Varsity shutting down Youtube

North County Elite · Newbie

Varsity shutting down Youtube

POSITIVElycheer · Senior Member

I have been reading on this site for a long time. I have never posted because I do not enjoy all the trash talk and bashing of "cheerleaders" also known as peoples children, but this situation is ridiculous.

When did it become okay for a company to charge out the butt to participate in their competition, charge the spectators an arm and a leg to get in and see their own child, and they have the right to tell us that we cannot document the event. A event they would not even be able to charge admission to if we did not pay the fees for them to make more money.

I have never agreed with them filming the children and then selling the video of your own child back to you. When did children/athletes become their commodity?

Unless they are going to everyones youtube sight and shutting them down, this is outrageous.

Everyone was filming at that competition. Never once were we asked to stop. Why should we stop? It is our athletes/children on the stage. Without them there is no product. I stood in front of the stage and filmed, no one said a word, and my video is also up on youtube.

Have you ever been asked not to film at your child's recital or school performance? No. Why, because it is your child. How are they allowed to charge us to perform, get in, and force us to pay $50 for a three minute video?

2008cheerfan/cheerbandit I love watching your videos! I do think people have gone overboard on using them to criticize teams and companies. Cheerleading is a live sport, judges cannot be expected to see everything nor should athletes be ripped apart on this forum because they made a mistake.

Is that your fault if people have a opinion that does not coincide with the almighty varsity, No. I don't recall ever seeing any negative post in your comment section or any of your personal opinions on YOUR youtube channel. You have done a good job on youtube of remaining neutral.

It is wrong for varsity to single you out.

honestly · Veteran Member

Ok all i have been holding back replying to these topics mainly because i will probably be in the minority but im glad they temporarily took these videos off of youtube. I think some people are forgetting there are a great deal of teams that still have not competed at all levels. There are teams down south and up north that already have a great advantage because they dont have to compete at all levels for about three weeks which means extra practice time. With all the videos from all levels los angeles up, it basically gives these teams a golden opportunity to see what other teams competed in LA and learned their scores and placements and can now gage where they may end up or if they need to add to their routines, etc. I dont think its fair that the videos were put up before the all levels competition as a whole was over.

POSITIVElycheer · Senior Member

I see where you are coming from but . . . lets be honest you have what you have. We are at the end of the season if you have not done it all year chances are you are not going to do it. It does not matter what other teams are doing. You have to do your routine well.

Plus you can find other videos of these teams on the internet. It is not fair to single out one person.

The only benefit I see is that maybe people will quite tearing apart these teams and lets face it these children. (All of you who do should be ashamed of yourself.)

Once again cheer is a live sport videos does not always capture the energy in the moment, and some teams look better on tape then in person.

echeercoach · Member

honestly wrote:

Ok all i have been holding back replying to these topics mainly because i will probably be in the minority but im glad they temporarily took these videos off of youtube. I think some people are forgetting there are a great deal of teams that still have not competed at all levels. There are teams down south and up north that already have a great advantage because they dont have to compete at all levels for about three weeks which means extra practice time. With all the videos from all levels los angeles up, it basically gives these teams a golden opportunity to see what other teams competed in LA and learned their scores and placements and can now gage where they may end up or if they need to add to their routines, etc. I dont think its fair that the videos were put up before the all levels competition as a whole was over.

100% agree. If All 5 events had happened all on the same day then there would not be an issue. Varsity has every right to take these videos down. The teams I coach competed this past weekend. If I knew and had access to the routines and performances that I was directly going up against a week prior, that would be vital information that I could use in my favor. By temporarily taking down the videos I feel it evens out the playing field.

POSITIVElycheer · Senior Member

You could google any of the teams from this past weekend and find their routine. Finding them has never been a problem, parents, athletes, and gyms have consistently put them on the internet for anyone to find,

If you have a good routine and your athletes are qualified to do it, it does not matter what anyone else is doing?

This is yet another issue that should have been sorted out before this competition began. But once again they never once said do not film and there were no signs stating that you could not do so.

By the way love your program.

echeercoach · Member

POSITIVElycheer wrote:

You could google any of the teams from this past weekend and find their routine. Finding them has never been a problem, parents, athletes, and gyms have consistently put them on the internet for anyone to find,

If you have a good routine and your athletes are qualified to do it, it does not matter what anyone else is doing?

This is yet another issue that should have been sorted out before this competition began. But once again they never once said do not film and there were no signs stating that you could not do so.

By the way love your program.

You can't compare previous performances to the actual performances you are going up against. If I saw a team that I was going up against had a certain element in their performance that I was lacking and I had 2 whole weeks to put it in knowing that they had already competed, I would definitely take advantage of that.

Oh and Thank you! LOL.

Xtreme Elite Mom · Veteran Member

I agree with honestly and echeercoach.....varsity is not posting video from any of the regions until everyone has competed....and my guess is that they are doing it so no one has an advavtage. Some may not think this provides much advantage....but you KNOW coaches look for competitor videos to make sure their routines have competitive skills/elements. When you have the video of the actual performance that you will be judged against that advantage is even greater.
With this in mind,however, they should have announced that no recording would be allowed. It does seem a bit ridiculous that cheerbandit was allowed to tape from right in front of where the judges were,while chatting them up, and now his videos are being pulled. That just doesn't make sense.
Positivelycheer....I agree with the idea that we should be able to tape our own children, but in all honesty how many of the videos on YouTube are actually recorded by the parents of the kids on the team? We all know these videos are posted for other teams to check out their competition....not that I think cheerbandit puts them up maliciously
I know many of you will disagree....but it is just my opinion

fatrahrah · Member

Xtreme Elite Mom wrote:

I agree with honestly and echeercoach.....varsity is not posting video from any of the regions until everyone has competed....and my guess is that they are doing it so no one has an advavtage. Some may not think this provides much advantage....but you KNOW coaches look for competitor videos to make sure their routines have competitive skills/elements. When you have the video of the actual performance that you will be judged against that advantage is even greater.
With this in mind,however, they should have announced that no recording would be allowed. It does seem a bit ridiculous that cheerbandit was allowed to tape from right in front of where the judges were,while chatting them up, and now his videos are being pulled. That just doesn't make sense.
Positivelycheer....I agree with the idea that we should be able to tape our own children, but in all honesty how many of the videos on YouTube are actually recorded by the parents of the kids on the team? We all know these videos are posted for other teams to check out their competition....not that I think cheerbandit puts them up maliciously
I know many of you will disagree....but it is just my opinion

The way they ran this competition tells me they don't really care about honesty, integrity or protecting anybody but their own pocketbooks. they allowed teams to compete who never qualified in their class. How can a "worlds" event allow teams who qualified small senior 3 compete in a clas at large Senior Open 3? Teams added level 5 cheerleaders to level 3 teams called them open, never qualified them and competed. Fair? Ethical? honest? concerned about integrity?
I think not.

Xtreme Elite Mom · Veteran Member

Ok....was your post specifically replying to mine? I actually wasn't talking about how the comp was run....just my thoughts on why I thought the videos were taken down. I completely understand why everyone is pissed off!

luvrcbgirl · Newbie

I am new to the boards-have looked at them for years but usually don't feel the need to post. Here's my thoughts take them or leave them.
Cheerleading wants to be seen a real sport, yet we are complaining about videos that are posted before competitions which can give other teams an advantage.
Football programs have been "scouting" for years.
If Cheerleading wants to be taken seriously, we have to accept that this type of behavior exists. It is the responsibility of the coach/gym owner to make sure that your child's team is competitive. My daughter has a great coach and the routine that they perform changes each competition. I assume this is to accommidate the company's judging, to update what did or didn't work, as well as add to the difficulty level.
Whatever the reason for Varsity to have the videos removed, it is inappropriate given the rules for parental videotaping at this competition. They allowed it and so they know that they will be posted.
Varsity does not own your private videos. Once they accepted a fee from you for admittance to the competition, they waived all right. As a spectator you did not have to sign a non-compliance form.
Enough said. Good Luck.

goTIDE · Member

If the sole reason why varsity took down the videos was for a fair competition then ok it is understandable.. and if they plan on letting the videos be posted again, then ok, i think we all can wait a couple weeks until the other regions are done.. but i get the sense that there was more to the shutting down videos than just that.. I agree with echeercoach and how of course if there is something missing from your routine and you have time to add it, why wouldn't you..

But the frustrations are coming from the lack of communication to let parents know what the deal was.. one of our cheer moms asked if we could video tape and they said it was allowed..

rhinestonecrown · Veteran Member

Varsity sucks espeically the bay area rep (Joyce) who needs to find another career or retire because her attitude is horrible when we are paying our money for there crappy uniforms at the fitting and she is rude to the children. If you are not a kid friendly person, don't get into a profession that requires you to deal with children.

-- Edited by rhinestonecrown on Friday 24th of April 2009 05:44:58 PM

The Cheer Jedi · Member

Your analogy to football really does not work here. In football, both teams have the opportunity to scout each other before the game. They are equal on gameday. If you chose not to watch the film of the other team, than that is your problem. In this instance, not everyone is being treated fairly. Teams that compete first are not given the opportunity to "scout" the teams they are competing against.

I would have to say that you still have to throw your routine, but there is a little room to see how the judges scored by watching video and making modifications to your routine based on information you picked up by watching videos.

The Cheer Jedi · Member

My husband says I need to be more clear. If there are multiple competitions going on, then the videos should not be allowed.

Once all of the judging is finished, I don't think any cheer company has a right to ban videos from being posted. If people want to post videos then that is there right so long as they know they are letting everyone see what they have.