ASCheerMan (or
Andre ) what would it actually take to make an accusation about age to USASF? If I "knew" someone on another gym's senior team was 20 (like if I know their family or something. Assume for this scenario I've known them forever and I really do know for sure that they are 20 years old.) I certainly do not have their birth certificate. Why or how would I? So does that mean that there would be no way to file a complaint (or accusation or whatever you would call it)? Is the burden of proof on the accuser? Just curious as to what you guys would count as enough to get the ball rolling. I understand the desire to avoid millions of accusations flying around that you'd have to follow up on, but I also understand the point of view of "how would I prove someone else's age?"
ETA - I was typing this while you were replying above. Sorry I think you answered some of this. :oops:
For the record, I am uncertain as to whether or not it's the USASF that you are supposed to bring these claims to. They are certainly the appropriate party to receive the claim if it is Worlds eligbility that is being questioned. But, my only experience is in the claim coming to the Event Producer holding the event that the accused is attending.
First and foremost, I would always urge someone to step forward with the information prior to the potential infraction. I knock out 90% occurrences of cheating by calling the coach and saying "hey, just to let you know, there is a lot of talk that your Senior team has an age ineligible athlete on it. The talk may or may not be true and you may or may not know about it. But if it's legit and they compete with you next weekend, it'll get ugly." My hope isn't to catch anyone in the act, it's to keep it from occuring. As much as you may want to see someone get caught redhanded and disqualified, the public chatter circling 'cheaters in cheerleading' isn't good for any of us.
If you were to make a claim of illegal athletes being used on another team, I would ask you to submit some type of secondary proof that supports your claim. That could be a copy of a yearbook, a print screen of her driving record you found online, or more often than not it's a screenshot of their FB page that includes a Status Update posted by the accused that clearly incriminates herself (ex: "Today's my birthday, and I just became old enough serve liquor even though I can't buy it legally! Woo Hoo!).
Unfortunately, if you can produce NOTHING that supports your claim, its likely I won't move forward at all. Even if in YOUR case you are 100% confident they are guilty, having nothing usually means that the accuser doesn't know their facts well enough to warrant even making the accusation. And THAT is who usually makes the claim--not the coach or gym owner, but a once removed parent who heard a rumor in the parent viewing area at practice.
In summary, its not so much that the burden of proof is on the accuser. But there are too many rumors and false accusations out there to waste our time on cases not supported with ANYTHING.
**and I type all of this with the disclaimer that the USASF"s current Athlete Identification program will wipe out 98% of these issues.
