All-Star Gi Pros

[Sparkle Mom]

Good question which obviously doesn't have an answer... I wish I had a solution, but I can guarantee handing Varsity a check that they've already taken to the bank while purposely losing a competition ain't it.

Do you think that is because the gym isn’t one of the largest or it’s not a big enough competition?

 

[DonePaying4Cheer]

I am fine with parents and coaches saying this is not how I would have responded but to call it a tantrum or whining is ridiculous. People really think it is about losing to CJA here? Clearly this is much more than coming home with the crappiest backpacks I've ever seen.

Exactly! Cheer has no compulsory scores or day one skills only scoring, so from competition to competition, the scores can be widely different. How does a coach know which routine to put on the mat? How do you know what to improve from week to week. What killed at CS, bombs at NCA. Meanwhile, parents empty their wallets for 'fair' and 'expert' judging? Kids go into a competition feeling good about their chances, to leave confused and disappointed. That needs to be corrected. I'm glad we're talking about it. Hopefully, real change will come about.

 

[ScottyB]

Good question which obviously doesn't have an answer... I wish I had a solution, but I can guarantee handing Varsity a check that they've already taken to the bank while purposely losing a competition ain't it.

Then stop saying GI Pros did the wrong thing. The coaches, athletes, and gym felt it was the right move for the issue at the time.

Everyone constantly says 'speak with your wallets' - well guess what, GI Pros did! To me they said 'if you don't take this seriously, then we don't either and we don't want your cheap plastic trophy'

 

[njallday]

Then stop saying GI Pros did the wrong thing. The coaches, athletes, and gym felt it was the right move for the issue at the time.

Everyone constantly says 'speak with your wallets' - well guess what, GI Pros did! To me they said 'if you don't take this seriously, then we don't either and we don't want your cheap plastic trophy'

They didn't, though. Speaking with your wallet means not giving someone money. This team already paid $125 per athlete and $35 admission per parent to the EP to "boycott." Not very effective.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

I guess I am in the boat where I am just confused by what exactly they were protesting....I mean I understand that they feel they performed better on Saturday then they did Friday and their score went down, which sucks, but I am also under the impression that there was a whole different judging panel between the two days and its not like there was a HUGE change between the scores. Unfortunately with subjective scoring some judges are going to like some things better than others, who's to say the judges on Sunday wouldn't have liked what the did better than what Team Gunz did?

I think this is what made this whole thing ineffective...

I don't know how exactly you can fix things unless you have a unified front. And it seems impossible to have a unified when the money begins with the parents and the influence ends with Varsity. Gyms are stuck in the middle and their hands are forced by both sides.

I think the best way to get something done is to inform the people of what's happening and make things more transparent. Knowledge is power when you want change. And lack of knowledge is power when trying to prevent it. Theres a reason Varisty doesn't want to be transparent and the scoring system is just a small, small part of this whole thing. Keep your subordinates in the dark and theres no reason to fear an uprising or rebellion. Lessons From History 101, people.


***Radical ideas ahead***

I'd say gyms are in a unique position - they are in the middle of the two parties, they can inform their customers and expose what Varsity is trying to do (even if it shows how the gym benefits from the Varisty kickbacks). And then they get to speak, on behalf of parents, to Varisty and show them how their customers want to spend their money. There's no reason why it can't be similar to the US's representation system in politics. Parents = voters; gyms = representatives. If everything else hasn't worked, maybe a change in how we view the roles of each party and the relationship between the parents and gyms, maybe you can start to get somewhere?

That being said, I don't think Pro's actions did anything other than getting a discussion going that's been happening for forever. Making a statement of "hey we're upset!" with no crystal clear reasons why or how they would like to see it fixed doesn't do anything for anyone. You showed up, paid your entrance and comp fees. You're playing into their game and not doing anything to hurt them (if that was truly your intention). You paid for 2:30 of floor time infront of an audience... Maybe instead of marking a routine and using Twitter to get across a message that wasn't clearly stated... maybe use the resources you've paid for to inform people? Maybe go up there and start letting the audience know whats up. Make demands publicly. Idk man, do something better than marking your routine because you're mad. We're all mad. Play smarter.

 

[Cheerfan1234]

^^^I totally agree with your first paragraph, and I know for a 100% fact that our gym would never have allowed a team to do that (and I’m glad) BUT...no offense, but I doubt they really care if the EP, and judges felt “disrespected! And made the Varsity employees “angry?” Excuse me...who pays for this industry?? Don’t waste your energy being “disrespected” and “angry”...fix your mess so your scoring is valid to the participants! Our team was screwed over at that comp this weekend as well. Parents are getting really sick of this.

No offense, but there is nothing invalid about a score dropping by a mere .23, and other than the fact that this was a lower-scoring panel than usual, there wasn't really a mess to fix. The order of the level 5 placements was on point, and at the end of the day, that's more important. Just because you think you were better doesn't mean the judges did.

 

[cheermomforever]

For the love of all that is HOLY, YES!!!

Saturday my son didn’t have to check in until 3, but my daughter competed at 11-12. So we paid for my younger son to get in, along with my mother and myself. Admission fees for 2 days for 3 people were $100. Competition fees were $200 for one full year and one prep athlete. So $300 just to compete and watch. Nothing else.

Do you know my older son was in full uniform and because he didn’t have an athlete arm band yet they weren’t going to let him in to watch his sister? Even though his coaches were in warmups and couldn’t give him an arm band yet....didn’t care. The woman said “talk to Spirit Sports, they gave us strict instructions”. I politely told her I would appreciate her using a bit of common sense and independent judgment to determine if she really thought this was a random kid dressed up as an athlete. We finally got in.

I am just over the whole “this is just how it is” mentality....because how it is does nothing to benefit parents or athletes, or even gym owners. The current state of affairs benefits one entity-Varsity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it is absolutely insane what these events charge now. People think twice about bringing siblings and grandparents because of costs. I am sure alot of people DO try to sneak on siblings and dress them in old uniforms and/or bows. I probably would if I had a relative child who wanted to watch for those 2 1/2 $20 to$25 minutes that most charge!

 

[Cheerfan1234]

Exactly. Everyone is literally coming down so hard on them. I’m sure the parents fully supported their children standing up for what they believe is right because thats what you do. They have been doing killer routines FOR YEARS and literally never getting any credit. This was not a temper tantrum, this was a statement.

They have been doing killer routines for years and getting a lot of credit at MANY reputable competitions, and have won grand champions at several of them, beating out teams that have won Worlds. They haven't made finals at Worlds because they haven't hit in Semi-Finals, not because judges have been treating them unfairly.

 

[Cheerfan1234]

I guess I am in the boat where I am just confused by what exactly they were protesting....I mean I understand that they feel they performed better on Saturday then they did Friday and their score went down, which sucks, but I am also under the impression that there was a whole different judging panel between the two days and its not like there was a HUGE change between the scores. Unfortunately with subjective scoring some judges are going to like some things better than others, who's to say the judges on Sunday wouldn't have liked what the did better than what Team Gunz did?

Team Gunz had an unfortunate major stunt fall that cost them 1.25 points, so unfortunately GI Pros denied themselves the opportunity to ever know the answer to that.

 

[CheerBank]

Exactly. Everyone is literally coming down so hard on them. I’m sure the parents fully supported their children standing up for what they believe is right because thats what you do. They have been doing killer routines FOR YEARS and literally never getting any credit. This was not a temper tantrum, this was a statement.

He’s been throwing temper tantrums for years. This was just literally on a bigger stage.

 

[Cheerfun2]

Exactly! Cheer has no compulsory scores or day one skills only scoring, so from competition to competition, the scores can be widely different. How does a coach know which routine to put on the mat? How do you know what to improve from week to week. What killed at CS, bombs at NCA. Meanwhile, parents empty their wallets for 'fair' and 'expert' judging? Kids go into a competition feeling good about their chances, to leave confused and disappointed. That needs to be corrected. I'm glad we're talking about it. Hopefully, real change will come about.

1000 shimmies!!!

 

[icequeen]

You think this was the intent? A team doesn’t work all season to just give up when they are behind. I do not know anyone from this team but I’m sure it wasn’t a decision they made without a great deal of thought.

That was their intent when they decided to mark their routine. I didn't ask why they went to the competition. I asked why they decide to show up and not perform?

 

[ScottyB]

They didn't, though. Speaking with your wallet means not giving someone money. This team already paid $125 per athlete and $35 admission per parent to the EP to "boycott." Not very effective.

We're all talking about it aren't we? Seems fairly effective...

 

[Cheerfan1234]

We're all talking about it aren't we? Seems fairly effective...

We are all talking about GI Pros marking their routine. The reason why they did it is a conversation we've all been having for years. Their actions didn't spark the topic, and it probably didn't serve as much of a solution, unfortunately. So, I'd say "ineffective."

 

[CheerBank]

We're all talking about it aren't we? Seems fairly effective...

It needs to have brokered some change to be considered effective. What change did it make?