Category: Spirit

Business Week published What Are NFL Cheerleaders Worth? Inside Their Fight for Minimum Wage, taking a look at the NFL cheerleader disputes from a financial perspective. As the plaintiffs pile on, fans are learning that the most powerful sports league in the U.S., with $9.7 billion in annual revenue, pays its sideline performers worse than…

Cheer Professional published Spotlight: Debbie Love, profiling the amazing tumbling expert. “I’m more concerned with athletes doing things right,” she says. “I don’t ever talk about winning. We talk about doing things right [and] hitting our routine, because eventually winning will take care of itself.”

The Wall Street Journal published Cheerleaders vs. NFL Teams: A Fair-Wage Fight, discussing the ongoing wage disputes with NFL cheerleaders. There is no professional organization for NFL cheerleaders, and they aren’t members of unions. Pay varies widely across the league. The Jets’ “Flight Crew” earned $150 a game last year, according to court papers. The…

Cheer Live published a promo video listing the event producer they’ll be working with during the 2014-15 season. You can also check their Schedule for the list of showcases they’ll be broadcasting this season, starting with Cheer Athletics, California, and Cheer Extreme in October. http://vimeo.com/105894312

UCA is celebrating 40 years and released a highlight video:

Forbes published Why Successful People Don’t Crumble Under Pressure, discussing the responses of people under pressure. What separates good athletes from extraordinary athletes is often their ability to perform in high pressure situations. The best skills in the world aren’t valuable if athletes can’t perform in when it matters most – in competition. Two people…

Entrepreneur published Fight Overthinking, That Destroyer of Decision Making, discussing why we overthink and how it impacts us. When making decisions under pressure, many professionals are plagued with a fear of making the wrong choice, selecting an option that could lead to business failure. This fear of failure, in itself, is not a bad thing.

CBS News published Will the Raiders’ $1.25M Settlement Fix Cheerleading?, discussing the Raiders settling one of the ongoing lawsuits with NFL cheerleaders. While the settlement is a victory for the Raiderettes, it may not fix the profession’s widespread problems, which include degrading treatment and what some may view as shockingly low pay, especially given that…

I’m one of the people that can reply to cheer rules questions sent to the USASF rules email address. I haven’t done much of that this summer, until recently probably spending less time in the account since Worlds than I do in a typically month during competition season. I recently returned to the account and…

The September 10th show featured Adam, King, Lark, and Shane discussing the USASF voting slate results and the Apple announcement after some technical difficulties.

The USASF sent the results of the recent Age Grid and Rules vote and published the results on USASF.net. The Process Up To Now Cheer Rules Change Proposal Forms were submitted until June 1, 2014. NACCC Executive Committee and the USASF Cheer Rules Committee reviewed all forms to determine the final list of proposals. Proposals…

The Dakota County Star published Male Cheerleader Generates Support in More Ways Than One, discussing a male cheerleader in Homer, NE. “They don’t treat him different. They don’t go to automatic stereotypes with a male cheerleader,” said DeAnna Schmitt. “They judge him on his character and his ability to cheer, which is pretty cool.”

Inside Cheerleading published The History of Cheerleading, providing a great, short version of the history of cheerleading in the United States. In 1884, the first official cheer was performed in New Jersey at a Princeton football game. In that Princeton audience was a man named Mark Peebles, who brought his own created cheers to the…

Forbes published How To Turn Your Passion Into A Profession, discussing the challenges of making a career out of a hobby. For entrepreneurs trying to turn their passion into a career, it’s easy to forget that a creative business is just that: Like all small business owners, creative entrepreneurs have to love the business end…

Entrepreneur published 50 Tips for Starting Your Own Company, providing things to consider when thinking about starting a business. Not everyone has what it takes to start a company. That’s not to say that your idea is not brilliant. It just means that you may not have the personality traits to handle launching a company…

International Cheer Union (ICU) and International Federation of American Football (IFAF) will highlight each of their sports at the 2015 IFAF World Championships The International Cheer Union (ICU) and the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) will be working together to promote both sports at the 2015 IFAF World Championships, to be held July 4-18,…

Last week the USASF sent an email, Help for Resetting Athlete User Names and Passwords, with instructions on how gyms can send parents credentials so the parents can login to their child’s USASF profile. The USASF profile is something the parent or athlete should control. They should have the login credentials so they can update…

The September 3rd show featured Andre, Lark, and Shane discussing ways to make the industry safer then briefly discussing some of the invitation only events.

Do you LOVE cheering for your High School? Are you a standout student both on and off the field? Do your teammates look up to you as a leader? Then we’re looking to hear from YOU!!! Apply today to be part of iC’s 2014 High School All-American Team, presented by our friends at No Limit…

The USASF has created an easy solution for you to provide athlete user name and email information to parents. This will allow parents to reset their child’s password, log into their profile and pay their annual membership fee. Watch for more Member Support Updates to come! USASF – Membership Support – Athlete User List

The Louisville Courier-Journal published UofL Cheerleaders to be Tested Due to Heroin OD, regarding the recent death of Louisville cheerleader Dani Cogswell and the response by the University. Members of the University of Louisville’s spirit teams will have to undergo the same drug testing as the rest of the school’s athletes, the university said Thursday…

Entrepreneur published 5 Surefire Ways to Maximize Your Life, Starting This Morning, emphasizing the importance of starting your day in the correct manner. Many of us have heard the adage, “How you spend your day, is how you spend your life.” I believe it’s even more micro than that. How you spend the first two…

Business Insider published 17 Things Successful People Never Say, pointing out words lead to the actions that determine success or failure. Regardless of how you may define success, words will help manifest that vision into reality.

Encore published the trailer below in anticipation of the 2014-15 season:

The voting period for the proposed USASF Policy and Rules changes closes this Saturday, August 30th, at noon Central. Please educate yourself to the topics and exercise your voting privileges. USASF Policy & Rules Voting Information Miscellaneous The American Cheerleader movie was released earlier this week. OverStretch – August 27, 2014