All-Star Cheer Companies Affiliated With/owning Gyms

[catlady]

CoachTamara Thank you, for the additional info. The "Employee/Contract/Other" category is bothering me only because those gyms falling under that umbrella may have a conflict of interest OR they could possibly be benefiting the entire cheer community.

Example (and this is hypothetical because I know very little about Varsity and its subsidiaries):
If you have gym "A" providing certification and/or safety training for new coaches overseen by the AACCA. Those gyms could be receiving payment for training those coaches through Varsity. I don't view that as a conflict because, they are benefiting the whole cheer community. You most definitely want qualified gyms/coaches certifying and training others, as well as, you would expect anyone to be paid for their time and expertise. Why can't Varsity hire their own hypothetical Safety Trainers? It may not be cost effective and/or possible to provide timely service. To hire a qualified trainer(s), pay benefits, have them on call, and fly, provide hotel accomodations, and meals any time someone needs certification would be costly. Contracting out those services to qualified gyms may be the only way to provide that service at a reasonable cost and increase certification in the cheer community. Again, this was a hypothetical example.

To put gyms on a list, without providing the all the facts, is reckless. I would expect Varsity to consult, and pay, gyms for their knowledge and expertise in the field, it is done in every aspect of the business world. I hope the Powers That Be don't put targets on the backs of gym owners that are being consulted to improve Cheer in regards to safety and scoring.

 

[BlueCat]

CoachTamara Thank you, for the additional info. The "Employee/Contract/Other" category is bothering me only because those gyms falling under that umbrella may have a conflict of interest OR they could possibly be benefiting the entire cheer community.

Example (and this is hypothetical because I know very little about Varsity and its subsidiaries):
If you have gym "A" providing certification and/or safety training for new coaches overseen by the AACCA. Those gyms could be receiving payment for training those coaches through Varsity. I don't view that as a conflict because, they are benefiting the whole cheer community. You most definitely want qualified gyms/coaches certifying and training others, as well as, you would expect anyone to be paid for their time and expertise. Why can't Varsity hire their own hypothetical Safety Trainers? It may not be cost effective and/or possible to provide timely service. To hire a qualified trainer(s), pay benefits, have them on call, and fly, provide hotel accomodations, and meals any time someone needs certification would be costly. Contracting out those services to qualified gyms may be the only way to provide that service at a reasonable cost and increase certification in the cheer community. Again, this was a hypothetical example.

To put gyms on a list, without providing the all the facts, is reckless. I would expect Varsity to consult, and pay, gyms for their knowledge and expertise in the field, it is done in every aspect of the business world. I hope the Powers That Be don't put targets on the backs of gym owners that are being consulted to improve Cheer in regards to safety and scoring.

I don't have an issue at all with the situation you describe. I didn't mean to imply that simply receiving money from Varsity for a service puts you into the "other" category. I mean more specifically that the gym or gym owner is under legal obligation to attend Varsity events and/or purchase Varsity brand products.

Example: Say a gym is invited to attend a Jam Brands event in Indy, but has to decline specifically because of a contract the gym owner has with the Memphis conglomerate that states their gym is only allowed to go to VB events. That doesn't automatically make the contract unfair, but I feel that those arrangements should be public knowledge.

 

[Ashley]

The owner of Spirit All-Stars in Connecticut runs a two-day worlds bid comp called Spirit Fest Nationals - they were recently bought out by Varsity. The gym isn't Varsity, technically, but the Event Producer is and I believe they share some of the same staff.

Their teams don't compete there for obvious reasons.

 

[catlady]

I don't have an issue at all with the situation you describe. I didn't mean to imply that simply receiving money from Varsity for a service puts you into the "other" category. I mean more specifically that the gym or gym owner is under legal obligation to attend Varsity events and/or purchase Varsity brand products.

Example: Say a gym is invited to attend a Jam Brands event in Indy, but has to decline specifically because of a contract the gym owner has with the Memphis conglomerate that states their gym is only allowed to go to VB events. That doesn't automatically make the contract unfair, but I feel that those arrangements should be public knowledge.

Thank you for your response and clarification. I applaud those of you demanding more transparency in the industry. My only suggestion would be if you are going to provide the names of gyms on the above list, the affiliation be disclosed and those gyms in question be left off the list until their affiliation is confirmed. For those of you in the business, this list has monetary and ethical implications. For a select handful in the Cheer population it provides ammunition for animosity and unsportsmanlike conduct without the understanding of when, why and how those agreements occurred. Again, I greatly respect what you are ultimately trying to accomplish but, please don't forget the power and ignorance of "Suzie's Mom" and her Twittering cp's.

 

[King]

Does anyone else think that this information should be disclosed publicly? If I am going to a Varsity-run event and I have to compete against Varsity-owned teams, should that not be posted somewhere? If they don't believe this to be a conflict of interest, then surely they wouldn't mind making their gym affiliations public.

Can we start a list of gyms that are either directly owned by Varsity or their owners are Varsity employees under contract?

Direct Ownership:
Premier
Kentucky Elite

Owner(s) are Varsity Employee / Contract / Other
Stingrays
Rockstar

Unsure:
ACE ?
Charlotte ?
GymTyme ?

Not that this is a huge surprise but just heard GT was owned by V. I didn't know.

 

[BlueCat]

Not that this is a huge surprise but just heard GT was owned by V. I didn't know.

I didn't know that, actually. Where did you hear that?

 

[King]

I didn't know that, actually. Where did you hear that?

Quite a few people today. Today has been randomly exciting for me.

 

[mstealtoyou]

Not that this is a huge surprise but just heard GT was owned by V. I didn't know.

I'm trying to be surprised by this but I just can't be. LOL

 

[tumbleyoda]

I'm trying to be surprised by this but I just can't be. LOL

How could you? ;) We have been talking about this stuff for years. It is just now all coming to the surface where everyone can see it and what those "connections" really mean.

 

[pctmom]

As far as I'm aware Cheer Alliance (now known as Cheer Evolution) was a competition company started up by gym owners across the country (Canada) and many gyms were affiliated with it. Now, I don't know what has come of it. chyeeaaa69 might be able to elaborate.

Cheer Evolution (formerly Cheer Alliance) was started by the owners of CheerForce Wolpack, Ultimate Canadian Cheer and SuperCheer. Cheer Evolution is currently owned by the owners of CFWP and UCC. They compete at their own events. There aren't a lot of competitions in Canada so it would be very hard for them to not attend their own events.

 

[stuntjumptumble]

Not entirely sure how accurate this is, but supposedly the owner of Cheer Tech competitions opened a gym in New Jersey this season called Blackout all stars


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[NJ Coach]

Not entirely sure how accurate this is, but supposedly the owner of Cheer Tech competitions opened a gym in New Jersey this season called Blackout all stars


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Not accurate...though the owner of CT used to own a gym.

 

[Ally13]

I'm trying to be surprised by this but I just can't be. LOL

I am, but I haven't been following all star for that long so I have no clue about it or any of the connections or anything, haha. I just think it's kinda weird that Varsity owns any gyms.

 

[stuntjumptumble]

Not accurate...though the owner of CT used to own a gym.

I knew you'd know if it was right or not! Thanks :)


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[BlueCat]

It still floors me that anyone thinks it's OK for a company to have an ownership interest in some of the teams competing at it's own events. That pretty much defines conflict of interest.

NOTE: Accusing someone of having a conflict of interest is NOT the same thing as saying you think they are openly dishonest or that blatant cheating has occurred.

Example: I am not officially coaching Cheetahs this season, so theoretically, I would be available to judge Worlds. Do you think anyone would have an issue with me judging Large Coed? How about just running the warmup room, setting up the schedule, or tallying the results? Even though I think Victor, Courtney, Tannaz, & Happy know me pretty well, they would all be screaming bloody murder if they saw me on the judges stand. That doesn't mean they necessarily think I'm dishonest or that they don't "trust" me - they just know that it would an incredibly blatant conflict of interest. I would own one of the gyms (hopefully) competing in the event.