Author: Andre

The July 16th show included Andre, King, Lark, Lisa, and Shane with a late appearance by Adam. Topics included Future Cheer, JAMfest going to Canada, Wild Card bids to Summit, and the Majors.

ABC News featured Carly Manning, Gabi Butler, Michaeleddie Rivera and their families on a recent Nightline segment about extraordinary families. Part 1 –  ‘Cheerlebrities’: Inside the Lives of Cheerleading Super Stars Part 2 – Teen Cheerleading Celebrities Take on Major Competition Extra – Confessions of a Male Cheerleader Extra – A Day in the Life…

Varsity All Star announced Wild Card Bids to Summit. The lists of bid events for Cheer, Dance, and Wild Cards are available in the Spirit Company DropBox. New for The Summit 2015! Varsity All Star will now be offering Wild Card Bids at select 1-day championships throughout the 2014-2015 competition season. These Wild Card bids…

Forbes published Five Reasons to Ignore the Advice to Do What You Love, outlining reasons it may not be a great idea to make a job out of the thing you love most. In Newport’s book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, he argues that following one’s passions can be a dead end. He argues…

Entrepreneur published Richard Branson on Building a Business That Lasts, in which Richard Branson discusses some of the challenges of building a business. There is no hard and fast rule that distinguishes the two businesses in 10 that survive from those that fail: Business-threatening challenges can pop up at any moment, no matter what you…

Cheer Safe published NFHS Releases Cheerleading Rules for 2014-2015, including the link to order the book. It’s also the perfect time for school cheerleading coaches and administrators to order their copies of the National Federation of State High School Associations 2014-2015 Spirit Rules Book which has just been released. The rules book, which can be…

Thanks to Independence Weekend there wasn’t much going on in the cheer and dance world during the last week. I spent the weekend with several people in the industry including all star coaches, college coaches, event producers, and affiliates and had a conversation about whether or not it was worth going to a USASF Regional…

The July 9th show was one of our more humorous episodes, featuring Adam, Andre, King, Lark, and Shane discussing the Secret App, Future Cheer, and the Universal Score Sheet.

Reuters published Bellicose North Korea Lightens Up With Promise of Cheerleaders, hinting at cheerleaders being used as a way to ease tensions between the Koreas. “We have decided to dispatch a cheerleading squad along with the athletes to the 17th Asian Games in order to improve relationships between the North and the South and to…

NBC New York published Oakland Raiderettes to Be Paid $9 an Hour, Make Minimum Wage for 1st Time, continuing the discussion of wage and working conditions for NFL cheerleaders. But earning minimum wage in California is a big deal to the cheerleader who first sued the Raiders in December, claiming that all the unpaid time…

The Intuit Small Business Blog published How to Get Employees to Share Ideas to Grow Your Business, discussing what should be an easy way to improve a business. Some employee ideas may be game-changers. Some will result in only marginal improvement. Others will simply fall flat. You must make it clear that, regardless of the…

You’re the Boss published How I Learned to Recruit an A-Plus Team, discussing past mistakes made when hiring. We have some excellent players on our team. I look around my office as I write this blog, and it occurs to me that they all share three traits: drive, cultural fit and raw intelligence. These will…

Everyday Health published Is Cheerleading More Dangerous Than Football?, in response to the recent AMA announcement and Texas recognizing cheerleading as a sport. But proponents argue that defining cheerleading as a sport would create better organization, regulations and, importantly, better training for coaches. More than 30 states now recognize cheerleading as a high school sport,…

I spent most of the past week in Lexington, KY with the University of Kentucky cheerleaders during their summer practice week. It was interesting to see the new team practicing together for the first time and the new members get a crash course in being a Kentucky cheerleader. I also got to see how Jomo Thompson…

The July 2nd show featured Adam, Andre, King, and Lisa talking about working with outside consultants (camp instructors, choreographer, and music producers) and the “Gym Swap” idea mentioned on ASGA,

The Guardian published Is Cheerleading in Schools Sexist?, asking that question to experts in the United Kingdom. More than 40% of UK schools now offer cheerleading, according to the UK Cheerleading Association. Of those taking part in its competitions, 96% are female. Is cheerleading a good way to get girls excited about PE, or is…

ESPNW published Sorry, Cheerleading is Not a Sport, contributing to the is cheerleading a sport debate. Sports teams exist to compete, not to perform and entertain or support another group that competes. In the cheer-as-sport conversation, this is the most important element to understand. One can be an athlete and not participate in a sport.…

Jeff Jordan published Leaving It All on the Field, discussing the challenges of managing a growing business. The keys to success to using these methods are a hunger to learn and improve, a willingness to be vulnerable and share weaknesses as well as strengths, and often owning up with your organization to shortcomings that you’re…

Intuit’s Small Business Blog published Building a Strong Company Culture. The title makes it clear what the article talks about. If you think your small business needs a stronger sense of purpose, there’s good news: Fostering a positive culture at work doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming.

Dear USASF Event Producer Members, It’s finally here! The FIRST release of the USASF Universal Score Sheet. The Universal Score Sheet is the result of the dedicated efforts of a committee comprised of a wide cross section of All Star Cheer coaches, judges and event producers. The two-year process blended the varied philosophies of scoring…

The first USASF Regional Meeting of the summer was held in Chicago last weekend. The meeting offered a range of classes for cheerleading and dance including skills classes, business classes, insights into scoring, choreography, and music, as well as general industry sessions and a variety of specialized sessions. The meeting also had the first preview…

The June 25th show included guests Adam, Andre, King, Lisa, and Shane discussing the passing of Morehead State’s Myron Doan, Varsity Spirit merging with Cheer LTD, the upcoming European Championships in Germany, a recent ESPN W article, and the USASF Regional Meetings.