Category: Spirit

The 2015 USASF Regional Meetings and Convention Week dates and locations have been announced. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending. June 12-14 – USASF Midwest Regional Meeting in Chicago, IL July 10-12 – USASF Northeast Regional Meeting in Baltimore, MD July 17-19 – USASF Southeast Regional Meeting in Atlanta, GA July 24-26 –…

The Intuit Small Business Blog published How to Manage Big Projects at Your Small Business, discussing 5 steps to completing a major project. While you may always feel pressed for time, it is possible to tackle a big project and keep it from overwhelming you and your business. The key is to manage the project…

Entrepreneur published Sure, Work Hard, But Also Create Your Own Luck, exploring the idea that hard work alone may not get you where you want. Of course, there are many events that will occur over the course of your career that you will have had nothing to do with — you may benefit from them,…

Heart of Cheer published Dealing with Loss at the Gym, due to the recent losses in our industry. It was heartbreaking to hear of the recent losses in the cheer community this week and it prompted me to write this piece in hopes of helping those who are directly affected by these lives taken too…

This week has been centered around the death of Dani Cogswell, a current University of Louisville and GymTyme cheerleader and former member of South Elite. I met Dani when she was with South Elite, occasionally working with All Things Cheer and Pure Energy Choreography, and she is one of the demos in our Level 6…

This week’s show featured Adam, Andre, King, and Shane talking about recent tragedies in our industry, Majors adding medium coed, the Nightline story featuring “Exceptional Families”, USASF regional meetings and Convention Week, and the NACCC Congress Meeting in Chicago.

The USASF posted a Top of the Worlds Preview:

Wave3.com published Cardinal Cheerleader’s Death Stuns Friends, Coaches, regarding the untimely death of University of Louisville and GymTyme cheerleader Dani Cogswell. Those who knew Cogswell are still trying to wrap their heads and hearts around her sudden death. The Washington native, who transferred from Arizona State University, was part of UofL’s top co-ed cheer team.…

The Coventry Telegraph published Training with Coventry Dynamite Cheerleaders is a Real Blast!, in which reporter James Rodger discusses his training session with Coventry Dynamite. Ah, yes. The social perception. Before I attended Woodlands Academy tonight, I had it in my head that cheerleading was all pom-poms and short skirts – a sport mainly aimed…

Forbes published Eight Ways Goofing Off Can Make You More Productive, discussing unconventional ways of increasing your productivity. After canvassing my colleagues, I offer this list of productive ways to goof off during the day and evening. They will boost your productivity and sense of well being. But beware not to overdo any of them.…

Entrepreneur published 3 Legal Precautions in Hiring Freelancers, reminding us of step to take in working with freelancers. Currently 1 in 3 Americans who are working (roughly 42 million) are estimated to be freelancers and within the next six years freelancers are expected to comprise more than half the full-time workforce. With entrepreneurs relying more…

The USASF posted a fun video of how teams would react if they won Worlds.

Last week was the USASF Northeast Regional Meeting in Baltimore. One thing that hasn’t changed since my last trip to the Northeast is you always know where you stand with people, good or bad, because they won’t hesitate to tell you. I think this is generally a good thing, but it could be a pain…

For the first time, all key USASF Standing Committee and all Event Producer Tier meetings will be held in the same city during the same time period! This “Convention Week” brings together cheer and dance discussions and planning for all parallel programs. Previously, cheer and dance committee meetings and Tier meetings were held separately. This…

The USASF released the Top of the Worlds 2014 video, promising an announcement today.

Forbes published Please Don’t Do These 9 Things In An Interview, discussing several things that can ruin your interview. Looking for a job can be stressful and demoralizing. I’d really like for you to succeed: it would be good for you, for the company that hires you, and for the overall economy. In fact, I…

Entrepreneur published 4 Smart Ways to Increase Employee Retention, giving tips to minimize staff turnover. Keeping your employees once you have them is a thorny problem in the staffing services industry. The difficulty in retaining temporary employees (i.e., external staff) gets most of the press, but there’s also high-turnover for permanent employees (i.e. internal staff).

The Australian All-Star Cheerleading Federation (AASCF) released a great video promoting competitive cheerleading.

Over the past week I attended the USASF Southeast Regional Meeting in Atlanta, a couple pre-camp practices with the University of Memphis, and auditions for the Memphis Grizzlies dance team. I believe the regional meeting was the largest in history with over 400 attendees and the safety judge training on Sunday was the largest ever…

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…