All-Star Too Small A Venue

[yojaehs]

Could we stagger finals more? Have like SSC and SS have thursday prelims friday semis and saturday finals?

I don't think that is a good idea because of kids in school. Asking them to miss one day is hard enough (at least for me).

 

[nccheerdad]

It's a simple solution. Do like any reasonably intelligent organization would do at a major event that anticipates a sell-out and break the sessions into blocks/sessions for tickets with assigned seating to be sold. Give parents of athletes early access to the sale of tickets, then open them up to the general public. The NCAA does this for all of their major championships that involve multiple games throughout a day.

 

[mstric1]

First of all, I think that the security staff at Disney and USASF need to be commended on handling a situation on Sunday that could have had catastrophic consequences. They also need to be reprimanded for not having the foresight to understand the implications of having a venue that could not even remotely accomodate the number of people that wanted to watch the finals. Long term the solution is finding a larger venue for the finals. I don't want to speculate if this can happen by next year because I don't know any of the specifics associated with the contract between USASF and Disney. Assuming that the venue cannot be changed I think the most viable option is to move to a ticketed finals. The actual logistics could be something like this.

Divide the day up into three sessions: a morning, afternoon and evening session. Each session requires a separate ticket and the arena would be cleared at the end of each session. A certain amount of tickets will be reserved to distribute to the programs that are competing in the finals. For example, each team competing in the finals could receive 2 - 3 complimentary tickets per athlete competing on the floor. USASF will know how many tickets to reserve as soon as the general schedule is determined. The remaining tickets will go on sale after the general schedule is released. Limit the tickets purchased per transaction to two tickets per session. This way the number of tickets sold can be set at the capacity of the venue. There is no other event that sells tickets far in excess of arena capacity.

Granted this creates a rush to buy tickets and everyone may not be able to get inside the venue, but it is an orderly process once the day of the finals starts. Anyone that doesn't have a ticket can watch in the stadium for free.

This type of approach is used by every other major sporting event where the venue is too small to handle the number of people who would want to attend.

 

[redsmom]

Does anyone have any data on the increase in attendance between this year and last (both athletes/coaches & ticket sales). While I agree they have outgrown the facility, I think the difference between this year and the past couple of years was VERY POOR EVENT PLANNING!

 

[allstarmom#1]

I would suggest:

Jim Chadwick - [email protected]
Steve Peterson - [email protected]
Les Stella - [email protected] (only address I am not sure of but I would not send this to his rules address)

Well, I hope this does not sound rude, but I have read through 2 pages of comments, not to mention Kingston has said the same thing on other threads where this has come up, and other than 12stepCheermom, no one really seems to be getting the point. It's all good to bandy around ideas of how we would change it, but what we should be doing is saying "Good point, let me start emailing the people in position to change things". We do not have to tell them how to change it, just why we feel it should be changed. They should be the ones to figure out how..

I thought reading this thread I would see a bunch of comments from people saying they have emailed and/or are starting petitions. Maybe see some links to petitions already started.

It's like our government. We can complain about what we do not like about the country or President all day on a message board, but that is not going to effect change. Getting involved on a local level, and then working our way to the top to get our point across will. let's get mobilized people and get these emails out. My cp is on a level on team, 10 years old and no where near competing in Worlds. I still used the email addresses Kingston provided and emailed my opinion. That is where we need to start. JMO

Rant over:D

 

[ntlgnt1]

This was my first year attending. We were only spectators but like everyone else, we spent alot of money to get there. We were in line both days by 7am. I can assure you if my child was competing, I would have been there at 6am. It was a total hot mess and I was sooo unimpressed with the way the crowd was handled. And having the awards on the ballfield was horrible. It so took away from the moment. Why can't they have 1/2 of the finals and awards in the Milkhouse and the rest in Jostens?

You are assuming that parents don't have other responsibilities that kept them from getting to the arena early. You have a lot of parents that had to get up and help girls get dressed, hair, make-up etc. Then you have parents that have more then one child competiting on different teams in both arenas. Yes on my CP's team there are at least 3 parents that had CPs competing in HP & Jostens! So they should suffer and not see thier CPs because they are trying to support both kids?

The fact is PARENTS should have priority! We as parents pay a lot of money for our kids to cheer...unrelated spectators pay???? For ONE TRIP! Let's not forget, if we didn't pay tuition for our kids to cheer there would be NO WORLDS! Whether thousands of spectators show up or one....The parents are there to support thier CPs all year round, not just for Worlds! Now if spectators would like to start making donations to the CPs to cheer, then I would take your complaints about parents not getting preference more seriously!

Unfortunately, Disney is probably the best option. It's a travelers hub, meaning it's inexpensive for parents/family members to come and support thier CPs inexpensively after paying so much money for thier kids to cheer and there is so much for families to do that do not want to sit in an arena all day and watch cheering. IMO...Vegas is not an option! They may have a lot of family options, but I really don't think it's as kid friendly as Disney.

 

[yojaehs]

allstarmom#1 My e-mails were sent Saturday, Sunday, Monday and today. ntlgnt1 I agree that parents should get to see their children, I am all for them having 1st dibs on tickets being sold. However, if I pay the same to come to the event, and I have a ticket that I purchased then I have the same right to see the event that any parent does. Many "extra spectators" are coaches, choreographers, other cheerleaders that have spent an equal amount of time and money on cheerleading and IF they purchase a ticket, they deserve to see the competition just as much as the next guy.

 

[ShutItDown]

I know the AFL Cheer Nationals still books MANY families in Disney Resorts but holds their competiton off of Disney. It was right after the Pop Warner NAtionals. I know many people who didn't stay at Disney for Worlds so I don't think it would be a serious problem. I did see many many many teams flood Disney Worlds that were competing in the AFL Nationals just as much as they went to Universal, which I know I've seen pics of smoed and such going to Universal anyway.
My solution, have the comp at Amway or another large venue, have access for teams to enjoy the vacation like options of disney by holding social events at Disney World in various locations. I think it's very possible, as I have seen this done before and it doesn't change the "Worlds Feeling" as much as people would think.

 

[SarahS]

For people who have suggested selling reserved-seating tickets, what would you do with athletes who would like to watch other divisions? Would they have to buy tickets? Would there be an athletes-only first-come-first-served section? I ask because there are a lot of athletes who don't make it through to finals - what would be their options for viewing semis and finals?

 

[Just-a-Mom]

This was my first year attending. We were only spectators but like everyone else, we spent alot of money to get there. We were in line both days by 7am. I can assure you if my child was competing, I would have been there at 6am. It was a total hot mess and I was sooo unimpressed with the way the crowd was handled. And having the awards on the ballfield was horrible. It so took away from the moment. Why can't they have 1/2 of the finals and awards in the Milkhouse and the rest in Jostens?

As has already been mentioned to you above, and as I've mentioned in many posts before this...how exactly would you have gotten there at 6 am if you had a child competing? Are you saying that if your 12-year-old was competing at 2PM you would have gotten her up at 3AM, done her hair and makeup, gotten her in uniform and dragged her, exhausted, to the milkhouse at 6AM so you could get a seat? I'm sure her team and coaches would love that she had been up since 3AM. I think most people who keep saying that the parents should have been there earlier are not really thinking that through. They may have actually been busy at 6AM with their child. I, for one, know for sure that even my 17-year-old can't get completely ready for comp without some help from me.

First of all, I think that the security staff at Disney and USASF need to be commended on handling a situation on Sunday that could have had catastrophic consequences. They also need to be reprimanded for not having the foresight to understand the implications of having a venue that could not even remotely accomodate the number of people that wanted to watch the finals. Long term the solution is finding a larger venue for the finals. I don't want to speculate if this can happen by next year because I don't know any of the specifics associated with the contract between USASF and Disney. Assuming that the venue cannot be changed I think the most viable option is to move to a ticketed finals. The actual logistics could be something like this.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this happen last year too? I wasn't there, but I recall these exact same threads and conversations last year, so I definitely think they should have "anticipated" this, since it's happened already. I remember last year we had thread upon thread talking about a new, larger venue.

 

[yojaehs]

I know the AFL Cheer Nationals still books MANY families in Disney Resorts but holds their competiton off of Disney. It was right after the Pop Warner NAtionals. I know many people who didn't stay at Disney for Worlds so I don't think it would be a serious problem. I did see many many many teams flood Disney Worlds that were competing in the AFL Nationals just as much as they went to Universal, which I know I've seen pics of smoed and such going to Universal anyway.
My solution, have the comp at Amway or another large venue, have access for teams to enjoy the vacation like options of disney by holding social events at Disney World in various locations. I think it's very possible, as I have seen this done before and it doesn't change the "Worlds Feeling" as much as people would think.

One of our teams stayed off property and competed at World's. Our hotel was much nicer than the All-Star resort, but I get that kids want the "experience" of hanging out with other teams. Our kids were back and forth and had a blast and enjoyed their 3 bedroom suits lol.

 

[ShutItDown]

One of our teams stayed off property and competed at World's. Our hotel was much nicer than the All-Star resort, but I get that kids want the "experience" of hanging out with other teams. Our kids were back and forth and had a blast and enjoyed their 3 bedroom suits lol.

Those vacation homes on Villa Direct are SO MUCH NICER and SO MUCH CHEAPER and just a win overall, and you get a private pool in a cool gated community, I LOVE it so much more than staying at the Allstar Resorts...Its literally only 5 minutes away from the Allstar Resort, I found it very easy to get back and forth for Pop Warner Nationals.

 

[nccheerdad]

For people who have suggested selling reserved-seating tickets, what would you do with athletes who would like to watch other divisions? Would they have to buy tickets? Would there be an athletes-only first-come-first-served section? I ask because there are a lot of athletes who don't make it through to finals - what would be their options for viewing semis and finals?

Good question. I hate to say it, but the simple solution would be to buy a ticket. Set it up so that each athlete gets access to three pre-sale tickets - one each for mom and dad, and one for the athlete.

 

[redsmom]

You are assuming that parents don't have other responsibilities that kept them from getting to the arena early. You have a lot of parents that had to get up and help girls get dressed, hair, make-up etc. Then you have parents that have more then one child competiting on different teams in both arenas. Yes on my CP's team there are at least 3 parents that had CPs competing in HP & Jostens! So they should suffer and not see thier CPs because they are trying to support both kids?

The fact is PARENTS should have priority! We as parents pay a lot of money for our kids to cheer...unrelated spectators pay???? For ONE TRIP! Let's not forget, if we didn't pay tuition for our kids to cheer there would be NO WORLDS! Whether thousands of spectators show up or one....The parents are there to support thier CPs all year round, not just for Worlds! Now if spectators would like to start making donations to the CPs to cheer, then I would take your complaints about parents not getting preference more seriously!

Unfortunately, Disney is probably the best option. It's a travelers hub, meaning it's inexpensive for parents/family members to come and support thier CPs inexpensively after paying so much money for thier kids to cheer and there is so much for families to do that do not want to sit in an arena all day and watch cheering. IMO...Vegas is not an option! They may have a lot of family options, but I really don't think it's as kid friendly as Disney.

I agree that their needs to be a way to ensure parents are allowed entry for their child's performance, but not by asking other paying ticket holders to leave. This was a mismanaged fiasco! Let's not turn on each other, let's demand that it be corrected!

 

[yojaehs]

Good question. I hate to say it, but the simple solution would be to buy a ticket. Set it up so that each athlete gets access to three pre-sale tickets - one each for mom and dad, and one for the athlete.

I think what she is saying is what about the PARTICIPANTS themselves? Those were the ones told to leave.