Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Here are some very important information coming out in the USA concerning Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Some of the language is very hard. CAUTION!!!!


YouTube - Penn & Teller Bullshit! - Cheerleaders 3/3

Brandon Madsen

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As an American, I definitely see and feel the importance of cheerleading being recognized as a sport - instead of people assuming it is still this jumping around with poms.

However, Penn & Teller exaggerate a lot of aspects of it all, they are not objective with their arguments - regardless of the topic. Think of Michael Moore and politics... It's a critical view of cheerleading, and a lot of it is true but one can't take it as 100% correct.

Most studies on sports injuries do not take into account that cheerleading in the US actually 2 seasons long is (football and basketball) while all others only last 1 season. And the statistics are also not rated accordingly for this.

Cheerleading is a very dangerous sport, that's true. However, I managed 13 years before I ever broke a bone - and only then did my dad begin to insist I quit the sport, only because of these types of news reports that have been going around lately in the US.

I hope, however, that cheerleading gets recognized as a sport. But we need to be careful about where our information is coming from. It's definitely a big bash against Varsity.

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Sehr seltsamer Bericht oO Wechsel zwischen harten Unterstellungen, unnötigen Bemerkungen und traurigen Bildern. Hmm

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Agree with every word you said!

Only problem is when our generation moves on and we look on what we left in the past and how we set up the future for our kids I can only hope we get rid of all the modern day THUGS and people who are in it for the money not the future of OUR Sport.
Although Penn & Teller opinions can be 1 sided, sometimes the truth is not easy to swallow and facts cannot be denied!!!

You might of been injured for the first time after 13yrs but you and I both know how many injuries and unqualified Coaches exist in Cheerleading.

Cheerleading is in the Media almost everyday in America now days including a huge court case in CT currently deciding is Cheerleading a Sport??
http://www.1010wins.com/Is-Cheerleading-a-S-P-O-R-T--Conn--Judge-to-Decide/7525062

Brandon Madsen

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Yes, there are definitely unqualified coaches. But it is also very biased of the scene in the film that shows the coach just talking to the girl who fell in her full layout.

Coaches definitely know their kids limits and I feel it is very hard to judge this said judge rationally and justly by once scene. Of course it is astonishing that she doesn't act a bit quicker etc. However on the other hand we don't know the situation except from this perspective.

The truth is always hard to swallow.

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

I actually didnt know what varsity really is. Now I know
I think cheerleading should become a sport but I´m a cheerleader as well

My team has great coaches which are trained properly but cant avoid every injury...thats just impossible.
When u say the cheerleading season is twice as long as a season of any other sport ur right but that doesnt make it any less dangerous.Its twice as long. So the chance of getting injured while doing heaps of baskets,libs, backtucks or layout during a cheerleading season is also twice as big.
However...the show exaggerates a lot but doesnt matter cause I dont think that anything s gonna change soon. Its just nice to see that some people noticed.

We´ll still meet new people and hear" oh ur a cheerleader?thats the funny thing where they giggle and shake their boobies?!...can u do a split?"...

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Exactly. Back home, cheerleading is a year-round activity/sport at schools. Usually with conditioning practice beginning before the school year during summer. I always had cheer form July - March.

While the risk of injury is doubled, statistics rate this high percentage of cheer injuries (for a period of roughly a year) to those of a sport that lasts a few months, without taking into account the fact that cheerleading lasted twice as long. Technically, if most statistics took this into account, cheerleading injuries occur no more frequently than football, basketball, soccer etc. The difference, however, lies within the fact that the severity in cheerleading is much higher.

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Fand dieses Video interessant:

YouTube - IMPACT Episode 36: Cheerleading

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

Here is a reaction made today to the recent Media coverage stateside.

Letter from Jeff Webb on Cheerleading as Sport Debate


http://fierceboard.com/showthread.p...eerleading-is-not-a-sport?p=105636#post105636

Brandon Madsen

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

... beside the saftey discussions around the topic (which are essential) ...

If cheerleading becomes a recognised sport (which in my point of view it should!), the sport would have a state by state cheerleading competition, hosted by the related state, just like every other sport in America.

Because Varsity has had revenues of about 300 million dollars last year, it is not in their best interest to advocate any changes in the cheerleading industry they control to about 100%. Assuming that states are hosting competitons, Varsity would loose the income & profit of about 60 national competitons, not acceptable for the revenues of j. webb's Varsity!

On the other hand j. webb is president of the international cheer union, promoting cheerleading as a sport on a global base (to increase Varsity revenues?).

This is a typical conflict of interests:

• Varsity (president j. webb) who wants to protect "his business" --> Cheerleading is like Chess
• ICU (president j. webb) who wants to promote cheerleading --> Statement as ICU chairman

Where does cheerleading (want to) move, or are "we", outside of America, depending on the mood (interests) of a single person?

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For me it's a huge affront that Webb compares Cheerleading to Chess. This is ridiculous as he's also the President of the ICU and hosts the Cheerleadign Worlds every year. Why would we need a World Championship when Competetive Cheerleading is not even a Sport? Guess he didn't do himself a great favor with this statement looking at the reactions on Fierceboard and elsewhere

The Associated Press: Cheerleading expert: it's not a competitive sport

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very simple:

it's his business (Varsity) and the goal of his business is to make as much dollars as possible (with the worlds/orlando) :thumbup:

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yeah sad but true

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He refers to Cheerleading as chess because Varsity is going to calculate their every move very precisely to win - just like a chess player. In this sense, it's how Varsity can keep the profits that they have now while cheerleading goes through this change in recognition. The question Varsity brands wants to answer is: How do we keep control??

At the college level, it will take a long time. As the NCAA regulates gender-equality in sports teams, i.e. how many women vs. mens sports, how many scholarships are divided amongst the athletic teams, etc etc etc. Classifying cheerleading as a sport would only cause more situations like in the article above... Other women's (and possibly men's) sports will get cuts to make room for the NCAA regulations of cheerleading. I doubt football numbers will be affected; football brings in the most money of any college sport typically.

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Well said Jan, but bottom line is Jeff Webb and the way Varsity is been doing things for years will definitely have to change in the near future because people in the Sport of Cheerleading are beginning to really see the truth how things have been run for years and they all have one common Goal no matter what Country or Continent they cheer on and that is getting Cheerleading accepted as a Sport by the World Sport Accord and then become an Olympic Sport.

Jeff Webb being the President of Varsity and as well being the President of ICU is a HUGE Conflict of interest...., just another way to bring in more revenue and control more pieces of the Sport around the World. Something I have been told in the past few months by many sources here in the States is people have told him you are destroying the Sport and his answer is I know I just can´t control myself.


Lets go back to Novemeber 28-29, 2009 Bremen, Germany IFC Cheerleading World Championship.

At the time Wild Cheer had been offered a Wild Card to compete at the upcoming World Championship by IFC Vice President Robert Huber in the category Coed Groupstunt, we as Coaches gladly accepted and prepared our team for the competition.

On November 27 Friday I received a phone call from Jan Becker warning me that he has heard information that representatives from IASF were in Bremen for the weekend and could possibly disqualify any teams competing this weekend from the upcoming Worlds 2010 in Orlando, Florida.
As I spent the next 24 hours on the telephone with everybody in the cheer world from the USA, IASF,USASF and Karl Olson who was in Bremen nobody could give me a straight answer would they or wouldn´t they be disqualified if they compete??? Meantime my wife had been in a very serious car accident and going through 5 surgeries during this whole confusion.

Saturday morning the 28th we decided to check her out of the hospital early and rush to Bremen to try and get things straight before those kids walked on the floor, as my kids went through warm ups and prepared themselves I was still on the phone trying to get information on the final decision.

As I arrived Bremen my kids were supposed to walk on the floor in 2 minutes and I made a phone call to Karl Olson who was at the time in Bremen investigating who was competing at the competition to let him know I needed to know this second Yes or No for them to compete, he told me and I quote '' there is no current rule against it but I just don´t know how the board is going to see it and how they will decide'' I had to tell them they could not compete due to the fact it was still up in the air on our future to go to the Worlds 2010 which we had already won the partial bid and 20 other athletes had worked so hard for.

I was later shown a letter that between USA Cheer and the IFC disrespecting each other both basically battling who was the boss and the official World Federation.
Summed up due to both sides power war who was the biggest and baddest my kids were stuck in the middle and used as leverage for both sides. Their hearts were broken and completly dissapointed after working so hard for this moment to compete at the World Championship in their home Country Germany.
I was informed a short time later by a high ranking IFC official that the World Sport Accord was informed of this incident and it had a very big impact on the recent Sport Accord´s decision as far as Cheerleading being accepted as a Sport!

It is ridiculous athletes are being used as puppets in a control and power war and in this incident it happened to be Wild Cheer kids because at the time they were the most powerful team both sides had ties too.

ICU and IFC both need to grow up and sit down and come together for the future of the Sport.

ICU, Jeff Webb and IFC President Nakamura are going to have too come in agreement one day and work together!!!!!!! Both sides are going to have to suck up their pride and meet in the middle.

To add to all that for the love of God and the Sport of Cheerleading in Germany Jan Becker and Robert Huber please sit down together and work things out, it means more to every cheerleader and parent in Germany then you could imagine.
Brandon Madsen

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

no, that's why i was awaiting your response to read "the truth" :idea:.
meanwhile j. webb sent out statements to explain the topic, but in none of the statements he said, that the content of the press article(s) "should not be believed" or are wrong, missleading, or quoted incorrectly!

if competitive cheer is deemed a sport at the college level then the colleges that choose to make it a sport will most probably not be allowed to attend camps "owned" by Varsity owned organisations (like UCA) nor could they attend college Nationals (i.e. by UCA) or buy their apparel because most likely they will be sponsored by someone else.

simply said: once cheerleading sport is under the rule of the NCAA, you can't profit off of it, including Varsity and that's definitly influencing revenues & profit of the company.

just my 2 cents

Candle

AW: Cheerleading becoming a Sport!

If cheerleading becoming a sport in college this means a governing set of rules, a regional, state and national competition.
At the time Varsity owns allmost all national competitions, afterwards the nationals will be owned by NCAA. I think you know very well, that from revenue & profit point of view there's a hugh difference between owning a national or "running" a national only.
As Varsity with all associated firms (i.e. UCA, NDA, ....) do have more or less a monopol at the time, the short term impact will be most probably minor, but Americans will build something up.

this is a different topic, but very very interesting! I'm looking forward how this will evolve next weeks/months
(Minimum impact i see to the athletes at the time: in some states you cann't do AllStar & High School cherleading in parallel).

All of this will have definitly an impact to Varsity too (maby Varsity has even to adjust the current used business model). I cann't image that the NCAA will "exclusivly" sponsor a privatly owned company Varsity.

regards

Candle

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@ all
Sind wir hier der deutschen Sprache nicht mehr mächtig?
Ich spreche sehr gut englisch und habe hier keine Verständnisprobleme, aber es gibt hier sicherlich auch Leute, die das Thema interessiert, die aber nicht so gut englisch können.