PERFORMANCE ORDERS
WARNING – Soapbox Moment
As we just finished the second full weekend of the US competition season, I am a little dismayed again (just like every year) by the lack of transparency.
How is this even possible that we are still having this conversation?
This season so far (and it’s still really early) I have seen at least 2 Event Producers who used to publicly release performance orders, now switch them to private. I don’t understand why. I’ve heard reasons like athlete safety, not finalized, or even not wanting other EPs seeing who’s competing. One of the biggest reasons I’ve heard is coaches don’t want parents asking questions when there is changes. I get that. But by Tuesday of comp week, schedules are pretty much set. Why not share them? (Heck, international comps release schedules PUBLICLY a week before). Parents understand changes happen. We know that changes can even happen the day of… we just want to be able to plan our days.
Let me explain this further. We have to get the kid up, get them fed, get hair and makeup done (hopefully there is no issues here) get to the comps to cheer on all the other teams in the gym, get the kids mentally ready, depending on the time they go, might need snacks or lunch, go cheer on more teams, get to the meeting spots an hour before, more hair and makeup, (they go with the coaches for 30-45 minutes), cheer on our kids, celebrate or console depending on performance, get the videos, change outfits (in the backpack that weighs 20lbs), food again (especially if they were too nervous to eat before), cheer on more teams, finally being able to leave for the night, find dinner, get to the hotel, brush out hairs and clean makeup, occupy the kids until the coaches text about the performance, try to get everyone to sleep, and then do it all over again the next day, but add awards and driving home. Now this example is really for one athlete on one team. Let’s not even start talking about crossovers or multiple athletes/multiple teams or throw in other non-cheering siblings, dads and sometimes grandparents. And we pay for all of this!
All we want is a schedule to try to plan our days BEFORE the day of the competition. Do we need to bring snacks? Do we need a change of clothes? Do we need battery chargers? Books? iPads? Switches? Do we need to figure out if we can leave for a few minutes and come back? Can we bring dinner to the hotel room, instead of eating out? What time will we get back so we can plan Ubers? And definitely don’t forget that we still have to plan homework time in there somewhere?
Now over the years, Varsity has gotten better when it comes to transparency. Not perfect, but better. So I call on @USASF and @VarsityAllStar to have conversations with the Independent Event Producers, who give away bids to The Cheerleading Worlds and Summit, to publicly release both performance orders (before the event). We have block schedules usually weeks before (even though sometimes they are 6+ hour blocks at the bigger comps) so the EPs have got to have an easy tentative schedule to make the blocks. Heck, we have already seen team lists for some of the biggest comps in the country. They know who will be there.
Again, all we need is a performance order PUBLICLY released no later than Tuesday. Not Fridays when we are already on the road and definitely NOT wait until the event. Just please gives the parents a little heads up.
Side note to EPs – just because you didn’t hear us complain, doesn’t mean it we don’t want to schedule. (Trust me, we complained somewhere)
And don’t get me started on releasing results, that will be another soapbox for another day.
What do you think? Would you like to have a performance order on Tuesday, Friday is fine, or just don’t really mind not getting one at all?