All-Star Boycotting Varsity??

[superflyer246]

I'm not sure what has been happening recently, but I have heard people are boycotting varsity?? While at Cheersport, I heard a bunch of big name teams were not attending out of not going to varsity comps. Does anyone know whats about? Or maybe can explain it better??

 

[Keep_Believing]

Many feel Varsity has an unfair monopoly going which has lead to higher cost, unfair judging, etc. In addition there have been concerns about Varsity needing to do more to protect athletes form sexual predators. With that said between Cheersport & NCA ,both Varsity comps., I think every big name gym attended at least one of the two comps.

 

[CheerDad4Life]

I'm not sure what has been happening recently, but I have heard people are boycotting varsity?? While at Cheersport, I heard a bunch of big name teams were not attending out of not going to varsity comps. Does anyone know whats about? Or maybe can explain it better??

Would the industry be better off if it happened , yes. Do I see it happening (ever) , not really.

The best chance for change ,as I see it, is for there to be a large scale consolidation of any and all remaining independent producers and brands.

 

[NJ Coach]

Man, if I had a dollar for every time Varsity was boycotted, I would be rich.

 

[CoachTamara]

I will say that I have noticed many more large gyms are trying IEPs and are not exclusively Varsity anymore. Boycott completely? Doubt it. Those parents want and pay for Summit, but scaling back? For sure.

 

[Knowcheering]

I've definitely noticed some gyms have reduced their travel and competition schedule, but some of that could still be pandemic-related. But the whole "All Star Worlds" thing and its qualifying events seems to be gaining some real traction. Cheersport and NCA were back-to-back weekends this season, which meant some teams who traditionally compete in both may have chosen one or the other. It would really be nice if those two competitions were spread out with at least one off-weekend in between so that more gyms could go to both.

I really don't like the whole bid concept used for any end-of-season events other than Worlds. The way we compare a 94.76 in Level 1 to a 94.53 in Level 3 (a completely different level judged by a completely different panel) and then give a Paid bid to the Level 1 team and nothing to the Level 3 team is quite frankly a joke. But it is what it is. And then the "Paid" bid only actually covers a fraction of the cost to send an athlete+parent to Disney. And maybe that's one of the reasons why the All Star Worlds has become more appealing, because it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. But do we need Mini 1's writing "World Champion" in their bios, no. It's bad enough we give Summit winners rings.

I saw some gym celebrate getting Summit bids early in the season, only to change their mind halfway through the season and decide to give up their Summit bids and go to All Star Worlds instead, so something does seem to be going on.

 

[UCFKnights07]

I've definitely noticed some gyms have reduced their travel and competition schedule, but some of that could still be pandemic-related. But the whole "All Star Worlds" thing and its qualifying events seems to be gaining some real traction. Cheersport and NCA were back-to-back weekends this season, which meant some teams who traditionally compete in both may have chosen one or the other. It would really be nice if those two competitions were spread out with at least one off-weekend in between so that more gyms could go to both.

I really don't like the whole bid concept used for any end-of-season events other than Worlds. The way we compare a 94.76 in Level 1 to a 94.53 in Level 3 (a completely different level judged by a completely different panel) and then give a Paid bid to the Level 1 team and nothing to the Level 3 team is quite frankly a joke. But it is what it is. And then the "Paid" bid only actually covers a fraction of the cost to send an athlete+parent to Disney. And maybe that's one of the reasons why the All Star Worlds has become more appealing, because it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. But do we need Mini 1's writing "World Champion" in their bios, no. It's bad enough we give Summit winners rings.

I saw some gym celebrate getting Summit bids early in the season, only to change their mind halfway through the season and decide to give up their Summit bids and go to All Star Worlds instead, so something does seem to be going on.

i want to imagine that gyms straight up ask the parents at that point which would you rather attend cost wise. Probably why the all star worlds is and/or will become more popular with lower levels teams, vs summit.

As far as the ring thing, eh i dont see an issue, not every athlete makes it to level 5. Doesnt mean their win is any less an accomplishment.
And lots of sports celebrate lower levels the same as top levels. i got plenty of trophies and jackets from playing all sorts of sports at the youth/junior level.

 

[superflyer246]

I've definitely noticed some gyms have reduced their travel and competition schedule, but some of that could still be pandemic-related. But the whole "All Star Worlds" thing and its qualifying events seems to be gaining some real traction. Cheersport and NCA were back-to-back weekends this season, which meant some teams who traditionally compete in both may have chosen one or the other. It would really be nice if those two competitions were spread out with at least one off-weekend in between so that more gyms could go to both.

I really don't like the whole bid concept used for any end-of-season events other than Worlds. The way we compare a 94.76 in Level 1 to a 94.53 in Level 3 (a completely different level judged by a completely different panel) and then give a Paid bid to the Level 1 team and nothing to the Level 3 team is quite frankly a joke. But it is what it is. And then the "Paid" bid only actually covers a fraction of the cost to send an athlete+parent to Disney. And maybe that's one of the reasons why the All Star Worlds has become more appealing, because it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. But do we need Mini 1's writing "World Champion" in their bios, no. It's bad enough we give Summit winners rings.

I saw some gym celebrate getting Summit bids early in the season, only to change their mind halfway through the season and decide to give up their Summit bids and go to All Star Worlds instead, so something does seem to be going on.

Yes! I completely agree with the Paid Bid situation. The judging should be based per level same with the bids. The All-Star Worlds in all honesty confuse me. I don't really understand them and at first glance it looks like a off brand version of summit or worlds. My gym did receive a paid bid for 2 teams pretty early in the season but one of them also received a golden ticket to U.S. Finals but because my gym chooses to go to Summit instead we gave it up. The paid bid also does not pay for much, it barley covers all the costs for the event and does not live up to its name.

 

[DonnaM]

Both the big gyms in my area are doing ASW, but summit only for teams with paid bids. The reason is that they both did UCA (and UCA falls the weekend before Spring break, so a lot of families take an extra couple of days to use their Disney tickets), and many of their junior and senior kids were there for NHSCC as well. ASW doesn't require paying for Disney.

 

[StopUSASF]

I'm not sure what has been happening recently, but I have heard people are boycotting varsity?? While at Cheersport, I heard a bunch of big name teams were not attending out of not going to varsity comps. Does anyone know whats about? Or maybe can explain it better??

As they should. Varsity/USASF is despicable. I posted an entire thread that is awaiting approval

 

[StopUSASF]

Many feel Varsity has an unfair monopoly going which has lead to higher cost, unfair judging, etc. In addition there have been concerns about Varsity needing to do more to protect athletes form sexual predators. With that said between Cheersport & NCA ,both Varsity comps., I think every big name gym attended at least one of the two comps.

They have failed many. Even in recent times. Including me.

 

[StopUSASF]

I'm not sure what has been happening recently, but I have heard people are boycotting varsity?? While at Cheersport, I heard a bunch of big name teams were not attending out of not going to varsity comps. Does anyone know whats about? Or maybe can explain it better??

This is the direction we need to be heading. This company that is growing in size that actually cares about their athletes. And no, I don't work there, I just know how they operate https://www.theallstarcheerleadingchampionships.com

 

[cheermomforever]

Yes! I completely agree with the Paid Bid situation. The judging should be based per level same with the bids. The All-Star Worlds in all honesty confuse me. I don't really understand them and at first glance it looks like a off brand version of summit or worlds. My gym did receive a paid bid for 2 teams pretty early in the season but one of them also received a golden ticket to U.S. Finals but because my gym chooses to go to Summit instead we gave it up. The paid bid also does not pay for much, it barley covers all the costs for the event and does not live up to its name.

Especially with athlete fees near $500!!!!

 

[superflyer246]

Especially with athlete fees near $500!!!!

YES It has gotten so expensive over the years! I still don't even get why its called a paid bid because it barely covers any costs! I feel like if these hughe companies such as Varsity want to continue to have this empire that they have they need to lower prices for things because now theyre gonna be run over in the future by this "All-Star World" thing

 

[Knowcheering]

They still call it a Paid Bid because it sounds good lol, for both the competition offering it and the team receiving it. Of course it only covers a fraction of the cost of the trip. "All Star Worlds" also has Paid Bids, but they more outwardly state they only cover the Registration cost and they don't try to give the illusion that they cover the entire trip.

This "All Star Worlds" competition (basically another Summit with a different name) seems well run and they have free streams of the event, which shows they care to some degree about their customers and the sport. One of the streams is accidentally blurry, but the streams for the other Halls are clear and high quality.

Their Results page needs some work though- a lot of divisions missing or slow to post, some typos, scores only posted for Finals but not Semi-Finals, etc. They have a large number of teams this year and maybe they're still a little undermanned when it comes to the Results page. Their website could be a little more user-friendly in general, but they are new at this.

I wish the competition had a different name. But when every Regional competition is called a "National", I guess it's natural for a competition that's trying to be an actual National to call itself a "World" competition.

The competition itself seems to run well and it seems smart that they schedule it immediately before Worlds. Families with a kid on both a Worlds team and a non-Worlds team only have to make 1 trip to Florida instead of two like they have to with Summit.