Author: Andre

Dear USASF Members and Officials: The USASF and IASF are endorsed by and belong to the International Cheer Union, the international governing body for Cheer, which is recognized by national cheer federations from 100 different countries. The ICU has traditionally conducted its World Championships for National Teams (like USA Cheer) representing its member countries immediately…

Catherine Clifford of CNN published Why a $14/Hour Employee Costs $20, outlining the less obvious costs of adding an employee.

MSNBC published Teen: Kissing Another Male Cost Me My Cheerleading Post. A 17-year-old senior says he was kicked off the cheerleading squad and suspended because he kissed another male at their high school in Alice, Texas. The boy told KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi on Thursday that he was suspended after he was seen on surveillance camera…

The Sun Herald published Cheerleading Extends Beyond Football Season. You’ll find Golden Wave cheerleaders hard at work on the sidelines during the fall, but the cheer season lasts substantially longer than football season.

Ben Horowitz published The Fine Line Between Fear and Courage. The article talks about leadership characteristics and includes a couple of great quotes from legendary boxing trainer Cus D’amato, but can be summed up by one of Horowitz’s paragraphs: Every time you make the hard, correct decision you become a bit more courageous and every…

The USASF announced Dance Event Sanctioning will begin with the 2012-13 season. USASF Dance Sanctioning Standards

The USASF published new information concerning Dance Worlds. 2012 Dance Worlds Information

Jay Goltz wrote What Satisfying Picky Customers Can Mean to a Business in response to Paul Downs’ article about The Very Picky Customer. Goltz points out the difference between no growth, average growth, and exceptional growth over time can come down to how a business works with challenging customers.

The USASF sent the following email to Gym Members: Dear USASF Member Gym: As most of you know, the USASF conducted several “regional” meetings throughout the course of the summer to gather feedback from constituents and to educate members on initiatives the USASF is undertaking. As a result of these meetings there were several issues…

I read an article in the New York Times titled Monitoring the Private Lives of Your Employees which made me wonder how much monitoring is appropriate and how it should be done. Many employers have policy’s regarding the image an employee portrays on social networks, but how far should those policies go? As a gym…

Minneapolis, MN (Sept. 29, 2011) – The DX AmeriCup National Dance Championship held annually in Minneapolis will be awarding up to 18 World Bids at the February 24 – 26, 2012, championship; the most dance world bids at one major competition this season. Lisa Saline, originally with UPA and new founder and President of Dance…

Minneapolis, MN (Sept. 30, 2011) – Dance Xtreme invited a combination of school, rec and all star coaches to form an advisory panel and help refine the AmeriCup to become the best dance championship in the country. After numerous conference calls and lengthly dicussions, the 2012 AmeriCup promises to be an event dance teams should…

September 29, 2011 – Minneapolis MN – The Independent Event Producers (IEP) welcomes Cheer USA Championships from Huffman, Texas. “The independent sector is the largest portion of the spirit industry. Independent companies bring unique qualities and customer incentives to events all across the country.” says Lisa Saline, IEP Chairperson and owner of Dance Xtreme USA…

When Smart People are Bad Employees by Ben Horowitz comments on the problems created by having a really smart, but bad employee. The article even touches on if exceptions should be made for this type of employee.

The USASF posted minutes from the Dance Committee meetings on USASFDance.net.

Shane Womack, the Associate Publisher of Inside Cheerleading Magazine, sent following email about the iC 2011 Junior All American Team: Hello Coaches & Friends, Inside Cheerleading Magazine is looking for talented and dedicated Junior Cheerleaders ages 14 and under to be a part of our brand new Junior All American team presented by Nfinity Shoes!…

“The Majors” were introduced by JAMfest. There isn’t too much information yet, but what is available can be found at The Majors website. The teams competing at the inaugural event are: All Girl Cheer Athletics Cheer Extreme FAME Maryland Marlins Maryland Twisters Coed ACE California All-Stars Cheer Athletics Cheer Extreme Top Gun

The USASF has release the General Information Packet for the 2012 Cheerleading Worlds. The VIP Gala is now on Thursday. Some divisions (Small Senior, Small Coed) will have preliminaries on Friday for At Large Bid recipients only. The top 10 teams from preliminaries will move to Semi-Finals on Saturday to compete against the Partial Paid…

Forbes published Doing Deals — 3 Tips for Entrepreneurs (Part 2 & Part 3). The 9 tips, each part has 3, are a list of actions to take and not to take when going through a merger or acquisition process. Be Careful with Letters of Intent Create a Competitive Environment Use Your Lawyer as the…

UCA has updated the way Paid and Partial Bids will be awarded to College Nationals. UCA’s Director of College Programs, John White, sent an email outlining the changes. The changes, along with the 2012 Paid and Partial Bid recipients, have been posted on UCA’s Website. Below is the email sent to coaches: I hope this…

Jeff Webb is going to receive OSIP’s Lifetime Achievement Award later this month at the SITA-OSIP Conference in Las Vegas. Inside Cheerleading and Cheer Biz News have more information.

Mahwah Patch published MHS Coach: Why Cheerleading Is Important. “I was an active member of the Mahwah cheerleading program for 10 years. The memories and life skills I have gained through being actively involved in the program are irreplaceable. Mahwah cheerleading taught me time management, respect, and perseverance which led me to continue my cheerleading career…

Ben Horowitz published When Employees Misinterpret Managers, which should have been called When Management Misdirects Employees according to some. The article points out the problems of focusing on the wrong goals and numbers.

Mongolia has joined the International Cheer Union as its milestone 100th nation. ORLANDO, Fla. (September 2011) — As of September 12, The International Cheer Union (ICU) has welcomed its 100th member country. With the recent additions of cheerleading members in Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, Mongolia becomes the 100th member nation of one of the fastest…