. Have people not taken a hint from the crappy live streams we've had for years? Do you not realize that more is coming next? Like the quality of apparel, the competition experience, the quality of camps, etc?

It's like when you're first dating someone, and they always look good and keep the relationship interesting... Varsity is the spouse that has gotten lazy and doesn't give two craps anymore.

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to make money. I am not necessarily anti-Varsity.

What I am is anti-monopoly, anti-greed, anti-deception, and anti-the-neglect-of-the-safety-of-our-kids.

 

[tumbleyoda]

As usual, no one will give a crap (sadly).

Huh?

People often never listen until it's too late. Now, well. It's probably too late.

And that is what enrages me.

The rebate check might sound great now, but what are they going to do when 99% of families can no longer afford cheer and the gym bubble pops? All-star could (read: most likely will) suffer a massive collapse. What is a sport without an abundance of athletes? Who will coaches be able to instruct? Who will gym owners be able to hire? This isn't equestrian, you need a sizable number of kids to be form a team and even more for a gym.

I would love to see #WeChooseChildren as a hashtag and as the basis for a code of ethics in this sport, but I guess that that will never happen.

The rebate will one day be gone. Either because the company cant afford it anymore, it is deemed no longer a sound business strategy (which often comes with a monopoly - give it to you then take it away when you have no other option), or the bubble bursts which I do believe is going to happen. My goal is to get people -especially younger coaches to think beyond the blue mat. What happens next should be in all of our planning.

What are they going to do when counting 5,6,7,8 wont get them a job in the real world? Where a fierce shimmy motion won't place them in high demand? When they can't travel the country on other people's dimes being a difficult diva just because they did choreography for a team that won Worlds once?



When the bubble pops...and it will....the Varsity/USASF execs will walk way with their parachutes and bonuses. The vast majority of workers will be left to fend for themselves. Gyms that have put all of their emphasis on All Stars may not ever recover. Gyms that have diversified into different income streams will be able to survive and still offer programming that will meet their client's needs.

 

[Official OWECheer]

The rebate will one day be gone. Either because the company cant afford it anymore, it is deemed no longer a sound business strategy (which often comes with a monopoly - give it to you then take it away when you have no other option), or the bubble bursts which I do believe is going to happen. My goal is to get people -especially younger coaches to think beyond the blue mat. What happens next should be in all of our planning.

What are they going to do when counting 5,6,7,8 wont get them a job in the real world? Where a fierce shimmy motion won't place them in high demand? When they can't travel the country on other people's dimes being a difficult diva just because they did choreography for a team that won Worlds once?



When the bubble pops...and it will....the Varsity/USASF execs will walk way with their parachutes and bonuses. The vast majority of workers will be left to fend for themselves. Gyms that have put all of their emphasis on All Stars may not ever recover. Gyms that have diversified into different income streams will be able to survive and still offer programming that will meet their client's needs.

Cheerpocalypse. Will we ever be able to rebuild all-star, or no?

I wonder how many people will take what you just said to be a ridiculous conspiracy theory, while believing in the Varsity monopoly warning that was deemed nonsense several years ago.

 

[tumbleyoda]

Cheerpocalypse. Will we ever be able to rebuild all-star, or no?

That Should be a new thread! For real...

Out gym is positioned to withstand it. And we are by no means a major player, household name, cheerlebrity driven type program. But the owners have been wise about what they do, who they hire and our programming knowing that the bubble bursting is coming. I applaud them for not being so caught up in the hype of All Stars that they don't see the forest for the trees

 

[Official OWECheer]

That Should be a new thread! For real...

Out gym is positioned to withstand it. And we are by no means a major player, household name, cheerlebrity driven type program. But the owners have been wise about what they do, who they hire and our programming knowing that the bubble bursting is coming. I applaud them for not being so caught up in the hype of All Stars that they don't see the forest for the trees

Which one of us should start it? I think that this is a discussion that needs to be had, ASAP. People's livelihoods are at stake.

 

[crazzyeyesassypants]

Which one of us should start it? I think that this is a discussion that needs to be had, ASAP. People's livelihoods are at stake.

Yes please start it! I want to find out if gym are only focusing only in all stars or are they branching out to others things?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Official OWECheer]

Yes please start it! I want to find out if gym are only focusing only in all stars or are they branching out to others things?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's up!

And here's another thought: do you guys remember when back in 2012, the RIAA sent cease and desist letters to a bunch of cheer music mixers, warning them that using copyrighted songs in their mixes was illegal? And virtually no one listened? I wonder what's going to happen when the RIAA catches on to the fact that we haven't stopped.

Some people are going to get the souls sued out of them.

 

[SL&AM]

It's up!

And here's another thought: do you guys remember when back in 2012, the RIAA sent cease and desist letters to a bunch of cheer music mixers, warning them that using copyrighted songs in their mixes was illegal? And virtually no one listened? I wonder what's going to happen when the RIAA catches on to the fact that we haven't stopped.

Some people are going to get the souls sued out of them.

I thought one already did and that is why a lot of teams went into showcases and even competitions with the 1-8 music? Or am I making that up, because I swear it's been talked about here.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I thought one already did and that is why a lot of teams went into showcases and even competitions with the 1-8 music? Or am I making that up, because I swear it's been talked about here.

Yea, JR/ExtremeTraxx got sued by Sony. I think I remember part of the deal being that he couldn't release the mixes, but the gyms are still doing it.

 

[Lazydaisytoo]

It's up!

And here's another thought: do you guys remember when back in 2012, the RIAA sent cease and desist letters to a bunch of cheer music mixers, warning them that using copyrighted songs in their mixes was illegal? And virtually no one listened? I wonder what's going to happen when the RIAA catches on to the fact that we haven't stopped.

Some people are going to get the souls sued out of them.

And here I thought the reason we all paid so much for music was that the mixers were purchasing the proper licensing.

 

[SL&AM]

Yea, JR/ExtremeTraxx got sued by Sony. I think I remember part of the deal being that he couldn't release the mixes, but the gyms are still doing it.

Thank you! Now I don't feel so crazy.

As for the RIAA---I honestly wouldn't mess with those guys, sure they may take a while, but hello---Napster. For those too young to understand that reference, google the massive amount of lawsuits on that one. Ultimately, they'll get what they want and the penalties are frightening. With more and more artists favoring the Taylor Swift approach to music---all it's gonna take is one or two pissed off artists for this to blow up.

However, I don't think cheer mixes are going to bring down all-star cheer.

 

[uhhlyssa01]

What guy across the pond? Varsity is the only water, fish, air, boat, and "guy" in and around this pond!

It kinda surprises me how many people say Varsity is the ONLY option for anything. Obviously it's the biggest company that has their hand in every pot - but I can think of so many different uniform options, shoe options, and IEP competition companies that have no involvement with Varsity that anyone could easily choose from if they really wanted to. I haven't read through this whole thread so I'm just wondering if I'm I missing something here?

 

[Official OWECheer]

It kinda surprises me how many people say Varsity is the ONLY option for anything. Obviously it's the biggest company that has their hand in every pot - but I can think of so many different uniform options, shoe options, and IEP competition companies that have no involvement with Varsity that anyone could easily choose from if they really wanted to. I haven't read through this whole thread so I'm just wondering if I'm I missing something here?

EXACTLY. People choose Varsity. Keep this up, and soon, no other choice might exist.

 

[MissCongeniality]

Struggling to find it... Can anyone here find the discussions regarding Champions League and how/why it came to be.

 

[kristenthegreat]

It kinda surprises me how many people say Varsity is the ONLY option for anything. Obviously it's the biggest company that has their hand in every pot - but I can think of so many different uniform options, shoe options, and IEP competition companies that have no involvement with Varsity that anyone could easily choose from if they really wanted to. I haven't read through this whole thread so I'm just wondering if I'm I missing something here?

Uniforms and shoes? Yes.

Competitions are a little tricky. Because there you run into big gym vs. small gym mentality even IF you have a common goal. We've all heard stories about how Gym A will back out of a competition last minute if Gym B is going (and of course, some stories are fairy tales), but it does make the competition aspect a bit trickier. Plus competitions are also involve the judging aspect which we've discussed at length here (score sheet options, quality judges, transparency, etc).