To gym owners ( and any event producers brave enough to answer )

[King]

Kingston… I agree with the idea of having every athlete register with USASF with a picture, birth certificate, etc. I am most familiar with the sport of hockey so let me explain how USA Hockey governs each individual athlete as I think a similar system would work for cheerleading as well.

The online registration allows individuals to register directly with USA Hockey. The USA Hockey Waiver is completed and the USA Hockey and Affiliate fees (state fees, etc) are paid online with a credit card. The member prints out the confirmation receipt to take to the local program to complete the registration process. A confirmation email is also sent to the member immediately after the online registration. When they chose their hockey program the confirmation number is then entered into a system that allows USA track the athletes in each hockey program… rosters, age, etc. This also eliminates the need for every hockey tournament having their own waiver. When they register they complete a waiver as well and as long as the event is sanctioned by USA Hockey they are covered! Each year the athletes are required to renew their membership to participate.

Anyways… it gives you an idea about how it could be done and may help with some of the issues we seem to be facing in the cheerleading world with illegal athletes and a different waiver that needs to be signed all the time… Just some food for thought and sorry about the hockey example!

What I like about the example is it basically is the exact same solution. I had never heard of how youth sports does it now, but if the way I thought it up is pretty much how hockey (and maybe other sports do it) it is probably the correct answer.

 

[hopskipandjump]

I just signed my daughter up for a summer field hockey team. I had to have her USAFH number in order to register her. So like ILcnheer, there is the answer. Any competition company that belongs to the USASF must require competitors be registered with the USASF. And make the price resonable for goodness sakes. Problem one - SOLVED! Lol...

 

[ACEDAD]

I just signed my daughter up for a summer field hockey team. I had to have her USAFH number in order to register her. So like ILcnheer, there is the answer. Any competition company that belongs to the USASF must require competitors be registered with the USASF. And make the price resonable for goodness sakes. Problem one - SOLVED! Lol...

This was proposed at the National Advisory Board in April and approved unanimously. Hope it is finalized.

 

[Evergreen]

My son plays lacrosse. He has to register with US Lacrosse each year to verify his age and get his age group set (U9, U11, U13 etc) In order to register the team for tournaments the coach must include each athlete's USL number, name and DOB....the even organizers can go to the USL website, enter this info and see if his membership is valid and verify his age. We also have to present his member card at every tournament. There has been talk to going to a more advanced ID, with a photo and they can swipe it to verify information. The membership includes a 1 year subscription to the US lacrosse magazine, discounts on workshops/camps a personal webpage (section of their website) where players can upload profiles/recruiting info I guess (not sure son is 9) and insurance coverage for injuries that occur in any USL sanctioned event (not practice, but a tournament game or a workshop run by USLacrosse).
The membership is $25 for the year.

Something like this would be great for cheerleading.

 

[Allstar Rebel]

My thing is there cannot be a governing power on anything until there is an organization that is not in part affiliated with event producers. A true governing body should be run, maintained, and controlled by the owners and coaches.

 

[powerXbaby]

I have a question on the "prevent gym hopping" thing. What about if the cheerleader moves? Could there be a rule set into place that you're allowed to switch gyms if they are in different states, or so many miles apart? For the people who move to different states, or people who move across a big state like California where it's impossible to finish out the year without driving 4-5 hours or flying in to practices? It wouldn't be very fair to kids who don't have control over where they live. Most of the time it's their parents decision.

 

[GAcheerpeach]

I have a question on the "prevent gym hopping" thing. What about if the cheerleader moves? Could there be a rule set into place that you're allowed to switch gyms if they are in different states, or so many miles apart? For the people who move to different states, or people who move across a big state like California where it's impossible to finish out the year without driving 4-5 hours or flying in to practices? It wouldn't be very fair to kids who don't have control over where they live. Most of the time it's their parents decision.

I would suggest 15-25 mile move would be enough to allow a gym change. Of course after the season ends you should be able change to a different gym for the following season.

 

[ACEDAD]

My thing is there cannot be a governing power on anything until there is an organization that is not in part affiliated with event producers. A true governing body should be run, maintained, and controlled by the owners and coaches.

Just to get to the heart of the matter here, where would you like to send your check?

All kidding aside, funding the USASF has to come from somewhere. What are your thoughts on how the owners and coaches are going to do that?

And how would you change the way it is currently structured to make it more the way you prefer?

 

[CDRCoach17]

Just to get to the heart of the matter here, where would you like to send your check?

All kidding aside, funding the USASF has to come from somewhere. What are your thoughts on how the owners and coaches are going to do that?

And how would you change the way it is currently structured to make it more the way you prefer?

A $25-30 registration fee per cheerleader to assign a number. That would be a good start. Everyone's theories sound great, and seem like easy solvable solutions. The problem lies with the do the Big Fish in the pond want this to happen? When this does happen make sure there are NO LOOP HOLES!!!!!!!!!!! Make sure that it is stated clear, cut, and dry. I am so sick of hearing "well there is s loop hole in the rules". There is no loop hole in having some decency and integrity.

 

[bdove]

looks like this is happening. atleast the membership for athletes

 

[vegas_cheermom]

But why does it matter if athletes want to change gyms? It's their parents money after all, not yours.


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[Just-a-Mom]

For irish dance, we signed up on a website 2 years ago with all my daughter's info. Her dance school does not register her for competitons, I do. Through the website. I log in using my password, and her age is "carved in stone" on their site. I physically cannot register her in another age group.

The reason I bring this up is because I think gym owners will still be plenty unscrupulous and register kids under someone else's name and info if you still leave a way that they can. Having each parent log in and register their child for the competition doesn't eliminate this entirely, but will limit it a lot. I would NEVER give my log in information to another parent to sign their child up in my child's place. I think parents don't mind when gyms do it because they can always play the "What? Oh I had no idea!" card. If you flat out say to them, "Here's Susie's log in info. Register Sally under her name" then you are actually saying out loud to 2 sets of parents "We're going to lie. And you're participating in the lie." A lot less people are going to lie when they have to actually sign someone else's name somewhere.

Not that I think all parents are honest and all gym owners are not. Just that when you tie that honesty to each person individually, and the consequences are for the individual, you'll have a harder time finding people willing to lie.

Just a thought on keeping people honest.

Other than that I'll bow out since this appears to be turning into another "How can we control those pesky parents more? How dare they think they should have any control over their child's life?" conversation.

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[SarahS]

Other than that I'll bow out since this appears to be turning into another "How can we control those pesky parents more? How dare they think they should have any control over their child's life?" conversation.

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It isn't really turning into any kind of conversation... as this thread is nearly four years old, lol. I think someone bumped it to say, hey, look, we talked about these things four years ago and now it appears to be happening, with mandatory athlete registration/fees.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

It isn't really turning into any kind of conversation... as this thread is nearly four years old, lol. I think someone bumped it to say, hey, look, we talked about these things four years ago and now it appears to be happening, with mandatory athlete registration/fees.

Baaaaaaaaaahahahaha I am usually one of the first people to notice that! In my defense I was standing in the pouring rain waiting for a bus, holding umbrella with one hand and Fierce Boarding with the other.

I'm going back to reading about the 19 year old gym owner.

:D:D:D:D:D

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[quitthedrama]

Baaaaaaaaaahahahaha I am usually one of the first people to notice that! In my defense I was standing in the pouring rain waiting for a bus, holding umbrella with one hand and Fierce Boarding with the other.

I'm going back to reading about the 19 year old gym owner.

:D:D:D:D:D

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yeah, I can't even filter what is in my brain down enough to respond to that one. You can also read about Chad peddling the airbacs. It's a short read though since the nonsense got locked already!