Okay, so some random thoughts after reading through this whole thread:
1. CEA satellite locations do have some successful teams. My CP is at CEA Roanoke, and the J2 team won a paid summit bid at Spirit of Hope (previously had at large). Senior 4.2 won WSF Louisville and came in second at Spirit of Hope. Small coed 5 came in 3rd at Spirit of Hope, and 1-2nd place teams got bids to Worlds. So, some of the smaller gyms may not have SE or Coed Elite success, but they aren't just Craptastic Allstars with the CEA logo on their uniforms.
2. Being one of the smaller gyms I feel like we are not always connected like I would like to be, but that is my personal feeling and not necessarily the feeling of the rest of my gym. There's not a push for us to support other CEA teams, or for them to support us as far as watching performances. Now, CP knows some kids from other gyms and will support them and vice versa, but there's not like a mass audience for our teams like there is for the NC teams.
The other thing with this whole satellite gym is I feel like maybe we are not a priority for some things, but we can't handle them ourselves. Case in point, uniforms and CEA gear. CP was supposed to get her uniform in October. Last weekend was the first time she had all 3 pieces. Now, I don't know if that was because of our gym not following up with the uniform coordinator in NC, or if the uniform coordinator wasn't all that bothered about it. Either way, we waited from Oct-Jan for a uniform that was promised in Oct. Same thing with warm up jackets. One in her size is not available through the CEA store and I'm told there's nothing we can do about that. Small issues in the grand scheme but still annoyances that I feel like have more to do with being a satellite gym than anything.
3. As far as CEA Chicago, as a parent, I don't care if Jesus himself was coaching the team-unless my kid's emotional or physical well-being was in danger, I would not let her jump ship mid-season. We have this problem currently with school cheer-it's a horrible environment and not conducive to any type of growth or development. But, in CPs words, she "won't be trying out next year, but I made a commitment and I intend to keep it."
This may sound like we are unhappy with CEA, but we are extremely happy with CEA Roanoke coaches and staff. We have some great teammates and CP is very happy. These are just observations.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk