- Aug 4, 2012
- 92
- 94
First idea that made sense so far!!!!
All-Star Dangers Of Cheerlebrity
- Thread starter King
- Start date
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- Oct 23, 2010
- 1,318
- 3,486
I personally was using the Super Bowl as an extreme illustration of the point. Obviously Worlds is not analogous to the Super Bowl, but as you say in the same vein. I think you understand that well just stating for others. Your points in this discussion are excellent in my opinion showing good insight. You are dead on about the nature of the sport as compared to others and the focus is on the fan.
CharlotteASMom
Cheer Parent
- Mar 23, 2010
- 1,121
- 1,756
catlady
Cheer Parent
- Jun 6, 2012
- 2,817
- 6,228
I should have stated Cheerlebrity/personal pics. Carry on.
BlueCat
Roses are red, cats are blue
- Dec 14, 2009
- 4,503
- 19,507
I didn't read the pledge as preventing that. If one of our athletes is asked to appear/be featured in a major publication, I don't think it is unreasonable to ask them to run that by us first - particularly if they are basically representing the program (appearing in our uniform, etc.). That doesn't mean that we will always say "no."
- Oct 23, 2010
- 1,318
- 3,486
Neither do I on the surface. I hope you are right. Nothing wrong with the gym controlling their trademark and public reputation at all and that clearly means giving them a lot of leeway with their athletes. I am leary of precedent and "pledges" and dictates maybe to a fault and again some of that language is a bit scary to me. Slippery slope you know. Politics change but rules and regulations tend to endure and expand. But, if the owners keep it voluntary I can't see how it would hurt anyone and might help is some fashion. As you know, most young fans are actually cheerleaders in gyms and may hear the message.
- Dec 14, 2009
- 960
- 2,486
coming from a gym with several "cheerlebrities" you kind of forget about it until you get to competition. all of the athletes are treated the same so when you see a particular athlete getting bombarded at competitions the phenomenon becomes a reality. it's going to have to be a joint effort from the gyms but also the fans to respect "team time" at competitions. i know we tell our athletes, especially on our higher profile teams, that at the end of the day you're not there for picture or autographs but to compete with your team. we have limited the cheerlibrity'ness until after his or her team has competed that way they stay focused before and during their performance.
- Dec 14, 2009
- 7,234
- 19,629
*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. (Unless the kid is competing in an individual portion)
*We will require that our athletes will notify us should they sign any talent or management contract relating to cheerleading - But what if it's related to something else, like acting? Does that count?
*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.
These are the ones I kept, because these are the ones that make the most sense to me. I took out the two in the middle, not because they are bad, but because they are SUBJECTIVE:
*We will instruct our athletes to refrain from using our logo, likeness, brands, or name in any paid or unpaid self-promotion - What is defined as self-promotion? Are kids not allowed to use their gym name in their usernames online? If they have a twitter, are they not allowed to say where they cheer? Are they not allowed to use the gym's hand gesture in a picture? What about facebook? There are no definitions for this, are they on a gym-by-gym basis?
*We will instruct our parents to refrain from excessive promotion of their child in the cheer community - While I like the concept of this one, what defines 'excessive promotion'? There's a mom on here who constantly posts pictures/videos of her adorable little one. Is THAT excessive self-promotion? Is it only magazine articles/news programs? How many is excessive? 1? 3?
I'd hate to think that the kids wouldn't even be allowed to take PICTURES together. What if they're friends? Let's make smart moves, but let's not get CRAZY here..
*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. (Unless the kid is competing in an individual portion)
*We will require that our athletes will notify us should they sign any talent or management contract relating to cheerleading - But what if it's related to something else, like acting? Does that count?
*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.
These are the ones I kept, because these are the ones that make the most sense to me. I took out the two in the middle, not because they are bad, but because they are SUBJECTIVE:
*We will instruct our athletes to refrain from using our logo, likeness, brands, or name in any paid or unpaid self-promotion - What is defined as self-promotion? Are kids not allowed to use their gym name in their usernames online? If they have a twitter, are they not allowed to say where they cheer? Are they not allowed to use the gym's hand gesture in a picture? What about facebook? There are no definitions for this, are they on a gym-by-gym basis?
*We will instruct our parents to refrain from excessive promotion of their child in the cheer community - While I like the concept of this one, what defines 'excessive promotion'? There's a mom on here who constantly posts pictures/videos of her adorable little one. Is THAT excessive self-promotion? Is it only magazine articles/news programs? How many is excessive? 1? 3?
I'd hate to think that the kids wouldn't even be allowed to take PICTURES together. What if they're friends? Let's make smart moves, but let's not get CRAZY here..
just_kay_today
Cheer Parent
- Dec 14, 2009
- 1,230
- 2,527
That's true. No 14 yo should cheat on his wife and then buy her a $5million dollar ring to make up... Lol
My daughter just asked me an interesting question... "What is a Cheerlebrity?" She said that any kid can be exploited for their talent. That's true.
That made me think of something: My adult daughter was a child actress. Her agent signed an anti-exploitation contract with me before we signed with him. It is a document they created saying that they cannot use her image or likeness for anything sexual, degrading, illegal etc. When, she got her first speaking part in a film, the US government had me sign papers specifying what I could and could not do with her money; SAG also had contractual rules of behavior for child actors and then her agents had me sign a similar contract to the anti-exploitation contract they for signed. It was to protect their agency and client, whose career was growing.
My point is why can't there be similar contractual protections for Allstar cheerleaders.
- Jun 17, 2011
- 747
- 454
Okay... Here are my thoughts on “Cheerlebrity Free Zone”. This is MY opinion, and I will stand by it wholeheartedly.
Something we all need to understand is that there is a BIG difference between being a ROLE MODEL to someone, and being a cheerlebrity. I have seen hundreds of people ask the same question... “What's wrong with athletes/children being inspired by someone else?” the answer to that question is NOTHING. There is NOTHING wrong with an athlete being inspired by another athlete to become further motivated and to work harder. There is nothing wrong with someone looking up to another person. But there IS something ETHICALLY wrong with fans FOLLOWING their “inspirations” at competitions into bathrooms, warm ups, and distracting them during warm ups and trying to get their attention when they are on deck waiting to perform.
There are athletes who are considered “cheerlebrities” who are either afraid to or aren't allowed to walk around at venues and convention centers at competitions without an adult present with them, because their safety has been jeopardized and they don't feel safe. There is something seriously wrong with that. Yes, our sport is made up of young children and young adults. The people that inspire others are going to be young, solely because of the age group of our sport. However, because the athletes ARE so young, it can be especially dangerous to them. Yes, teams who win worlds will be come “famous” and “renowned” in the industry. It's a given. But an INDIVIDUAL alone does NOT win worlds. The TEAM does. This is a TEAM sport made up of individuals.
My coach recently had a talk with my team about how every athlete is essential to the team. What she told us was, you may not be the best tumbler, but maybe you have really great jumps, or you may be a great dancer, or a hard worker, or your stunt always hits, or you have good flexibility, etc. Either way, each athlete brings something to the team. Every single talent and skill that each athlete brings to the mats is important to the team in one way or another. Together Everyone Accomplishes More. T.E.A.M. It's never about the individual.
Look at it this way, if a stunt falls at a competition, the group must take responsibility as a whole. Maybe the flyer switched on the tick tock early, but the main base didn't give a big enough pop, the back spot didn't pull up enough, and the side base wasn't under the stunt enough, and they all agree they all could have fought harder to save that stunt and keep it up. You take responsibility as individuals and as a group. You don't blame one person. Why, you ask? Because it's a team sport and a team effort. But as spectators, when we are watching and we see a stunt fall, our first instinct is to analyze what the flyer did wrong, because the flyer was who we were looking at. But it's never just one persons fault. A stunt group is called a GROUP for a reason. Just like a TEAM is called a TEAM for a reason. One person doesn't determine whether a team wins or loses. Each athlete makes a mistake on the floor, whether they admit it or not and whether or not anyone else notices it. The final score is always made up of each athletes performance as a WHOLE. You aren't judged as individuals, you're judged as a team. So you should give recognition to the team and not solely to a few individuals.
I have no issues with athletes asking for an autograph or a picture with an athlete that inspires them, but there's no reason that certain athletes should get more recognition than any other athlete, be it on their team, or in the industry in general. I have seen our industry pull together in tough times, but the second hardships are over, it all goes back to “me, me, me, her, her, her.” we are a FAMILY, INDUSTRY, and COMMUNITY. Yes, tumbling, jumps, and dance are all individual skills, but they are skills that are executed and performed TOGETHER as a TEAM. They all factor into the TEAMS overall score. It's SYNCHRONIZED tumbling, SYNC jumps, etc. and by all means, if an athlete does something right and does something that you think is amazing, give them credit! Recognize them for it! Compliment them, tell them how amazing you thought it was. But don't forget everything else that happened in the routine. Every element is important. Every athlete does something in the routine that is important for the team. It's not, “oh that girl has the last pass and it's the most amazing and difficult pass on the team, so they will get first place because of that person.” GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. Credit should be given to the team, no matter what place they get, first or last, every mistake, every point earned, every deduction, every success, every failure. It's called taking responsibility. Your team has a responsibility, not just a few athletes on the team. I've seen and heard people say, “This cheerlebrities stunt fell, but it was all her bases fault. She's too good to have done anything wrong.” and I am not even kidding or exaggerating about that in the slightest. So, because that flyers bases aren't classified as “cheerlebrities” but the flyer is considered one, she can do no wrong, and the failure is being blamed on the “non cheerlebrities” but not on the cheerlebrity because they're too “perfect” to do anything wrong? How is that fair? Or even right? Why is that considered “okay” to most people???
Every athlete works just as hard as the next. But here's the thing, now that this whole cheerlebrity thing has been started and has gone on for so long, no matter what ANYONE does, it's always going to exist. Do I think there should be limits and guidelines? Absolutely. But you can't stop inspiration. Every athlete and child will be inspired by someone, and they will, from the first moment of inspiration, look up to that person. I see nothing wrong with that, but I think teams should be recognized as a whole for what they accomplish on the mats. You win as a team and lose as a team. Not as individuals.
Another thing people keep saying... “Why should our sport be treated any different than any other sport? Foot ball and base ball have the same problems, but you don't see anyone doing anything about that. Every sport has inspiration. What makes us different?” Now, although part of me agrees, the other part of me says.. ** we are constantly trying to make our sport different from other sports, ** Why is this situation so different from every other one??? We've been faced with the same type of situation many times before, where we are faced with the same type of challenge and concern that other sports are faced with. But us being “the same as that sport” has never come up as an issue until now? Yes, we work just as hard as athletes in other sports, but there are a lot of things that make us different from other sports and a lot of things that make OUR athletes different from the athletes in OTHER sports. First of all.. We're an independent sport. We aren't affiliated with NFL, or anything like that. We are our own sport. We are our own little world, hence, “the cheer world”. Just because other sports have the same issues, doesn't mean that we should continue to jeopardized the safety, privacy, and personal space of the athletes in our industry. It would be unethical. A big difference from other sports are, looking at the “pros” they are ADULT leagues. We have CHILDREN from ages 3-18 in our sport. Young, impressionable, children. Adults can handle themselves. Adults know when to say enough is enough when it comes to their safety and well being. But the athletes in our industry are so afraid of letting every athlete that looks up to them down, that they don't want to stand up and say, “Something needs to change.” That's the difference. No one is saying that other sports don't have the issues... but why should we focus on the issues in other sports and compare ourselves to them when we have our own sport to focus on?? We have our OWN issues to address. We can't do anything about the issues in the other industries and sports, but we can do something about the issues and challenges that our industry and sport is faced with. Now, if you look at youth leagues for the other sports that have the same issues, well, you know what, if those sports (be it pro, college, or youth/rec, school, etc.) don't recognize those issues and don't try to do anything about them, then that's not our problem. We need to focus on our problems for our industry, and the well being of OUR athletes, because we CAN make a difference to those problems and try to change our sport for the better.
There is nothing wrong with being inspired. But it is never fair for two or three athletes on a team to get more recognition than the other 20 or 25 athletes on their team. No matter what their age, division, or level is. Being inspired by someone to become more motivated is 100% okay. But some athletes being given “special treatment” just because they're viewed as “more important” than the rest, isn't fair. And it isn't right. Each athlete brings something to the floor. We make such a big deal about being “center” for dance, or “center” for jumps, when really, you could have a team with inverted jumps from front row to back, from center, to back corner. But there would still have to be athletes placed in the back rows because it makes the formation. We can't all be center. Just because an athlete isn't center, or front row, or the best tumbler on the team, doesn't make them ANY LESS IMPORTANT than the athletes who do make center, or who do have the best tumbling. Just because every athlete doesn't have the chance to go to worlds, make it past semi-finals, make it to top 10, and win worlds, doesn't make them any less important than the athletes who can and do.
If we are going to have “cheerlebrities” the least we could do is recognize more than a few world champions. Why make the athletes on the level 1, 2, 3, and 4, teams feel any less important? Why make the level 5 athletes who didn't win worlds feel inferior to the ones who have? Yes, winning worlds is a big deal, but it's not a few select athletes that make up the sport. It's every athlete, coach, EP, and gym owner that make up the sport. We wouldn't have an industry if we only allowed the cheerlebrities to compete at worlds. We wouldn't have an industry if every team didn't have just as much of a right to compete at any competition. We need to start treating each athlete equal. Because when you think about it, each athlete starts at the same place... LEVEL ONE. Every athlete WORKS THEIR WAY UP to level 5. We all start from somewhere. It's not solely about winning worlds and becoming famous. It's about the fight and progression and journey up to that point. I am proud of how far our industry has come. But there is always room for improvement. Safety comes first. That was the whole point of the rule changes at the end of last season/beginning of this season, right? For the well-being and safety of the athletes? We need to treat this situation like that one. Because there truly are athletes whose privacy and safety are being jeopardized, and for what? A few years of fame? It isn't worth it in my opinion. It's about growing as a person and as an athlete. I know this was long, so thank you for taking the time to read it... I am sure I will think of a lot more to say that I will end up adding onto this within the next few days.
Something we all need to understand is that there is a BIG difference between being a ROLE MODEL to someone, and being a cheerlebrity. I have seen hundreds of people ask the same question... “What's wrong with athletes/children being inspired by someone else?” the answer to that question is NOTHING. There is NOTHING wrong with an athlete being inspired by another athlete to become further motivated and to work harder. There is nothing wrong with someone looking up to another person. But there IS something ETHICALLY wrong with fans FOLLOWING their “inspirations” at competitions into bathrooms, warm ups, and distracting them during warm ups and trying to get their attention when they are on deck waiting to perform.
There are athletes who are considered “cheerlebrities” who are either afraid to or aren't allowed to walk around at venues and convention centers at competitions without an adult present with them, because their safety has been jeopardized and they don't feel safe. There is something seriously wrong with that. Yes, our sport is made up of young children and young adults. The people that inspire others are going to be young, solely because of the age group of our sport. However, because the athletes ARE so young, it can be especially dangerous to them. Yes, teams who win worlds will be come “famous” and “renowned” in the industry. It's a given. But an INDIVIDUAL alone does NOT win worlds. The TEAM does. This is a TEAM sport made up of individuals.
My coach recently had a talk with my team about how every athlete is essential to the team. What she told us was, you may not be the best tumbler, but maybe you have really great jumps, or you may be a great dancer, or a hard worker, or your stunt always hits, or you have good flexibility, etc. Either way, each athlete brings something to the team. Every single talent and skill that each athlete brings to the mats is important to the team in one way or another. Together Everyone Accomplishes More. T.E.A.M. It's never about the individual.
Look at it this way, if a stunt falls at a competition, the group must take responsibility as a whole. Maybe the flyer switched on the tick tock early, but the main base didn't give a big enough pop, the back spot didn't pull up enough, and the side base wasn't under the stunt enough, and they all agree they all could have fought harder to save that stunt and keep it up. You take responsibility as individuals and as a group. You don't blame one person. Why, you ask? Because it's a team sport and a team effort. But as spectators, when we are watching and we see a stunt fall, our first instinct is to analyze what the flyer did wrong, because the flyer was who we were looking at. But it's never just one persons fault. A stunt group is called a GROUP for a reason. Just like a TEAM is called a TEAM for a reason. One person doesn't determine whether a team wins or loses. Each athlete makes a mistake on the floor, whether they admit it or not and whether or not anyone else notices it. The final score is always made up of each athletes performance as a WHOLE. You aren't judged as individuals, you're judged as a team. So you should give recognition to the team and not solely to a few individuals.
I have no issues with athletes asking for an autograph or a picture with an athlete that inspires them, but there's no reason that certain athletes should get more recognition than any other athlete, be it on their team, or in the industry in general. I have seen our industry pull together in tough times, but the second hardships are over, it all goes back to “me, me, me, her, her, her.” we are a FAMILY, INDUSTRY, and COMMUNITY. Yes, tumbling, jumps, and dance are all individual skills, but they are skills that are executed and performed TOGETHER as a TEAM. They all factor into the TEAMS overall score. It's SYNCHRONIZED tumbling, SYNC jumps, etc. and by all means, if an athlete does something right and does something that you think is amazing, give them credit! Recognize them for it! Compliment them, tell them how amazing you thought it was. But don't forget everything else that happened in the routine. Every element is important. Every athlete does something in the routine that is important for the team. It's not, “oh that girl has the last pass and it's the most amazing and difficult pass on the team, so they will get first place because of that person.” GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. Credit should be given to the team, no matter what place they get, first or last, every mistake, every point earned, every deduction, every success, every failure. It's called taking responsibility. Your team has a responsibility, not just a few athletes on the team. I've seen and heard people say, “This cheerlebrities stunt fell, but it was all her bases fault. She's too good to have done anything wrong.” and I am not even kidding or exaggerating about that in the slightest. So, because that flyers bases aren't classified as “cheerlebrities” but the flyer is considered one, she can do no wrong, and the failure is being blamed on the “non cheerlebrities” but not on the cheerlebrity because they're too “perfect” to do anything wrong? How is that fair? Or even right? Why is that considered “okay” to most people???
Every athlete works just as hard as the next. But here's the thing, now that this whole cheerlebrity thing has been started and has gone on for so long, no matter what ANYONE does, it's always going to exist. Do I think there should be limits and guidelines? Absolutely. But you can't stop inspiration. Every athlete and child will be inspired by someone, and they will, from the first moment of inspiration, look up to that person. I see nothing wrong with that, but I think teams should be recognized as a whole for what they accomplish on the mats. You win as a team and lose as a team. Not as individuals.
Another thing people keep saying... “Why should our sport be treated any different than any other sport? Foot ball and base ball have the same problems, but you don't see anyone doing anything about that. Every sport has inspiration. What makes us different?” Now, although part of me agrees, the other part of me says.. ** we are constantly trying to make our sport different from other sports, ** Why is this situation so different from every other one??? We've been faced with the same type of situation many times before, where we are faced with the same type of challenge and concern that other sports are faced with. But us being “the same as that sport” has never come up as an issue until now? Yes, we work just as hard as athletes in other sports, but there are a lot of things that make us different from other sports and a lot of things that make OUR athletes different from the athletes in OTHER sports. First of all.. We're an independent sport. We aren't affiliated with NFL, or anything like that. We are our own sport. We are our own little world, hence, “the cheer world”. Just because other sports have the same issues, doesn't mean that we should continue to jeopardized the safety, privacy, and personal space of the athletes in our industry. It would be unethical. A big difference from other sports are, looking at the “pros” they are ADULT leagues. We have CHILDREN from ages 3-18 in our sport. Young, impressionable, children. Adults can handle themselves. Adults know when to say enough is enough when it comes to their safety and well being. But the athletes in our industry are so afraid of letting every athlete that looks up to them down, that they don't want to stand up and say, “Something needs to change.” That's the difference. No one is saying that other sports don't have the issues... but why should we focus on the issues in other sports and compare ourselves to them when we have our own sport to focus on?? We have our OWN issues to address. We can't do anything about the issues in the other industries and sports, but we can do something about the issues and challenges that our industry and sport is faced with. Now, if you look at youth leagues for the other sports that have the same issues, well, you know what, if those sports (be it pro, college, or youth/rec, school, etc.) don't recognize those issues and don't try to do anything about them, then that's not our problem. We need to focus on our problems for our industry, and the well being of OUR athletes, because we CAN make a difference to those problems and try to change our sport for the better.
There is nothing wrong with being inspired. But it is never fair for two or three athletes on a team to get more recognition than the other 20 or 25 athletes on their team. No matter what their age, division, or level is. Being inspired by someone to become more motivated is 100% okay. But some athletes being given “special treatment” just because they're viewed as “more important” than the rest, isn't fair. And it isn't right. Each athlete brings something to the floor. We make such a big deal about being “center” for dance, or “center” for jumps, when really, you could have a team with inverted jumps from front row to back, from center, to back corner. But there would still have to be athletes placed in the back rows because it makes the formation. We can't all be center. Just because an athlete isn't center, or front row, or the best tumbler on the team, doesn't make them ANY LESS IMPORTANT than the athletes who do make center, or who do have the best tumbling. Just because every athlete doesn't have the chance to go to worlds, make it past semi-finals, make it to top 10, and win worlds, doesn't make them any less important than the athletes who can and do.
If we are going to have “cheerlebrities” the least we could do is recognize more than a few world champions. Why make the athletes on the level 1, 2, 3, and 4, teams feel any less important? Why make the level 5 athletes who didn't win worlds feel inferior to the ones who have? Yes, winning worlds is a big deal, but it's not a few select athletes that make up the sport. It's every athlete, coach, EP, and gym owner that make up the sport. We wouldn't have an industry if we only allowed the cheerlebrities to compete at worlds. We wouldn't have an industry if every team didn't have just as much of a right to compete at any competition. We need to start treating each athlete equal. Because when you think about it, each athlete starts at the same place... LEVEL ONE. Every athlete WORKS THEIR WAY UP to level 5. We all start from somewhere. It's not solely about winning worlds and becoming famous. It's about the fight and progression and journey up to that point. I am proud of how far our industry has come. But there is always room for improvement. Safety comes first. That was the whole point of the rule changes at the end of last season/beginning of this season, right? For the well-being and safety of the athletes? We need to treat this situation like that one. Because there truly are athletes whose privacy and safety are being jeopardized, and for what? A few years of fame? It isn't worth it in my opinion. It's about growing as a person and as an athlete. I know this was long, so thank you for taking the time to read it... I am sure I will think of a lot more to say that I will end up adding onto this within the next few days.
CharlotteASMom
Cheer Parent
- Mar 23, 2010
- 1,121
- 1,756
RJsExtremeMom
Interesting points about child actors. Do you think the difference is that actors are paid? Can this translate?
Interesting points about child actors. Do you think the difference is that actors are paid? Can this translate?
- Jul 23, 2012
- 793
- 2,735
I would assume that cheerleaders are paid for their magazine articles, meet and greet appearances, etc so to an extent I think it can.
- Oct 23, 2010
- 1,318
- 3,486
The only thing Maddie was paid for while she was cheering was expenses to and from a competition and standard pay to judge that competition. Not anything else. Since she is done cheering all star and high school, she is paid for appearances, signing for specific vendors, judging etc. We did not know you could get paid for appearances but in my mind if cheer is going to be a sport, whether participating athletes should be paid for this type of thing should be decided at some level. Looking back, my answer would be they should not. She still goes to some competitions and is asked for a autograph and does it and pictures for free. Some people have said different but not true.
just_kay_today
Cheer Parent
- Dec 14, 2009
- 1,230
- 2,527
So are some Cheerlebrities! Magazines, makeup lines, uniform modeling, spokesmodelling, commercials... The list goes on. It would be proactive to think about ways to legally protect the kids and the organizations they represent. Remember, we're in the infancy of this sport and the celebrity. But, it will grow.
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