So Much To Do & Talk About!

Oh blog how I have neglected you! 


Cheer Moms is busy...even if you can't tell it! We are lining up our guest experts and moms to write for our website launch with Cheer Channel. Nikki and I are organizing all the great new parts of the site. I don't think we realized how much work it would be! 


There is so much to write about...NCATA, the new competition season, some new training tips I have learned, and of course getting our team moms ready with their perfect team mom bag! :)


Next week we start our official fall session at the gym and have a good 20 new girls showing up next week!! It is my goal for next week to live through that and get them all in the right spots on the right night...and of course another week full of baseball. 


Then...I can blog. My mind has been so full lately, I just walk around with a notebook. 


Life is good! 


Cheers, 
Lisa

A Summer Worth Remembering

I usually don't write about my life & family, but this has been the summer for family. So here I go... a small peek into my world. 

I am a lucky to be a mom. What my husband and I went through to bring two children in this world was something I wouldn't wish upon anyone. A little over 10 years ago I brought home a beautiful, tiny 4.5 pound baby boy. He was and still is my miracle. It took me 4 years to bring him into the world. I had a perfect pregnancy and enjoyed every second of it. My son, on the other hand decided that we had waited long enough for his arrival and came into the world 6 weeks early after 42 hours of labor and an emergency c-section! He was so tiny and frail. When you come home with a preemie and have spent time in the NICU, you literally have a manual of do's and don'ts. If you weren't supposed to get it...we did. If it wasn't supposed to happen, it did. He had a rough first year and two surgeries by 18 months. Needless to say, he had my constant attention, affection and love! Through all of it he thrived and was quite the little fighter. 

About that time we went through infertility treatments again and had a daughter on the way. I almost lost her in the beginning, but thanks to the wonders of modern medicine I managed to carry her full term. I finally did it...a HEALTHY baby! I had her in the room with me at the hospital, not like the first time when I had to go visit my son. Well, she was with me, until they took her away for some "tests". She came back a few hours later with a orthopedist carrying a body brace and a diagnosis of hip dysplasia. I'll be honest. At the point all I could think was what the hell have I done?! This little baby was put into my arms all cinched up into a brace that made her look like a frog waiting to be dissected. We fought with braces and countless trips to Shriner's Hospital forever. She had to sleep with me because of the braces. If she were to manage to roll over in the night she could not roll back and could suffocate. I spent a year sleeping with my hand on her stomach to make sure she didn't roll. 

Here we are today!! At 4:00 I will be sitting at a ball game watching my son play his first game with his school team. He is finally old enough this year...not only is he playing, he is starting with the "big boys" in 8th grade. :) He has spent 7 years playing in the county league with mom and dad at every game.  I couldn't be prouder. He couldn't be more nervous! I won't tell him, but I will be holding my breath the majority of the time. 

My daughter, who spent so much time in braces did her first solo standing back handspring last week! I squealed right along with her. It was her goal for the summer and she made it with a week to spare. :) 

I have spent the summer going to endless baseball games, working at the gym at the desk and spotting handspring after handspring at home. I have talked both of them through their "I hate this...it is NEVER going to work" times and celebrated with them when it finally did.

Cheer Moms hasn't been updated daily, or had a flurry of posts, but I had a wonderful summer. I just enjoyed being MOM. It was fabulous! I must admit, they are starting to get bored and might kill each other any day now. I resorted to raft fights int he pool with them yesterday to keep the peace. School starts next week which will mean less time with the kids and more time  on a tight schedule. 

I have work starting to stack up....with Cheer Moms right at the top of the list. I have 6 more days to enjoy summer and the kids. I will see you in a week! I'll be posting the latest info, QODs, a new directory of gyms, and some interviews with coaches.....but it is going to wait just six more days, 3 practices at the gym and 3 baseball games. :)

Cheers! 

Fundraising!

I am working on a comprehensive list of fundraising ideas for a blog. If you have any favorites please leave a comment or email me a CheerMomsLisa@gmail.com! I am also working on a series of interviews of coaches for our Cheer Moms. Do you have any burning questions?

The last two weeks have been a blur. I have worked on the house non-stop...it was a mess and needed total reorganization of the house. We had a week long break from the gym, which was nice. It gave me time to fit in a quick trip to see family and work on the house project. 

This week I am back to reality. :) I am getting excited watching our teams learn awesome new skills, they should really shine this year! The gym is growing by leaps and bounds, big kudos to our owner who has put a lot of work into the look of the gym. I walked in last night and thought I was in a different place! 

Cheer Moms is definitely on a roll. I know we keep talking about surprises, but any day now we will have one! We are working hard to get ready for the competition season. We will also be doing feature gyms in addition to the directory, and interview series. The future is looking bright! 

For now, I am off to work. 

Heel Marks On the Wall, Balls Through The Windows and More Random Thoughts!

It is always so nice to sneak away for a few days. Locked in the car with kids gives you much time to think about things! 


Today the kids are moving slowly, recovering from non-stop fun with their cousins, which is a nice break for this mom. I spent the majority of my car time getting everything in order for the gym so we are ready to roll like a fine tuned instrument once the season gets hopping! I have a form for everything..... at least I think I do. I am sure something will pop up and I will not be ready. Honestly I am still pretty green at all the paperwork!


As I was trying to think ahead and get the office end of the gym in order, I realized my house is still in need of order. I get started.....then something else comes along and takes my attention away from the things I really do not want to do. I have heel marks on the hallway walls from endless handstands. The window people have made their visit to the house to fix a ball through a window. It seems so irritating at the time, but I realized this time in their lives is a time they will always remember. The endless days of summer, handstands on the wall, balls through the windows, swimming and the carelessness of being a child. 


So this week I am continuing my semi vacation from Cheer Moms. The house is going to get some much needed attention. A home office is tops on the list....and I just might paint those heel marks on the walls! 


First though, I think the kids and I are sneaking off to spend a day at the zoo, and see how much swimming we can accomplish in one week!


Enjoy you summer fellow Cheer Moms.....we will be back to the grind before you know it! Secretly, I can't wait for the season to start! Cheerleading, baseball and football all at the same time! 

Why Should We Care About Varsity?

Why should we even care about Varsity? It is just a business right? I would have said that myself a couple months ago. I had no idea of Varsity’s reach, their involvement in the world of cheerleading. Now that I have done my research, I fear what I originally saw as a simple company, is far more than that.

 

 -Showtime, Penn & Teller, 2010

Jeff, do you really mean it?! I thought we were no more a sport than CHESS? Seriously Jeff, you are confusing me. Want to try to wiggle out of this some more?

Everything evolves over time. Cheerleading has definitely evolved. Today, your typical cheerleader is not simply an ambassador that yells chants and shakes pom-poms. They are athletes that compete. They compete in a sport. Ask any school cheerleader what they want. I bet you they will say to WIN! Sure, they enjoy cheering on the sidelines and supporting the teams of their school, but today’s cheerleader is a different animal all together. I cheered for my time when I was a cheerleader. What I did over 20 years ago is NOT what cheerleaders are doing today. Just as cheerleading has evolved, I think it is time for the schools, states, collegiate system and Title IX to evolve also. Can we truly risk the rules and regulations not evolving at the pace the skills are?

The 10K SEC document filed by Varsity on 3/31/03 tells us what they are concerned about! Read this carefully!

“However, if rules limiting off-season training are applied to cheerleading and/or dance teams similar to rules imposed by the NCAA on some inter-collegiate sports, it could under certain circumstances, have a material adverse affect of Varsity’s business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we are not aware of any school officially adopting these activities as a competitive sport, recognition of cheerleading and/or dance teams as  sport would increase the possibility that cheerleader or dance activities may become regulated.

At the high school level, some state associations have classified cheerleading as a sport and in some cases have imposed certain restrictions on off season practices and out of state travel to competitions. However, in all cases to date, we have been able to work with these state athletic associations to designate acceptable times for the cheerleaders within these states to attend camps. We have also signed agreements with several state associations to assist with sponsoring and executing official competitions within these states. To date, state regulations have not had a material effect on our ability to conduct our normal business activities.”

WAIT! What? Do you mean to tell me that you have been worrying and planning over this “issue” for 7 years now? Also, if this Cheer Mom is reading correctly, you put up a  friendly stop sign every single time a high school or college takes a step forward to recognizing cheerleading as a sport! I doubt they really realize it. It is easy for them and it works. This just doesn’t add up.

Varsity has their hands in:

1.      Uniforms

2.      Camp apparel and accessories

3.      Choreography

4.      Running of camps

5.      Training of coaches

6.      Training of gym owners

7.      Owning of cheer gyms

8.      Running of competitions

9.      Training of judges

10.  Making of the rules

11.  Governing of the rules

They also have special relationships with:

1.      NCAA

2.      NFHS

3.      All 50 state athletic associations

4.      All 50 state cheer associations

5.      Safety organizations

6.      World competitions

They have MULTI MILLION dollar contracts with:

1.      Disney

2.      ESPN

THEY HAVE 75% of the market share!!!  I am starting to think it would be way easier to write about what Varsity is NOT involved in.

So Cheer Moms, it is almost impossible for us to even attend anything involved with cheerleading and not be hand in hand with Varsity. I had someone mention planning a year of competitions with no involvement with Varsity. Guess what? It is virtually IMPOSSIBLE ladies!! Varsity has made this so simple for us that we can write one big, fat check to them for everything from our gym fees down right down to the admission we pay to get to SEE OUR OWN CHILDREN at competitions. Oh, wait, we pay for those also don’t we? You better add that onto your check too.

“Cheerleading would be less safe if made a sport.”

            -Jim Lords, Executive Director of AACCA

            -Washington Post

WHAT? Did someone drop him on his head a few times? I honestly think he is more confused than I have been for the last several days wading through the muck of this mess. Give me a break!

Currently, without sports recognition this is what you get:

o   No regulations.

o   More control from companies…i.e. VARISTY

o   Increased profits for…..come on, take a guess!

o   NO height restrictions on basket tosses

o   Stunts are allowed on gym floors, asphalt and grass.

o   The rules are not clearly defined.

o   There are NO enforcement mechanisms to hold anyone responsible for ANYTHING!

o   According to the AACCA manual spring floors are considered height increasing apparatus instead of a safety device!

o   According to AACCA.org over 2/3 of cheerleading coaches have no certifications.

o   Without regulation, means no enforced safety plans.

o   Amazingly, no Varsity competition has ever reported any catastrophic injury.

-Courtesy of National Cheer Safety Institute

Is it just me, or do you find it ironic that cheerleading is a female dominated sport and these are all men? Do you see one single woman that makes a decision at Varsity? I find that extremely interesting. Our cheerleading expert Greg Webb, sits on the board of The Women’s Sports Foundation. Is your brain hurting as much as mine is right now? If he sits on this board, and he is a cheerleading expert, why isn’t he advocating that cheerleading be recognized as a sport? Why do we want to come up with new NAMES for what we do?  Hold on, it is coming to me….I think I have it! If we come up with yet another variation of cheer just think of the possibilities!!! Varsity would have a ball! They could start a whole other army of companies. They could CHEER all the way to the bank. You know just as well as I do, that a cheerleader that loves to cheer is NOT going to just do one part of cheer.  Just think of what they stand to gain, and gain, and gain. Think of what your athlete stands to LOSE.

I made a little graph for you. Well actually, it is not very little, but it is informative!

This, my friends, is Varsity. They own, financially support or have a strong say in every single one of these companies. I will provide all the hyperlinks to the websites, you can check the facts! If you click around enough you will end up at Varsity. Actually, Varsity is in the title of most of these web addresses.

I do want to say that I do not think Varsity is the root of all evil. They have helped cheerleading evolve at a rapid pace. They have many initiatives that I am in complete agreement with. I just can’t agree with playing both sides of the fence. The fence jumping is getting old.

The bottom line is this. Varsity stands to lose if cheerleading is recognized as a sport. They will no longer be able to monopolize grade school, high school and college cheerleading.  THE NCAA will take over the collegiate end of cheerleading and the states will take over the rest. There will be ONE national champion per division, not 66. States will have state championships just like basketball, football, etc. Cheerleading will be afforded the same courtesies that other sports at schools are afforded. They will have designated, appropriate practice areas, regulations, coaches will need knowledge of the sport and safety, with recognized, agreed upon rules! These rules will be made by a “body”, not a company.  In my opinion a state or national body that has no corporate input is going to be more apt to be advocates for the athletes of the sport. I have been fortunate enough to meet so many new people that would jump at the chance to be on a board like that!  This is why we see Varsity talking out of both sides of their mouths saying cheerleading is a sport, then turning right around and saying it isn't.

I have come full circle, back to the original question I blogged about last week. What do I want to accomplish? I want cheerleading to be fully recognized for what it is. I want it to become safer for our youth. I also want to see cheerleading, as an industry, open up to other businesses and MINDS. Simply put, I want more voices to be heard than just ONE. Schools, states and independent gyms, I beg you to open up your eyes and see what is going on around you! Be an advocate for change! Be an advocate for our youth! I look at all this information and I start to imagine an octopus with all its arms practically strangling our cheerleaders! 

Cheer Moms will become an advocate for better training, safety and fairness for all cheerleaders. If we find a group that promotes these goals, then we will promote them with all we have. We also invite any independent company that sells quality products or promotes quality cheer competitions to send us your link. Let us feature you!  

As always, 

Just a Cheer Moms Opinion!

What do YOU think? 

*You can click on any graphic to view it full screen. 

The Varsity Brands

ACP – American Cheer Power          cheerpower.varsity.com

UCA – Universal Cheerleaders Association uca.varsity.com/

WSF – World Spirit Foundation       wsf.varsity.com/ 

ACA – American Cheerleading Association aca.varsity.com

SS – Spirit Sports       spiritsports.com

AACCA – American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators   www.aacca.org/

ASC – All Star Challenge       allstarchallenge.varsity.com

NDA – National Dance Alliance        nda.varsity.com/

UDA – Universal Dance Association             uda.varsity.com

O. – Ozone   uniforms.varsity.com/aboutOzone.aspx

VU – Varsity Uniforms           uniforms.varsity.com

VSF – Varsity Spirit Fashions                        www.varsity.com/

V!ROC – Varsity! Remarkable Original Choreography       www.varsity.com/camps

VBI – Varsity Brands, Inc.      www.varsity.com

CDT – Cheerleader & Danzteam       uniforms.varsity.com/dsCheerleaderAndDanzTeam.aspx

SC – Spirit Cheer                    www.xtremespirit.com/links.html

C – Cheerleading.com                       www.cheerleading.com/

VTV – Varsity TV        www.varsity.com/varsitytv/index.html        

USASF – United States All Star Federation usasf.net

CTC – Cheerleading Technique Camps        ctc.varsity.com

IALC – International All-Levels Championship        www.all-levels.com

SXC – Spirit Xpress Cheerleading                 spiritxpress.varsity.com/

TAC – The American Championships                       ac.varsity.com/ 

NCSSE – National Council for Spirit Safety & Education   www.spiritsafety.com

NCA – National Cheerleaders Association  nca.varsity.com/

AC – Athletic Championships                       www.athleticchampionships.com

USA – United Spirit Association       usa.varsity.com/ 

Premier Athletics                   www.premierathletics.com                                     

OSiP – Organization of Industry Providers             www.osiponline.org/ 

USA Japan      www.fundinguniverse.com/

USA CHEER     usacheer.net

Intropa Tours             uca.varsity.com/docs/travins.pdf

International Logo Inc.         nca.varsity.com/championshiplisting.aspx

IASF – International All Star Federation     www.iasfworlds.org

International Cheer Union   cheerunion.org/        

Norway Cheer           

NACCC                                    www.usasf.net/cheer

Varsity Brands Holding         business.highbeam.com/company-profiles/info/.../varsity-brands-inc

The Penn & Teller Episiode

For those of you who haven't seen the show, here it is!

You do NOT want to watch this with children present. :)

zSHARE video - penn.and.teller.bullshit.801.hdtv.xvid-sys.avi.flv

Nightmares of Days Past...and Varsity

This morning I was awoken by nightmares of my past. Was it some horrible thing I had done? It was a small framed man...a man from my past. Unfortunately, it was a former professor who had his doctorate in philosophy. He was looking at me with that same look he did over 20 years ago when I sat in his classroom at a small liberal arts college. You see, the dear man was all about critical thinking and writing for a reason. 

"Why are you writing this? What is the purpose? What are you trying to do? Where are your facts?", he said in my dream. His face was all scrunched up just like I remember. He was not one to hand out compliments because he wanted perfection. The problem was that he believed perfection was not attainable. Your battle with him was lost the second you walked in the door. At first I wondered why I could be dreaming of college? Then I quickly figured it out. 

I have been thinking a lot about Varsity Sports. How could I not? It is in my inbox, Facebook, website...everywhere I go. I know I am not happy, but exactly what am I not happy about? I am doing all this research, but what is my END GOAL? 

I have been around long enough to realize that cheerleading is not the first or last corporate idea that someone has come up with, ran with and turned into a major money maker.....an empire. I work in technology, surrounded by men (I think that is why I enjoy Cheer Moms so much!), we have an ongoing debate. We are passionate about our operating systems and will argue until we pass out in defense of them. I am a Windows user. A good friend of mine believes Bill Gates, the pioneer of Windows, is the devil reincarnate! One day I had enough of him and said, "I could care less if he is the devil, he makes products that work, he makes the products I need to make my business work, so therefore he will continue to get my business!...Is Microsoft perfect? Lord no! If they were, I wouldn't have so many people calling needing computers fixed, databases corrected and the such. Note to self: Make sure Microsoft never becomes "perfect"!

I digress...this all relates back to Varsity. Actually they are a good comparison to Microsoft. They have the market cornered. You have to play nice with them, or pretty much be alone in your own little sandbox. Is it fair? No. Are there people starting to nip at Microsoft's heals? YES! 

This morning I have finally figured out why I am doing so much research about Varsity and why I care. Varsity needs some nipping at the heals. I can't do it alone, but I can be one voice providing accurate information to a group of people. If enough people get informed, then maybe....just maybe, change can come. Can we do it overnight? Of course not! Look how long it has taken Cheerleading to become what it is today? Look at how long Microsoft has dominated the market! 

Cheer Moms! started out as something fun. It hit me today. Together we can become something. We can become informed advocates for OUR children. We can learn together, share together and put all our single voices together and make a roar! Albeit right now we are a small tiger trying out our roar...but I am ready to give it a go. Are you? 

Today I am just going to be a mom. I am going to clean the house before there is a rebellion and organize my thoughts. Then, I will put all my information together and share it with my favorite group...Cheer Moms! 

God bless his soul, he lost a battle to cancer, but I hope their is one professor looking down smiling today, because he still is with me over twenty years later! I hope I do you proud.