All-Star Rockstar Cheer founder Scott Foster died today by suicide.

[cheermomforever]

According to this article, there are 101 victims.

Cheerleading Boss Ran Twisted Sex Abuse Empire, Lawsuit Says

Days after he died, the former titan and some bold-faced businesses were all accused of being part of a for-profit nightmare.

www.thedailybeast.com

And
More to come……most likely.

 

[Momager]

Varsity is reaping the fruit of its monopolization. When everything is under the control of one entity everyone is afraid to speak up because there is nowhere else to go. See USA Gymnastics.

 

[cheermomforever]

So glad something is finally being done about this. But I feel awful for all the athletes, some that will be left with no gym to go to maybe this season.

 

[catlady]

Varsity is reaping the fruit of its monopolization. When everything is under the control of one entity everyone is afraid to speak up because there is nowhere else to go. See USA Gymnastics.

Law enforcement? This isn't about someone cheating in cheerleading, this is about a person in power allegedly committing heinous crimes against children and other adults. Everyone should report to law enforcement first and after the report is written and filed, send it to the governing body, school board, CEO, board governance, etc.

In USASF's Section 2.8 a where it says to report to them, and "when appropriate," to law enforcement... It is the law in many states to report any actual or suspected Sexual Misconduct or Child Abuse to law enforcement. USASF Code of Conduct and Compliance

Mandatory Reporting Laws in the US​

Many states have mandatory reporting laws requiring certain types of people to report crimes against children. These "mandatory reporters" generally include parents, teachers, school administrators, clergy, medical professionals, therapists, social workers, and others. In some states, however, anyone who believes child abuse is taking place must report it.

 

[DonePaying4Cheer]

It's starting to make a few bigger news outlets and there are more details.
Daily Mail uk

 

[Sterling von Shimmer]

I wish DM hadn’t picked this up but I’m not surprised they did. They love this stuff: sex crimes, children, cheerleading skirts. They’re so transparent.

The only thing missing for them is Scott being a personal friend of an embattled politician.

 

[Beachy5678]

I'm glad something is finally happening to hold these predators in cheerleading accountable, and unfortunately more and more is going to come out from various gyms dating back many years. Just look at Shawn Miller, another coach/choreographer/designer that has been in the industry for YEARS and is now on the permanently banned list. The Jerry Harris thing finally force the USASF to HAVE to take a stand on this disgusting behavior that will effect these athletes for the rest of their lives.

 

[UCFKnights07]

random opinion, but this is why im not a fan of the whole, athletes becoming coaches, yet still acting like they are an athlete hanging out with others outside of gym hours. I feel like their should be far more professional standards set in cheer. If you want to be a coach, you need to act like one, both in and outside the gym, not partying with your former teammates still desperate to hang onto your youth. Same obviously goes with owners.
the whole "we are a family" mantra should be considered a red flag. Your running a and/or working for a business, it shouldnt be treated as a giant adult playground to do whatever you please because you have power over others.

 

[UCFKnights07]

also in retrospect i guess you cant be too surprised by usasf anymore. They create a "ban" list that does nothing. Was he not on a ban list, but yet still attending every competition the following seasons??! should tell you all you need to know about how "serious" usasf handles its business.

 

[quitthedrama]

also in retrospect i guess you cant be too surprised by usasf anymore. They create a "ban" list that does nothing. Was he not on a ban list, but yet still attending every competition the following seasons??! should tell you all you need to know about how "serious" usasf handles its business.

USA Cheer/USASF does not even bother to enforce the restriction. There was an individual on the banned list that competed at NCA College Nationals last year. It was ignored by both the college and Varsity when first reported, and it finally took enough people to say something. To the best of my knowledge the only action taken was to remove that college's name off the results list, delete the videos from Varsitytv, and not allow the individual to enter the partner stunt competition. @catlady to respond to some of your comments about why law enforcement wasn't called, this is a prime example of what many of us encounter. This person had already been arrested and convicted. He wasn't actively committing a crime, but he was not eligible to compete, coach or have any involvement yet Varsity/USA Cheer did nothing to prevent it.

 

[Beachy5678]

also in retrospect i guess you cant be too surprised by usasf anymore. They create a "ban" list that does nothing. Was he not on a ban list, but yet still attending every competition the following seasons??! should tell you all you need to know about how "serious" usasf handles its business.

True. I'm just curious to see if that will change with all of the media and social media coverage over the past year or two. It's hard to even know sometimes if the rules are being followed once they're banned.....it's almost as if you need a private investigator for some of these gyms.

 

[Beachy5678]

USA Cheer/USASF does not even bother to enforce the restriction. There was an individual on the banned list that competed at NCA College Nationals last year. It was ignored by both the college and Varsity when first reported, and it finally took enough people to say something. To the best of my knowledge the only action taken was to remove that college's name off the results list, delete the videos from Varsitytv, and not allow the individual to enter the partner stunt competition. @catlady to respond to some of your comments about why law enforcement wasn't called, this is a prime example of what many of us encounter. This person had already been arrested and convicted. He wasn't actively committing a crime, but he was not eligible to compete, coach or have any involvement yet Varsity/USA Cheer did nothing to prevent it.

That's disgusting.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Looks like Rockstar is closing indefinitely.

 

[Knowcheering]

There should be a rule that coaches aren’t allowed to house and live with athletes. The fact that there was a “Rockstar house” is a massive red flag. What did they think would happen there?

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

I just want to know why these sports governing bodies can't get this under control? Why do we wait till the FBI and Homeland get involved? Like Nassar in gymnastics.. and it happens in cheer a lot. Perhaps the probation thing doesnt work. USASF and Varsity need to crack down on this stuff and hard...its out of hand

One reason they can't get it under control is because people in this particular activity prioritize winning over everything else...up until "everything else" becomes something so perverse and devastating that it's, quite literally, criminal.

A coach's primary role in an athlete's life should be to teach the intangibles that will make that athlete employable as an adult. ESPECIALLY true in cheerleading, as the concept of "cheerleading scholarship" is virtually non-existent compared to mainstream athletics. There really is no "professional" cheerleading league where people can earn a living participating in the activity. So people who want to make money in cheer as an adult have no other route to take other than to be a coach/choreographer/gym owner. People who get into coaching tend to coach the way they were coached.

In the world off All Star cheer, the only measure of success that exists in people's minds are those damn Worlds or Summit trophies. If you're not going to "destination competitions," then you risk losing your athletes to the people that do so. People in this area flock to crappy gyms and teams coached by assholes who get to those competitions and have no business there because they are incapable of being competitive, but "BY GOD" they went. Until parents and participants change their "winning is all that matters" mindset and start holding coaches to simpler standards (teaching character first), they have no excuse for being shocked and awed when the coaches are slime bags who mistreat kids.