Author: Andre

All*Star Prep, Rec, or whatever it ends up being called is the initiative to organize the lower cost, lower time commitment, shorter season teams. The 2011-2012 season looks like it’s going to be a year of data collection so intelligent decisions can be made in the future. Event Producers are going to be asked to…

Varsity Brands Celebrates 3rd Annual National School Spirit Day on September 9, 2011; More than 200,000 Hours of Community Service Conducted Over Past Two Years Memphis, TN – According to a recent survey of 1,016 teen girls conducted by Varsity Brands, when concerned about an issue, cheerleaders are more likely than the average teen girl…

The New York Times ‘You’re the Boss’ blog published Deciding Whose Advice to Take, focusing on 4 themes: The Complicated and Expensive Solution (may not be within your budget) Conventional Wisdom (may not apply) The Trustworthy Source Who is Just Plain Wrong (may steer you the wrong direction) The Wisdom of Crowds: Not Always (right…

There have been several ideas mentioned concerning USASF Rules Officials, also know as Safety or Tech Judges. Rules Officials will work for the USASF, not the Event Producers, and be given full autonomy in enforcing the rules. This should help keep Event Producers out of the awkward position of deciding between enforcing a rule or…

Earlier this week I re-stumbled upon this quote: The real test of genius is not knowing best from worst, but knowing best from second best. For some reason it really made me think about business owners this time. This is the real test of genius for a business owner, knowing best from everything else. Knowing…

The USASF Athlete Registration System is up and running. It hasn’t been widely publicized yet to help control the traffic and avoid overwhelming the system. This season, 2011-2012, is a phase in year, meaning membership is not required, but strongly encouraged, for all athletes not planning on attending Worlds. To help encourage membership for all…

The Cheerleading Agency, Indianapolis, IN. Teams up with Xtreme Spirit as a NEW TeamXtreme Partner Brand. The Cheerleading Agency and Xtreme Spirit are proud to join forces to help promote quality material and exceptional recruiting for college bound cheerleaders. The Cheerleading Agency is a full service coaching & personal representation cheer agent organization. The agency…

USASF Chairman Jim Chadwick mentioned plans to create a “Professional Membership” level of the USASF. The process of gaining this level of membership will including a background check, among other things. It seemed like this idea was still early in development so few details were shared.

Spirit Festival is the latest competition to join Varsity All Star and the Varsity Family Plan. Memphis, Tenn., (August 2011) – Varsity has announced its acquisition of Spirit Festival, effective immediately. Based in Hamden, Connecticut, Spirit Festival was founded 16 years ago by Robin Norko, and its World Bid event, Spirit Fest Cheer & Dance…

Cheer Moms, the cheer parent community at http://cheermoms.net, was recently acquired by Cheer Channel. Cheer Channel Acquires ‘Cheer Moms’ Social Media Platform

Forbes published How an Entrepreneur Can ‘Get Lucky’ in a Startup, listing 5 traits successful entrepreneurs have in common: Accept responsibility for your actions Learning from mistakes Perseverance on all goals Confidence in yourself and others Cooperation with others in your network

The rules making process is being renovated. The next set of rules will be for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons. All proposals will be due by May 1, 2012, with current instructions being to email them to Les Stella. The voting slate will be created at the NACCC Doral Meeting which begins the day after…

Chico Garcia, Louisiana State University’s cheerleading coach, was involved in a boating accident that left him seriously injured. More information can be found at www.getwellchico.com. From Facebook: UPDATE ON CHICO GARCIA!!!! They took him off the venilator this afternoon and he is doing well breathing on his own. He is awake and alert and in…

Monday, August 29, 2011 – The IEP (Independent Event Producers) is pleased to announce the launch of the I-Deal Savings Plan! The I-Deal Savings plan is a loyalty program designed to provide cash back to teams and organizations who attend multiple events produced by IEP companies. Select IEP companies have agreed to reward customers with…

Justin Carrier of NCA gave one of the presentations that made me open my eyes the most. The topic was the image and appearance of All*Star cheerleaders. The presentation started with a segment that aired on HBO’s Real Sports. The piece was pretty typical of a segment you would see on cheerleading, and if anything…

This summer I had the pleasure of talking to several coaches, gym owners, and event producers, as well as attending the USASF Tier 3 and 4 Meeting and the USASF West Coast Regional Meeting. These conversations and meetings reminded me that our industry is between a rock and a hard place, the rock being wanting…

Cheer-Themed Charity Aims to Help Donate 25 Million Meals to Feeding America Lake Mary, Florida, August 26, 2011 – Today Cheer for a Cause announced they are teaming with Kraft Foods to fight hunger in America in September. The mission of Kraft Foods’ Huddle to Fight Hunger is to help donate 25 million meals to…

Varsity is thrilled to announce that Kendall Jenner has teamed up with us to promote National School Spirit Day! Varsity started National School Spirit Day three years ago to shine a spotlight on all of the reasons why cheerleaders and dancers make such a difference in their schools and communities –as mentors, as community service…

The New York Times “You’re the Boss” blog published The Price of Bad Pricing. This article discussed the difficulty of pricing your product or services properly and explored the impact of lowering and raising prices.

USA Cheer published A Letter from Bill Seely, Executive Director of USA Cheer. It is USA Cheer’s belief that we’ve been given a unique opportunity – to create a new and innovative sport that opens up important athletic opportunities for female athletes. In keeping with the CWA’s recommendations, and in the spirit of what we…

The NCAA published NCAA Committee Looks Into New Sport. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will watch for continued growth and development in a new sport that combines elements of gymnastics and competitive cheerleading after two different groups requested emerging-sport status for slightly different versions. In a letter sent to both organizations, the committee asked…

Business Week published Fix a Strained Business Partnership Now. This article talks about the importance of creating a partnership agreement and putting it in writing. It also touches on some of the topics that need to be addressed in the partnership agreement.