All-Star Dangers Of Cheerlebrity

[ASCheerMan]

"Putting some gyms on that pedestal and not others is a bad idea"? A team's record determines where they stand in most sports. The Major's awarded team's based on their record. Finally, a company awarded winning coaches and consistantly strong teams a different viable option. Certainly one to be commended.
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That was the point I was making. Majors was a completely different concept. They put ALL the gyms on the pedestal, which why I think a Meet and Greet worked. I wouldn't begin to select certain programs for a Meet and Greet at NCA Nationals (and not others) because it goes against the philosophy of the event.

 

[King]

Every single team from the Majors was given the same amount of "meet and greet" time. I'm not sure whether it would be considered a "cause" of the phenomenon so much as a "result." It was actually nice on Friday to be able to turn down photos/signatures and be able to tell them that they could go to Hall XX the next day and take all of the pictures they wanted. That seemed to cut down on the distraction during the times when the team was actually prepping for their performance.

NCA may not overtly promote individual athletes over their teams (or "famous" teams over others), but other Varsity entities certainly do. (Along with nearly every entity in the cheer business, for that matter.) I am not faulting them for that. American Cheerleader seems to spend much more time on individuals than teams - I can't remember the last time I saw a team on their cover. Varsity Uniforms uses "cheer-famous" models all of the time and I seem to remember them even using them at their booths at NCA Nationals. It is just good PR.

Our gym isn't a big fan of singling out individuals - or individual teams for that matter. In general, though, I am OK with most things that will grow overall interest in the sport. As long as we can manage to keep the worst of the craziness under control, then I think we are fine. Perhaps a brand-neutral group could get together and come up with ways to manage the situation and set some guidelines for gyms, athletes, EPs, and media to follow.

I don't think there is any single one thing, but an environment of things that led to it. If you take away twitter and instagram, the meet and greets, selling autographs, and individual magazine covers could the situation still have happened? As to the individuals it happened to I think it is a bit about place, opportunity, and the fact that cheer is creating a need for cheerlebrties that they are filling. If it wasn't them I think it would be someone else (I don't think the fame is just unique to who they are).

 

[cheeeeer93]

Just a random thought.. would the pictures of these elite teams be reduced if an entire program has the same uniform? I see a lot more pictures with CA, SOT, WC, etc. than Rays or gyms with entire program uniforms. It's a lot easier to see a Cheetahs uniform than a little orange on a bow. It is also easier to find 36 athletes in a pool of 800 or so. Obviously some people seek out individual athletes but to some extent does having a different uniform change things?

 

[EnglishRose]

I think that it breeds from kids not wanting to miss out. If Person A is with 2 or 3 others, maybe even taking pictures, then most people will walk on by. If Person A has a crowd of 20 around them, then people stop because they think something is going on and they don't want to miss out.

I'm in the UK, and there's very few, if any, people that would be classed as 'cheerlebrities'. There's the big teams, but the individual phenomenan hasn't taken off (yet!). I was at Jamfest Europe last summer, when Coed Elite came over. People were mega excited about it here, and everyone was keen to see them. The meet and greet with them was insane and people queued for hours. BUT, I saw a few of the kids from Coed Elite walking around outside of the meet and greet and they weren't mobbed at all. It was like, without the crowd, there was no momentum driving people to go over and photograph them.

This was kinda cool as it meant the Coed Elite athletes could approach who they wanted for a chat. In fact, as an aside, I got the best giggle ever from some of the Coed Elite guys - my friend and I were grabbing lunch and a couple of them came over and asked us to confirm the rumour that UK McDonalds use actual meat in their burgers...LOL! I worry for what you guys use if our McDs is considered high quality!

So yes, back to the cheerlebrity - I feel like crowds breed crowds. I don't know how this could be controlled - maybe a rule that big groups of over, say, 10 athletes have to be split up (teams excepted). To be honest, that's probably a good safety rule anyway - I know at my school if there was a crowd of more than a dozen kids together that weren't together for an organised sport or something, we would be told to disburse as crowds weren't safe.

 

[King]

Just a random thought.. would the pictures of these elite teams be reduced if an entire program has the same uniform? I see a lot more pictures with CA, SOT, WC, etc. than Rays or gyms with entire program uniforms. It's a lot easier to see a Cheetahs uniform than a little orange on a bow. It is also easier to find 36 athletes in a pool of 800 or so. Obviously some people seek out individual athletes but to some extent does having a different uniform change things?

If nothing else makes them easier to find. Interesting idea.

 

[TXcheermom]

It would help if the parents of the crazed fans would talk with their children about respecting these athletes space and not to approach them while with their team. it really bothered me that even some parents I know personally would say when i asked where their daughter was, they would say oh you know chasing that cheerlebrity around, or stalking that cheerlebrity. They would giggle like they thought it was funny. If parents are helping the situation and teaching their children this is wrong the problem won't stop.

My daughter Kayla was sitting with a couple of her friends from CA at the competition and she said she would see people creeping in corners to just try and get a picture of these athletes. She said they would pull on their jackets and backpacks to try and get them to stop as they were walking the hallway.

PARENTS GET AHOLD OF YOUR CHILDREN!

 

[locdawg44]

at The MAJORS I had to watch a group of Cheetah boys be forced to smuggle Jamie Andries out of the Convention Center. The sight of this completely disheartens me....I'm sure at first the attention is welcome and fun, but this looked the complete opposite. I want these kids to be able to enjoy Cheer, enjoy competing and enjoy each other.

 

[michelesagem]

I completely agree with technology being a factor in all of this. When I first started cheering the extent of people I knew were only a few out of the whole cheer world let alone multiple cheerlebrities on a team. I mean, I think twitter, instagram, etc. just escalates what would happen when fans adore their favorites. People that come to mind when I started like Tye, Bucky, Jess Betar, Big Red, the blonde from Ace (drawing a blank on his name right now!) It was much more low key, I knew who they were for their skills and I could admire them without following them on every social network available. Facebook wasn't even big then. It was just noticing pure talent. Honestly, I think I found Kiara on youtube, THEN saw where she cheered.

 

[Emily]

Just saw this on facebook:
POWER proudly endorses the "Cheerlebrity Free Zone Agreement"

The following is a gym owner pledge that many coaches of the NACCC Executive and Board of Directors are taking part in. The points below are as simple. If you wish to be a part of this movement, please contact your NACCC Regional Rep Press releases will go out to cheer publications on Monday.

*We believe that All-Star Cheerleading is a team sport.

*We believe that a team comes before the individual.

*When we are at a competition- we are there for team competition, and not to promote individuals.

*We will instruct our athletes to refrain from using our logo, likeness, brands, or name in any paid or unpaid self-promotion

*We will instruct our parents to refrain from excessive promotion of their child in the cheer community

*We will require that our athletes will notify us should they sign any talent or management contract relating to cheerleading

*We will ask to see any and all stories, photos, and interviews by our athletes prior to publication or broadcast, and manage content accordingly.

*We will encourage the Cheer Media to develop more stories around TEAM, and fewer stories around Cheerlebrities.

 

[cheerisloving]

I completely agree with technology being a factor in all of this. When I first started cheering the extent of people I knew were only a few out of the whole cheer world let alone multiple cheerlebrities on a team. I mean, I think twitter, instagram, etc. just escalates what would happen when fans adore their favorites. People that come to mind when I started like Tye, Bucky, Jess Betar, Big Red, the blonde from Ace (drawing a blank on his name right now!) It was much more low key, I knew who they were for their skills and I could admire them without following them on every social network available. Facebook wasn't even big then. It was just noticing pure talent. Honestly, I think I found Kiara on youtube, THEN saw where she cheered.

I agree, but a lot of current cheerleaders where coming out back then too. Kelsey, and Carly have been known in cheerleading for years. I saw Carly's and Kelsey's "The Search" videos back then, and only in recent years as they gotten on these World winning teams have they reached this "superstar" level. In addition to skill/team/ these girls have grown to be attractive teenagers so now when they are seen in person, it's like perfection to some girls who want that talent, and success, and beauty.

 

[cheernerd5678]

I feel like, even if you think they "brought it on themselves" by having the social media, it's still out of control. Whose fault it is isn't the problem right now. Well, it is, but I think that can be addressed later. The immediate problem is the fans. None of these "cheerlebrities" are asking people to go crazy, follow them, etc! If we figured out a way to calm down the fans, then we could worry about who's fault it is and fixing that problem, but we need to protect these athletes first...

 

[BuegeSmalls]

The only time I ever went up to a famous person and asked for a picture was when Will Ferrell was at the Packer game. My friend walked up behind him and asked if we (a group of us) could get a picture and his bodyguard politely said "no he's with his family" Never again will I ever do that, it was embarrassing and all I did was stand there. I could never follow around a cheerlebrity (ick, that word) at a competition and come up to them when they were with friends and ask for a pic. I'd just feel to weird.

 

[callmecoach]

When you mix this fan base (these are, after all, the same tween/teenage girls who feed the Bieber and One Direction craze) with direct access (no concert tix or backstage pass required, just come to your cheerleading competition and follow your favorite cheerleb to the bathroom! Your parents will even help you find them!) you have a recipe for disaster.

It's pretty scary reading firsthand accounts of how intense some situations have gotten. I understand many might feel that official security measures and physical separation of these athletes from the general public when necessary will only feed the cheerleb fire, and I don't disagree, but I also think if it's ignored there is real potential for someone to be put in danger and seriously hurt. At least at high-profile events like Majors, NCA, Worlds, etc. where non-participants attend specifically to see well-known teams and athletes.

 

[King]

Just saw this on facebook:
POWER proudly endorses the "Cheerlebrity Free Zone Agreement"

The following is a gym owner pledge that many coaches of the NACCC Executive and Board of Directors are taking part in. The points below are as simple. If you wish to be a part of this movement, please contact your NACCC Regional Rep Press releases will go out to cheer publications on Monday.

*We believe that All-Star Cheerleading is a team sport.

*We believe that a team comes before the individual.

*When we are at a competition- we are there for team competition, and not to promote individuals.

*We will instruct our athletes to refrain from using our logo, likeness, brands, or name in any paid or unpaid self-promotion

*We will instruct our parents to refrain from excessive promotion of their child in the cheer community

*We will require that our athletes will notify us should they sign any talent or management contract relating to cheerleading

*We will ask to see any and all stories, photos, and interviews by our athletes prior to publication or broadcast, and manage content accordingly.

*We will encourage the Cheer Media to develop more stories around TEAM, and fewer stories around Cheerlebrities.

Interesting. This is a very major stand on this. What all gyms have pledged?

 

[NJ Coach]

Following gyms have pledged:

Cheer Athletics
Cheer Express
Cheergyms.com
CNY Storm
Georgia Allstars
Green Bay Elite
Midwest Cheer Elite
Oklahoma Twisters
Power Cheer
Spirit Explosion
Stealth Allstars
Top Gun
World Cup