USASF Professional Responsibility Code 2019-2020 9.0 | Page 5
All Star Cheer and Dance can be many things to many people. By legal
definition All Star Cheer and Dance is not considered an official sport.
Therefore, those affiliated with All Star Cheer and Dance operate
businesses that offer as their product “competitive cheer and dance”
to their clients. For the athlete it is a sport, for the Program Owners
and Event Producers it is a business. For some people it is a way to get
physical exercise, to participate in a unique hobby, and a recreational
activity with all the social aspects to it; seeing friends each week and
making new ones. To many it is an avenue for personal development
teaching team dynamics and lifelong lessons through the highs and
lows of competition.
Any time you create an environment with winners, losers, titles and
prize money, you can expect that environment to become vigorously
competitive. When the participants are contending to achieve the
highest recognition on the National or Worlds level, everything
becomes much more intense. This intensity extends far beyond
the brief time the athlete is competing. It extends to include all the
activities of All Star Cheer and Dance: training, coaching, parents,
teams, Program Owners, and all the expenses required to compete at
a higher level.
All Star Cheer and Dance can become very serious business
when it reaches this level. It requires not only a time and training
commitment but a financial commitment as well. Athletes (and
parents) must invest money into the required facilities, entry fees
for competitions, travel expenses for out of town events, competition
dues and fees for more frequent and advanced training by the coach.
Coaches and owners also invest a lot of time and energy into training
these more advanced athletes as well as continually developing other
athletes to enhance and improve the entire program.
As an All Star Program grows and becomes more competitive, by
necessity, they rise to the level of a business operation. How that
business is conducted becomes very important. Many questions must
be asked of oneself, “Is it business first, or does the sport come first?”
“Is the bottom line of winning and success, more important than how
that is achieved?” “Do personal relationships and loyalties between
coaches, athletes and their families take second place to achieving
success?”
This is where personal ethics come into play. There is a huge
distinction between “legal” and “ethical”. “Legal” is a matter of
law. “Ethics” are a code of conduct based on personal values and
beliefs. Therefore, someone may do something which is “legal” yet
“unethical”. Not surprisingly, these opposing values have caused, and
will always cause, a measure of conflict. The USASF is the governing
authority for All Star Cheer and Dance which has clearly defined
the rules and regulations for competition. The USASF Disciplinary
Committee oversees any violation of the PRC and The Connection
provides the members who serve on the Disciplinary Committee to
preserve and protect the integrity of the rules. However, there has
not been a clear definition of the ethical standards applicable to the
business side of All Star Cheer and Dance.
GENERAL PRINCIPLE GUIDELINES
There are instances when people, including our members, will
attempt to justify what could be considered questionable business
practices as being proper since they are doing nothing “illegal”.
However, if accepted ethical standards are being violated, it creates
discord in the All Star community. Such practices lead down a
slippery slope to soiled reputations, disunity, distrust, broken
relationships, not to mention emotionally and financially injured
people. In order to encourage ethical business practices, the All Star
community must define what we collectively believe to be ethical
standards.
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