All-Star Usasf Rules Gurus - Please Read

[debbie]

Simply appeals cost solution: The loser of the appeal has to reimburse the USASF the cost of the appeal process and the all appeals should become public.

best idea i have heard

 

[debbie]

Simply appeals cost solution: The loser of the appeal has to reimburse the USASF the cost of the appeal process and the all appeals should become public.

The appeals should stay public forever also. This would be a great research tool for parents looking to find a gym.

 

[yojaehs]

I agree with what everyone is saying in that an appeal would not be a perfect process but the current one is not either. In my head the form would have "reason for appeal" and ONLY EXTREME cases would even be considered. Just "not being happy" is not an extreme case bc as Andre said you have until Nov to deside whether or not your child is happy. I feel ONLY as someone said earlier a LEGAL issue or something along that line. I do believe it might take a little more time than I previously stated but if you can see a flaw in the current system in place don't you think it's the duty of the USASF to get it right?

 

[NEliteSteven]

I get there are gym hoppers, but do you really want someone in your program that doesn't want to be there? What makes you think they won't bust tumbling or drop a stunt on purpose just because they hate it there so much or just don't care. That's a chance I wouldn't want to take.

 

[CharlotteASMom]

I am a big proponent of doing thorough research before my child joins any activity including a cheer gym. If there was a problem at a gym then there would be a multitude of red flags well before November 1st. In the rare cases that there were not, I am in favor of an appeals process but most of these problems should have been spotted well before that time.

As mentioned with hockey before, this is a common practice in other youth sports and I am thrilled the rule is in place. The first suggestion about eliminating the need for the "new" gym to be listed on the form is valid. Youth soccer in NC does not require the new club to be involved until the release process is finished.

 

[CharlotteASMom]

I wanted to add that the reason a new club for soccer is not put on the form is that staff from another club is strictly forbidden from speaking with any carded member of another club until released. The intention of the rule is to prevent recruitment once the season has started. If that is the USASF's intention as well then the form needs to be reconsidered.

 

[nlow]

Quick question, if an athlete is booted off of a world bound team (not a problem child, no injury, replace by someone "better") then what? would they need a release then?

 

[MissCongeniality]

I wanted to add that the reason a new club for soccer is not put on the form is that staff from another club is strictly forbidden from speaking with any carded member of another club until released. The intention of the rule is to prevent recruitment once the season has started. If that is the USASF's intention as well then the form needs to be reconsidered.

Exactly! The recruitment issue needs to be considered and I believe is a large part of why this rule was first enacted. A truly "unhappy" with a program athlete can walk away any time from the program they don't like. What they can't do, per current rules, is find that "happiness" they were missing on another gym's Worlds team that season. I believe the rule was put into place to prevent the "grass is greener--- ring hopes look brighter" happiness mentality that some athletes and their families have. Certainly there are some cases where a valid reason exists to go from one team's level 5 program to another mid-season (abuse etc.), but I would guess that those reasons are the exception rather than the rule. It sounds like the USASF granted an exception for a situation like this last season.

 

[Mamarazzi]

I feel like I've been in this place before...

 

[Just-a-Mom]

I would say most cheerleaders goal and ambition is to go to Worlds.

I would say it's not. Many many many cheerleaders' goal is to go to Worlds. The gym we're in right now? Almost 200 kids and I'd bet 30 of them could even tell you what Worlds is. And probably only the parents of our Level 5 team members could tell you. The rest talk about Level 5 like it's some sort of other sport - "They're trying to win money or something...so they can go to Disney World." <---Yes, this is a real quote. So no, I would say "most" is inaccurate.



As for the original topic of this thread...I've debated on this for DAYS while following this thread. I'm sure I'm about to ruffle a few feathers and burn a bridge or 2, but at this point I don't care. I had my feathers more than a little ruffled over the last few months by some of these people anyway (and I'm sure the bridge was burned from both sides...).

I left the gym in discussion last summer in the middle of the summer. Are my kids level 5? Nope. So I wasn't worried about Worlds or anything else. Was I completely honest with the gym as to why I was leaving? Nope - quite frankly it was more drama than it would have been worth, so I claimes finances and left (we were having some money problems so not a total lie ) . But I'm sorry...there is NOT ONE PERSON who was at that gym the first few months of this season who couldn't see that there were problems. So I don't care if your kids are level 1, 5, or 352...if you didn't know there were problems before now, then you weren't paying attention. The whole thing was one big unorganized mess. And all of the things that are supposedly "coming to light" now were things anyone who was paying attention could have seen last summer. Certainly the people posting in this thread knew about them.

I had MANY people who I thought were my friends who were either very ugly to me, lied about me, or just outright acted like I didn't exist over the last few months since we left there. Not surprising in any way, but still hurtful.

So now that those same people are suddenly scrambling around trying to decide where to go and what to do, I'm sorry but I'm not feeling the least bit sorry for them. You had until NOVEMBER to decide!!! Like I said, my kids are nowhere near Worlds level athletes, but quite frankly if they were that's all the more reason I would have left sooner- so I wouldn't have the problem with the release now. A friend of mine said it best on her FB when she said "

People threw stones at me and spread lies about me. Because I had to make a choice for my family. Wish you the best and when you come up and talk to me I will turn my back on YOU so you can get your knife out of my back." ​

So no, I'm still sticking to my stance from last year about the rule (I was very vocal about it, but for those of you who weren't here I'm very much for the rule and I was one of the people who volunteered to be part of an appeals board *for free* for situations like the ICC situation). If you waited until now to see something that many, many, many, many people (did I mention it was many people) saw MONTHS ago then you have to reap what you have sown. There's a reason sooooooo many of us jumped ship last summer.

I also mentioned last year about this same time I believe that I thought coaches shouldn't be able to gym hop mid season either but everyone jumped on me and said they have to earn a living. Yes, but you shouldn't be leaving and taking half a gym with you mid-season, earning a living or not, which brings up the recruitment issue somewhat. If you work somewhere and are that unhappy, then go. But you don't get to take whole TEAMS with you and think that's cool. It's not. This isn't the only time I've seen this - I've seen it plenty of times, and I never agree with it. This all goes back to what we said last year - choose your gyms wisely. And if you even THINK you might change your mind you had better make that decision before comp season starts.

 

[debbie]

Quick question, if an athlete is booted off of a world bound team (not a problem child, no injury, replace by someone "better") then what? would they need a release then?

yes they would still need to be released and if the coach didnt want them to go to another club they are out of luck! this rule needs to go

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

My daughters boyfriend plays hockey. He wanted to switch teams and they would not release him. He was able to appeal and was eventually released. I would be for this rule if it was properly regulated like it is in other youth sports. As it stands now it is ripe for abuse.

USA Hockey has a pretty good process of Individual Membership Registrations (IMRs). Each athlete registers their IMRs on a computer, so USA Hockey has the information at their fingertips. Generally the only reason a hockey player won't be released is for financial obligations. I think gyms not releasing a cheerleader for financial obligations is a good thing. I can't really think of many other reasons not to release someone who clearly doesn't want to be in your program.

 

[Mamarazzi]

Just-a-Mom , touche.

Game over.

 

[debbie]

what happened in the icc situation?????

 

[shadow]

what happened in the icc situation?????

Which time?