Focusing on the Business of Cheerleading & Dance
You’re the Boss published A Plan for Working on (Not in) the Business. The author, Jay Goltz, goes through the parts of the business that need to be examined to enable the business to get to the next level. The top 10 things to look at are:
Safety seems to be one the hot topics in cheerleading right now. Safety organizations such as AACCA, NCSF, NCSSE, and USASF all have a hand in making cheerleading safer. For example, AACCA recently released Minimum Standards for Cheerleading Competitions, NCSF and NCSSE have partnered and created a college level safety course, and USASF has promoted athlete and coach credentialing. Noticing the efforts of these organizations and recent conversations about safety makes us wonder:
There are many more questions that could be asked and need to be answered. Please let us know which questions you think should be asked of the safety organizations.
Jim Chadwick sent the following email on July 17th:
Attached are the USASF Sanctioning Standards for the 2008-09 season which are unchanged from 2007-08. The bottom line is safe and legitimate competitions are the foundation of allstar cheerleading and every competition event producer that provides competitions that meet the best practices standard will be recognized as such with the USASF sanction.
In 2007-08, the USASF sanctioning program was very successful considering this was the first ever sanctioning program for allstar cheerleading. There were 525 competitions sanctioned by the USASF in the US. 18 were 5 Star, 31 were 4 Star, 80 were 3 Star, and 396 met the minimum sanctioning criteria.
The sanctioning program has been so successful in the US that it is being expanded internationally at the request of virtually every international member. This will result in greater exposure around the world, enhanced legitimacy in the US, and stronger promotional opportunities for those members sanctioning their competitions.
The new USASF- IASF website <IASFWORLDS.ORG> will provide the main informational and promotional impetus for sanctioning beginning in August. Of course, the current USASF website <USASF.NET> will also list all sanctioned events.
Every USASF member competition is eligible for USASF sanctioning by meeting specific, best practices, standards. The goal was to create a process that would be quick and simple for competition event producers to implement, easy for coaches to understand, and be readily upgradable to continually reflect the best practices in the industry.
Please read through these standards and think about which of your competitions fit where and register them at your earliest convenience.
Cost: USASF Sanctioning is free to approved and paid up USASF members for the 2008-09 season.
Registration Forms: Are attached and available on the USASF web site <USASF.NET>.
Please fax them to Steve Peterson at 800-969-6309.Timing: Now.
Control – It will be up to each competition event producer to certify that their competitions meet the applicable sanctioning standards. For those that do not, there is a review process to insure consistent implementation across the country.
Marketing – A logo package is available to all USASF members to designate the various sanctioning levels which can be used in all marketing materials.
The response in the first year, 2007-08 was overwhelming and we expect it to be even greater this year so please get your applications in as soon as possible to expedite the website promotion.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank everyone who participated in this program during 2007-08 and those who contributed to the development and approval of these standards. It took a lot of time from everyone involved and this contribution to the USASF and the future of the allstar community is deeply appreciated.
Thank you.
USASF – Sanctioning Standards – 2008-09
USASF – Member Event Producer Sanctioning Application
Jim Chadwick