All-Star Vipers Allstars (maryland)

[mybabywantstotumble]

I really wish that less people found a need to continue to kick someone that was already down.

don't take it as that, Cheerlegal was just sharing information that was passed along to her. after what went down this year, i appreciate any "heads up" or additional information that others who have been in the MD all star community for longer than me can share. there were people who knew ron was going to close the gym weeks before it happened, when the rest of us were clueless.

it is up to us to take that shared information and make an informed decision. i sure wish i knew the whole story about ron prior to allowing my cp to join vipers. while we love all the coaches, and the friends we made, if i had know the whole story about him and his past i don't believe i would have allowed her to be apart of his organization.

with that being said, i am pleased with the changes i have seen since Tom absorbed the program. it is quite refreshing to have your owner at the competitons cheering on every single team from beginning to end. he is also approachable and will take the time to talk to us and won't feed us a line of BS or tell us what we want to hear.

 

[mybabywantstotumble]

This weekend, I saw the Vipers entire program, and I can honestly say they are very alive and well. Kudos to those who kept it alive for the kids.

lol - i swear i saw you. i recognized you from a pic with Mamarazzi!

 

[retiredl5cheer]

nikimo --- Thank you thank you for that post. BTW, I worked with your CP last weekend and she is a pleasure to coach. Love her!

 

[Cheerlegal]

I admire Tom and what he is doing and plans to do for Vipers.... I think the person who asked me to post that feels that the program could end up in the same boat again under the leadership of Mr. Sweeney.... While there isnt 100,000.00 in judgements against him, there is about $50k according to the Md Judiciary website, so her information isnt completely unfounded and it also does show that he has 2 active arrest warrents for traffic violations, so she is accurate on some points..... Good Luck to Vipers for the rest of your season and I hope it all works out....

I am a Viper mom. I can tell you that most of this is verified as untrue, the rest has no evidence. I have done my research, there is not 100,000 in civil suits against him. He does have a genuine interest in cheer (he still cheers as a raven). That comment that was inflammatory about "being a little too interested in the older girls" comes from the defamation of character case that he had against another gym owner a couple of years ago. I will not name the other gym, but it is all in the case and he was found in the right on that. He is not financially vested in our gym. He is FRIENDS with Tom (the new owner) because they cheered together with the ravens, so it is kind of like a sister-gym of sorts. I cannot speak to the dues and comps because I was not there, but there is no record of him previously owning another gym that I could find anywhere.

I really wish that less people found a need to continue to kick someone that was already down. These are not loaded comments about some faceless, cold organization. These are comments about a small group of people that have hurt children and hopeful leaders that are willing to fight through disparity. Our whole organization has been "fearful" of what is going on and unsure as to what the future may hold, but teaching our girls to "run in the other direction" as soon as we hit a rough patch is not a life lesson that I, personally, am not willing to do. Oh, and the added comment about
'if you have no problem with this and money to throw around, your child can be the start of the team!" ... Really? Why such a heartless addition to the soap-box speech? To assume that anybody that stays is either an idiot for wasting money, or immoral for buying a star position is beyond culpable and unnecessary given the position that everyone of these families were put in.

Our girls have been through so much already. My baby cried a lot over the deceit, and the thought of having to change gyms. We really were on the fence about leaving, even though we thought it wrong to ever quit mid-season. After having the initial meeting with Tom and hearing him out I felt so much better. And, I can tell you that he is not just talk. He has made awesome changes and done everything in his power to allow our girls to have a full season. He made the transition seamless (aside from the issues that were beyond his control) and all of the money that was stolen from us by Ron, he is honoring (from his own pocket) so all of these families would not be out one dime. I am so glad that we chose to stay, and proud to be part of VIP athletics! Our cheer family is closer now than ever, and my CP is so happy!

At the end of the day, isn't that what this is all about?

 

[nikimo]

[quote="Cheerlegal, post: 540534, member: 454"Mr. Sweeney.... While there isnt 100,000.00 in judgements against him, there is about $50k according to the Md Judiciary website, so her information isnt completely unfounded and it also does show that he has 2 active arrest warrents for traffic violations, so she is accurate on some points..... [/quote]

I did check that stuff prior, but it the the wrong Nick Sweeney, all of them. He was not born in the 80's. He is older than me. The only thing that is tied to him is the suit / counter-suit between him and the other gym. This is the point I am trying to convey. Giving information to help others is a wonderful thing, but we all really need to be sure that our information is correct before stating it as a fact.

Thanks! We are excited to stay a family.

 

[nikimo]

don't take it as that, Cheerlegal was just sharing information that was passed along to her. after what went down this year, i appreciate any "heads up" or additional information that others who have been in the MD all star community for longer than me can share. there were people who knew ron was going to close the gym weeks before it happened, when the rest of us were clueless.

it is up to us to take that shared information and make an informed decision. i sure wish i knew the whole story about ron prior to allowing my cp to join vipers. while we love all the coaches, and the friends we made, if i had know the whole story about him and his past i don't believe i would have allowed her to be apart of his organization.

with that being said, i am pleased with the changes i have seen since Tom absorbed the program. it is quite refreshing to have your owner at the competitons cheering on every single team from beginning to end. he is also approachable and will take the time to talk to us and won't feed us a line of BS or tell us what we want to hear.

To my "kick someone down" comment, it was more directed to the comments like "fearful" and "run" and about us wanting to throw money around. I understand that the person posted it for someone else (and my comment was directed toward the writer, not the poster)... but being helpful means giving info. Adding those comments is just insult to injury, IMO! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I think they got their point across with their experience without attempting to belittle the parents that decided to stay by assuming we all have a lot of money, very little morals, and would buy a "star" position on the team.

we came from Pa, and I knew some info from prior knowledge, but it was not exactly what we have gone through. I also looked him up and saw that he has a lot of suits with his other company, but being in construction (a field with a lot of suits) it is hard to read on the dockets if it was fraudulent issues or just disgruntled customers.

I love having tom as an owner, and Kasey as well. I think between the two of them it is going to run very well. From what I have seen, everything is looking really positive.

 

[nikimo]

This weekend, I saw the Vipers entire program, and I can honestly say they are very alive and well. Kudos to those who kept it alive for the kids.

Thanks! My baby is on two of the teams you saw!

 

[nikimo]

nikimo --- Thank you thank you for that post. BTW, I worked with your CP last weekend and she is a pleasure to coach. Love her!

Thanks!!!

 

[UBettaWerkSnap]

Ummm dont shoot me but who and what us Lady T's exactly?

 

[redsmom]

Ummm dont shoot me but who and what us Lady T's exactly?

MD Twisters have created an IO5 team, Lady T's they will debut at Reach the Beach this weekend.

 

[UBettaWerkSnap]

Ohh Okay Thanks I was so confused I kept hearing about them but was clueless as to who they were~

 

[mommywfour]

[quote="Cheerlegal, post: 540534, member: 454"Mr. Sweeney.... While there isnt 100,000.00 in judgements against him, there is about $50k according to the Md Judiciary website, so her information isnt completely unfounded and it also does show that he has 2 active arrest warrents for traffic violations, so she is accurate on some points.....

I don’t normally post anything online but I felt like I needed to comment here. I think everyone agrees that the Vipers families and athletes have been through a really rough time and everyone is behind them “cheering” them on. However, my daughters used to cheer with Mr. Sweeney at one of his prior locations, and much of what has been said about him is unfortunately true... First, he is in his late 30’s and the court records online are him, including the warrants (he looks and acts younger). I know that cheerlegals friend sounded a little harsh in her post, but I think she’s just angry and wanted to warn the Viper families to be careful. Nicholas Sweeney is an extremely charming man, but please don’t be fooled by the big smile. We know from our own experience that he has a pattern of opening and closing gyms, and he leaves a lot of angry parents and confused kids in his wake. When the article in the Washington Examiner was first published it was quickly followed by pages and pages of angry comments from former parents who had been taken advantage of or abandoned by Mr. Sweeney at his prior locations in Maryland and Virginia. No one wants to see the Viper families go through this all over again, so please just be aware. My daughters and I wish all the best to the Vipers families for a wonderful new season.

 

[nikimo]

I don’t normally post anything online but I felt like I needed to comment here. I think everyone agrees that the Vipers families and athletes have been through a really rough time and everyone is behind them “cheering” them on. However, my daughters used to cheer with Mr. Sweeney at one of his prior locations, and much of what has been said about him is unfortunately true... First, he is in his late 30’s and the court records online are him, including the warrants (he looks and acts younger). I know that cheerlegals friend sounded a little harsh in her post, but I think she’s just angry and wanted to warn the Viper families to be careful. Nicholas Sweeney is an extremely charming man, but please don’t be fooled by the big smile. We know from our own experience that he has a pattern of opening and closing gyms, and he leaves a lot of angry parents and confused kids in his wake. When the article in the Washington Examiner was first published it was quickly followed by pages and pages of angry comments from former parents who had been taken advantage of or abandoned by Mr. Sweeney at his prior locations in Maryland and Virginia. No one wants to see the Viper families go through this all over again, so please just be aware. My daughters and I wish all the best to the Vipers families for a wonderful new season.

I appreciate the concern and the well wishes. From all that we have been told and understand, Nick Sweeney has no financial interest in our gym. He is a long time friend of Tom, the new owner, because they cheered together at the Ravens. We are all on high alert, coming off of such a terrible situation, but I think Tom is really focusing on what needs to be done and we are all happy with staying with him, and hopeful that this will all be a bad memory one day and we will get to stay a family, and our CP will stay happy. My baby wanted to stay, and cried at the thought of leaving. As long as she feels so strongly about the Vipers in such a positive way, and I continue to see all the good that they are doing, I am one happy cheer mama!

 

[xCoastalCheer]

I can speak as an athlete who for 2 years belonged to one of Sweeney's many gyms (Cheer-N-Gym X to be exact). We had locations in Hollywood, MD, Prince Frederick, MD, and Fredericksburg, VA.. It's never a good day for an athlete to walk into the gym for practice and realize all the money, as well as your founder and head coach, are gone. However, I ended up at Twisters shortly after, and I'm so thankful for that.

 

[cheer360°z]

wow... i dont know if its just me, but that seems kinda unprofessional. it's like you're getting ready for practice one day, and then you get this email and its like , "sorry, we have to close the gym immediately for business reasons, which means no more vipers cheer and dance. have a nice day!"
lol but really??