newcheerdad and
MissBee you both point out the reality of what can happen if a company has enough influence in the governing body that they can indirectly affect the rules process and how close this gets to an anti-trust situation.
As far as creating rules goes, in his own testimony at the Quinnipiac case Jeff Webb stated that they included "use of props" in the college scoresheet so that it would encourage and promote Varsity porducts such as megaphones, pom-poms, signs, etc. We all know NCA has emphasized the "decency" concept this year so the full-top or some similar uniform emphasis would not be far fetched. Keep in mind the USASF does not have to make this rule for an EP to create and enforce it.
The problem I have with how much influence Varsity has had on the sport is with safety rules and inforcement. I acknopwedge how far the sport has progressed thanks to Varsity innovation, but again Jeff Webb himelf has testified that he does not favor Cheerleading being classified as a sport because the changes due to that designation would imply restrictions to his camps and could hurt business.
So right now we accept a sport that ignores some of the basic safety precautions that would be required of any other activity that involves influence over our children: mandatory background checkss and drug testing of ANYONE who has contact with our children. Along with that should be enforcement of restricted access from individuals who do not meet set criteria.
The USASF follows the best rules making process of any other cheer governing body yet behind every safety decision is the question of how it would affect the industry. In a governing body interested first in the safety of it's athletes, the safety rules would come first and the industry would be asked to adapt. That's what other youth sports do.
To the world outside of cheer, there is the illusion that USA Cheer is a governing body of cheerleading. Again, Jeff Webb tesitified that he created USA Cheer so that Varsity would have influence in college if it was ever considered a full sport. Today, they state they are the "governing body of college cheerleading" although they have yet to gain serious ground in that area.
Along these lines, USA Cheer created a group that includes NACCC, NFHS, AACCA, and USASF. NFHS has not made any true strides in school cheer safety other than the "Spirit Guide" they produce which was created by volunteers. Still no effort to get credit as a school sport. There are examples of the NACCC and AACCA showing effort toward rules and safety but I can cite where they know they could do more, but don't take the steps in the interest of the industry.
Sorry for the long post, but this is a sore subject in my book. As I said before I give Varsity credit for progressing the sport porbably more than any other company has, and for making money while doing it. What I don't like is how the company has helped create an industry that rules a sport, and unfortunatley sacrifices the safety of our kids in the process.
