I have attended a Focus information meeting and we were told that under NO circomstance were members to talk bad about any other organization. The penality for that would be you would be kicked off a team. I was impressed with this policy. Imagine my surprise when my child was approached by Focus members at school and they told my child why they shouldn't join this other organization because they "Aren't any good will never be any good and everyone who joins Focus is better off." "They don't know what their doing they suck." I have heard from other parents that their children are being bombarded with emails and at school with the same type of comments if not worse. What happened to the Good Sportsmanship Policy? Does it only apply to information meetings, but not practiced in reality? Children learn what they are taught and by example. Is this Focus example of Good Sportsmanship? My child has never been approached by any other organization. I have heard rumors about this before from other parents, but I make up my own opinions and leave rumors where they belong in the trash! I was very disppointed to find the rumors to be true! Shame on you!
99 times out of a hundred I would just delete a message like this one. Not this time. It's a good example of what wrong with cheer parents today.
If the Focus staff is telling the kids to go out and recruit and/or talk down other teams I'd like to know about it right away. danny@cheergyms.com If you left that message based on what KIDS are saying to KIDS then I'll ask you to stay off these boards and stop bashing my business. This isn't some community, Rec park program where you can complain and complain until you get your way.
This message upsets me. My daughter is on another Cheergyms team and I have never heard anything like this occurring. When we have gone to competitions all the teams have been extremely friendly and show great sportsmanship toward the other teams. You may not be able to control what a few may do on thier own, but I know for a fact this behavior is not condoned or tolorated.
We cannot control what the kids say outside of the gym to one another. Kids will be kids. Myself, along with my entire staff, never tells the kids in our program to tell others that the other cheer programs suck and everyone needs to come to FOUCS. We encourange the kids to hand out flyers and spread the word about our program, that's it! If we find out that kids are talking badly to other teams during competition and other cheergyms.com events, that another story.
At FOCUS, we pride ourselves on being not only a classy gym, like the rest of the cheergyms.com family but we pride ourselves on teaching our cheerleaders to be respectful and supportive of all cheer gyms in our area and at competitions. Sportsmanship is of the upmost importance to us and we instill that in our cheerleaders from the beginning.
I have three kids in the Focus program and this will be our Third year! One of the things I have ALWAYS loved about Focus is the value they put on good sportsmanship! I have witnessed nothing but GOOD examples in how they handle good sportsmanship from team practices to competitions to kids who used to be at Focus and have joined other gyms. Many of the team mates even stay in touch with those that have gone to other gyms for whatever reason--I have even seen coaches show support for kids that have moved to another gym when we were at a competition. It is so SAD when parents talk badly about ANY gym---it really hurts EVERYONE including the sport that I am sure their child LOVES no matter what gym they choose to go to. So please don't give CHEERLEADING a bad rap by starting rumors that were made by CHILDREN! I am sure if this happened in front of any Focus staff OR parent it would have dealt with right away. Focus kids, parents, and staff from my 3 YEARS of experience have nothing but RESPECT for the other gyms and the SPORT OF CHEERLEADING!
I agree with Danny if you left that message based on rumors of what KIDS are supposedly saying to other KIDS then stay off these boards and stop your bashing. If you really are a parent and not happy with this organization join another gym. There are some great ones around that I'm sure would be happy to have you. Shame on you for posting this message and I think you owe Focus an appology......
As a 3 year veteran of the cheergyms program I have never heard of anything like this. When our gym ended their program this year the cheergyms coaches didn't even recruit their own kids! Most of them stayed with the program because of the quality of the coaching and the love and dedication the coaches show these girls and boys. Some of the parents are driving up to 1 1/2 hours each way to stay with cheergyms. If anything they teach our children to act respectfully and NEVER badmouth another program. Of course kids will be kids, but it really bothers me that someone would turn around and do the very thing they are complaining about. If the parent who wrote that post truly knew our wonderful program and how much Danny, Morton, and the rest of the staff cares about these families, they would have never been here saying negative things. I speak for so many families when I say that cheergyms is a classy organization, we trust them with our children and they have and will continue to raise the bar in cheerleading!
I have been with cheergyms in various ways for going on our third year now. One of the things that has kept us here is the wonderful support and attitudes of the people of cheergyms. They aren't like so many of the other teams that go around bashing others. I see them support other teams at competitions and they try and instill that in all the children. However, they cannot control each individual child and how they may act outside the program. Instead of bashing cheergyms as a whole maybe you could report the children doing this so it can be dealt with at that level. I wouldn't want anyone thinking this is what cheergyms is about because it certainly is NOT.
~Erin Turner Team Motions, Jr. Motions, and Sr. Motions Mom
I have been involved in allstar cheerleading for 4 years now. First as a cheer mom at another program, than as director of a cheer program in Northern California, now I am a Pyramids Cheer Mom. Morton and cheergyms have been nothing but gracious and supportive of the program that I have been directing. Morton has always been there for support even when he had a program in our same area.
That graciousness and generosity brought me to bring my daughter to Pyramids this year!!
We competed against Focus all season this year and it was a pleasure even if they edged us out. This was because of their positive energy!!!
I second the comments made above! Please do not judge cheergyms by comments that may have been made by a couple of kids.
wow. after reading this i was completely blown away. this is my first year with Focus, but already i'm in love with it. i've been on 3 different teams, and i can definetly say that, even with only having two practices so far, this has been the best experience for me when it comes to cheering. i think what kids tell their parents is most of the time not the same thing as to what is actually happenning. someone on a team may be trying to recruit others to come join the organization, but a child might come home and interpret the story as if the cheerleader was bashing another organization, which might not be the case at all. parents tend to make a bigger deal out of things than they actually may be if they dont have all the facts, which is clearly what is going on. its odd to see that someone actually said this, as Focus seems to be an awesome organization and never before have i looked so forward to a season. recruiting people and talking bad about other organizations are two completely different things, but i really dont see anyone from Focus doing anything other than trying to recruit, its a "kept*together" organization, and focus shows class.. although this is my first season with cheergyms.com most of my friends were already on it (while i was other organizations) and never once have i heard ANY of them talk down about other teams.. i dont see (or hear) anyone ever talking down towards others when im at the gym AND out of it. like i said.. Focus shows class & I'm proud to be a part of it. =)
WOW! I'm a new parent to this team. My daughter chose this team (with my support) for reasons that were personal and in her best interests. This team fits her in her senior year of high school. She has cheered on three cheer squads before this and changing was a very, very tough decision. She has cried many, many tears over the things she will not be able to do and the people she will miss on her last teams, but is so looking forward to being able to still cheer with a great team and great coaches, and have fun in her senior year. She wants to be able to keep in touch with her past friends, but.... From what I have seen so far, this is a top-notch outfit and I am very confident that the kind of things that "PWYP" claims aren't happening and will not happen....ever. That is what makes me happy about being on this team...that's what makes Amber happy. Isn't that what counts?...what makes our kids happy?
These claims sound fairly reminiscent of the sort of DRAMAtic things that helped us make this decision to move to Focus. I like the way this team posts everything, even anonymous items, and doesn't edit or omit them like on other boards. Its a shame that this parent will not post her name or organization as, after all, this is a free country and freedom of speech is a right anyone should be proud to put their name on. I urge you to come forth, yet I'll think this a childish prank or manipulation.
I, as well, am a new parent to this team, and I couln't be happier with the way things are run at the Focus gym. My daughter was with another organization last year, and I felt that moving her to this organization was a better decision overall. Of course, at first, any child would be hesitant to leaving all her friends and teammates, and with this came plenty of tear and arguements. But after my daughter really thought about it, she KNEW that Focus was a better fit for her overall. Focus was her first choice when she was picking all-star teams to compete with after junior high (which was Focus' first year). She chose otherwise once her cheerleading friends decided to try-out for a different organization. After one year with our previous organization, I knew half way through the season that I would rather her be cheering somewhere else. The reason we chose to go to an All-Star team in the first place was to get rid of the things that "PWYP" posted about, as it usually happens at school. Her old organization promised the same thing, that there would be no down talking about other people and squads. After a couple of months, it became clear that they were not living up to the policies that they had promised us all. She too, wanted to be able to keep in contact with her old teammates and friends. Our previous organization has made it extremely hard for her to do this, telling her that she betrayed and lied to the team by switching organizations. Now you tell me.. Isn't a little immature that adults are telling her this when she is fifteen years old, it's completely uncalled for. She's a child, just wanting to keep in contact with old teammates, but clearly the other organization seems to be against it 100% and it seems it won't be happening. After all of this going on just under a month into the season, I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT SHE HAS MOVED TO FOCUS. I would have pulled her out of the other organization in a second if she had gone back to it. Switching teams for her was not the easiest thing, but she has come to me during all of this and THANKED me for making her move. She is very pleased how things are going with only two practices in the bag, she feels very confident with this team and is looking forward to great things. She's very eager and happy to recruit kids to Focus..
What "PWYP" said is exactly the reason why we switched, and it too, also seems very similar to things that were said to my daughter. What they posted was exactly what they are "yelling" to Focus about. Not talking trash about other teams, which they clearly have just done themselves. So in response to what was by them, I think it should be "Shame on YOU", not Focus. I agree with Nanette, keepings our kids happy is whats important..no matter where it may lead you. Because in our families case, this is a switch we should have made A LONG time ago..
I think cheergyms.com is the greatest thing that ever happened to my daughter. Not only has she made great friends with people at her gym and other cheergym.com teams, she has made friends with kids from other gyms. In fact, she has become close to a couple of the kids that compete on a team that is one of our biggest competitiors. I have lots of pictures from competitions of my daughter hanging out with kids from other gyms. Cheerleading is about doing your best and showing awesome spirit. It is more rewarding to know that every team is great and that we won because we did our absolute best...not because the other team was not as good. Coaches from all of the cheergyms.com teams not only PREACH good sportsmanship, they SHOW it everytime a team steps onto the mat.
To be honest, if this was a real concern that you had, maybe it would have been best to email the coaches of Focus or Danny directly. PUBLIC message boards (that all of our kids can read) should be more positive. After all, cheerleading is a POSITIVE sport, let's keep it that way. =)
We have to say we are a bit astonished after reading this "anonymous" post because we have found our interactions with Focus to be just the opposite of what was negatively posted. In the past few months we have had the pleasure of getting to know the staff and team members that make up the Focus family. We have never seen them promote negativity or encourage ill behavior toward other teams especially to recruit more members. As it is the Focus organization is thriving with enrollment because of their positive and professional outlook. We continue to support this model organization and measure it not only by our professional interaction with the organization but also by the comradre that is displayed by its members.
I think Danny hit the nail right on the head with his post. Besides, by bashing his business on the message board, you're stooping as low as the kid's supposedly did. If you felt the kids were wrong, why would you turn around and do the same thing rather than call the gym directly and speak to an adult?
I read this and it made me very sad. My daughter made the choice to leave the cheergyms.com family this year after cheering at Motions for 2 years. Nelson and the rest of the staff at Motions were extremely supportive of her decision and they told her the door is always open should she want to return. It broke my heart for her to leave the program but I know Motions will always be her "cheer family" While we were a part of the program it was the most positive cheer experience she has ever had. We had done Pop Warner, a different all star program, middle school and high school. I have never seen a group of people conduct themselves better. The way the support each other as well as other gyms is a true testament to the program. I have seen these kids not only support each other but support previous team members who have moved to other programs. When you see kids from Motions hugging, screaming for or just running to watch kids in other programs that they have cheered with says what cheergyms it all about!
I am very curious to know if this post was left by an actual parent or a student bent on ruffling feathers? I re-read the post again and found numerous errors as well as some "teen" slang. As a parent, I would have contacted the Focus gym and reported the actual person or persons by name. If this teen was approached at school, then the offenders are known by the teen. Why wouldn't you want them to be removed from that gym if you were so dissapointed? Because it didn't happen. There are numerous "fishy" things going on with this post and I am willing to bet that it is a hoax. What I have to say is.... you KNOW how classy your orginization is therefore you KNOW that this didn't happen. Sounds to me that there is a bit of jealousy going on in Nor Cal and they don't know how to win on the mat so this is how they do it. Unfortunatly some teams don't know how to lose with classiness. Here's your proof.
