The USASF and NACCC are excited to announce the launch of Regional Facebook Groups for all members! Join your Regional Director and NACCC Executive Committee Representatives and learn about USASF and NACCC programs and initiatives while offering each other advice, tips, mentoring and assistance on everything All Star.
HERE’S HOW:
In Facebook, search for your region’s group:
USASF/NACCC Midwest
USASF/NACCC Northeast
USASF/NACCC Southeast
USASF/NACCC Southwest
USASF/NACCC West
Click on the name of your group to go to the group’s page.
At the top, right side of the page, click “Join Group.”
A group administrator will confirm your request.
Start sharing and learning with other coaches, gym owners and USASF Staff!
While you’re joining your group, be sure to friend your Regional Director*:
Midwest: Amy Clark USASF
Northeast: Robin Coe USASF
Southeast: Glenda Broderick USASF
Southwest: Angi Dunham USASF
West: Karen Wilson USASF
*When searching for your Regional Director, be sure to include first name, last name AND USASF.
Courtesy of Inside Cheerleading Magazine, we’re having a couple contests. The prize for each contest is a certificate for a year long subscription to Inside Cheerleading Magazine for the winner and a friend.
Predict the team that will have the highest event score. The tie breaker will be who comes the closest to predicting their event score without going over. To enter put your prediction (team, division, and score) in this thread before the thread is locked on Saturday morning.
Chico Garcia, Louisiana State University’s cheerleading coach, was involved in a boating accident that left him seriously injured. More information can be found at www.getwellchico.com.
From Facebook:
UPDATE ON CHICO GARCIA!!!!
They took him off the venilator this afternoon and he is doing well breathing on his own. He is awake and alert and in good spirits. Unfortunately, nothing has changed concerning his physical status. He still has to feeling or movement from the chest down, in his lower arms/hands, or legs. Needless to say, it is going to be a LONG road for our dear friend!
THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS YOU CAN HELP!!!!
We have a website set up www.cheeringforchico.com. Donations are being accepted to assist the family with expenses, etc. ANYTHING is appreciated! You can also post here and get info on updates, fundraisers, events, etc.
DONATE BLOOD. For every pint of blood donated in Chico’s name, they will deduct $100 from his hospital bill. (A commenter clarified that OLOL’s policy is to give a $15 credit for patients mentioned at every blood donation.) If you are in Baton Rouge, OLL is open M-TH from 8-6. If you are not in BR, many other hospitals are willing to exchange the credit and send it to Chico but you need to ask and must give them his name when making the donation. We are in the process of gathering a list of hospitals in major cities that are willing to do this. Unfortunately, each of them needs to be called to find out if they are willing to exchange. We are working on it and will post it asap (or you can call your local hospital…just make sure they are willing & give the name Chico Garcia)!
ONLINE AUCTION – Chico had 2 tickets and his parents had 2 tickets to the LSU vs. Oregon game. These are now up for auction at LSUsports.net with all proceeds going to the family!!!!
T-SHIRTS – We will be selling Cheering for Chico t-shirts…keep checking the website…these will be available soon. Also working on wristbands. If you work with a squad and your squad might want to place a group order, send us an e-mail to the e-mail below and we can send you a group order form. Otherwise, individuals will be able to log on and use paypal.
E-mail – It has been overwhelming for family and friends to keep up with offers for help, etc. We have set up an e-mail account …cheeringforchico@gmail.com. If you are willing to help in any way, PLEASE send an email with your contact information and how you are willing to help to THIS EMAIL!!! We will get back to you. It may take a while, but this is going to be a long road and we are going to need help for a long time. I promise we will use everyone! If you have a business and would be willing to help with a donation…we need to pay for t-shirts, stickers, wristbands, fundraisers, etc and can get you tax deduction info. Or, if you are an individual willing to help with meals, head up a fundraiser in your town, etc…ANYTHING! Please just send an e-mail.
LASTLY, please just continue to pray for Chico and his family. Like I said, this is going to be a LONG road. The Lord is amazing and we never know who might be granted a miracle!!! I’m praying it’s Chico!!!
Thanks in advance for all of your help!!! Keep CHEERING FOR CHICO!!!!
Here are links to a couple stories about the accident:
ACE Cheer Company and Cheer for a Cause have united to raise funds for Coach Matt McCallum’s kidney transplant. Matt’s kidneys were damaged when he was just seven years old. Now 24, and on dialysis for nearly four years, he will receive a life saving kidney transplant on November 11th.
Birmingham, Alabama, November 9, 2010 – ACE Cheer Company is truly a family of all kinds and a family of caring and loving people from all over this country! This year, ACE was called to do something very special for one of their own. They teamed up with Cheer for a Cause and kicked off a fundraiser at their Meet the Tribe Showcase in October to help Matt McCallum with the enormous expenses he faces.
Matt, a 24-year-old coach in the Murfreesboro gym, will receive a kidney transplant on November 11th. What’s really special is that the donor is Kelley Zeringue, wife of ACE co-owner JR Zeringue! Although 100% of the donor’s expenses are covered by the Kidney Donor Fund, Matt’s medical expenses and medications are not covered and are estimated to be $200,000. A direct donation link to the Fund is on ACE’s home page at http://www.acetribe.com.
JR Zeringue, co-owner of the Gadsden gym, and organizer of the event says, “We would appreciate any help you can offer toward our endeavor to help this young man live a normal life.” JR and owner Happy Hooper knew Matt’s need would be felt deeply by the ACE family of teams.
ACE Cheer Company and Cheer for a Cause are reaching out to our U.S.-wide cheer family and even our global family to help this young man. They have produced a video and posted it on YouTube to share his message. Will you rise to the call for help from the Tribe?
When Matt was seven, doctors found a blockage in his urinary tract that damaged his kidneys. At age 21, Matt’s kidneys completely shut down and he has been on dialysis ever since. Matt worked at ACE’s Murfreesboro gym since 2005, and moved from Premier to ACE this April. He cheered at Middle Tennessee State University for two years and met his wife, Brittany, at the ACE gym (both coach at the Murfreesboro gym). The two are newlyweds, and were married on March 6th.
The Meet the Tribe event brought in $7,200 toward The Matt McCallum Kidney Transplant Fund. Last Sunday, JR participated in a benefit motorcycle ride for Matt in Fort Payne, and they raised an additional $200!
On the “Praying for Matt McCallum & Kelley Zeringue” Facebook group, JR Zeringue posted yesterday, “I just wanted to share the first bit of great news. Matt and Kelley preregistered today and due to your generosity Matt and Britt were able to pay their copayment today and received a 20% discount for paying it up front! Praise God!” This is a first step toward this young couple being able to meet the enormous obligations they face for continuing healthcare and medication. And they’re counting on our help.
Coach Julie Bolton, founder of Cheer for a Cause, said, “There is an tremendous amount of passion and heart within the cheer community. And Matt’s need gives us an opportunity to unite to make a significant difference in his life.”
ACE Cheer Company was founded in Alabama in 1999, and is beginning their 11th season. ACE includes six locations: Homewood, Fairhope/Eastern Shore and Gadsden, AL; Atlanta, GA; Murfreesboro and Nashville, TN. ACE is a progressive, national and world recognized leader in the competitive cheerleading industry and has grown to be one of the largest all-star programs in the world. ACE Cheer Company has been featured in Gymnastics Technique Magazine, American Cheerleader, Inside Cheerleading, Cheer Coach and Advisor, CheerBiz News, All-Star Cheer and The Cheerleader Magazine. ACE has also been recognized by various other media sources, such as The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, ESPN, Fox Sports, Discovery Channel, state/local cable channels, newspapers, a feature a spot on the Disney Channel and in the 2009 USASF national promotion campaign. In 2009, American Cheerleader Magazine again ranked ACE in the top 15 programs in the nation.
Cheer for a Cause is based in Lake Mary, FL, and was founded by Julie Bolton. Their mission is to unite the Cheer World through charitable causes and create a global impact.
Look for Cheer for a Cause to show up at an event near you! Reach Cheer for a Cause at weshare@cheerforacause.org or on facebook groups at Cheer for a Cause. Their website, which is being donated by Jam Spirit Sites, will be up at http://www.cheerforacause.org by December 1st.
A new place for the cheer world to unite and support causes affecting our global cheer family
Cheerleading athletes of all ages, teams, coaches, families and friends now have a place to share their stories of hope, efforts to help others and increase awareness of causes that directly affect their lives.
Lake Mary, Florida, October 4, 2010 – Cheer for a Cause is bold, fierce, and the first and only place to unify the giving and giving-back efforts within our global cheerleading community! The idea is simple. Each month Cheer for a Cause will select a trusted cause or charity. Then they will reach out to our cheer world family to give a gift of $1. They plan to make it personal, and introduce us to members of the cheer world family whose lives have been affected by the causes they support.
On their facebook group page, which had nearly 600 members before the launch, October 2010 is month 1 – breast cancer awareness, research and treatment. Cheer for a Cause selected Susan B. Komen’s Passionately Pink for the Cure® initiative and has a team donation page set up at www.info-komen.org/goto/cheerforacause. They really only ask for a dollar, and the page says, “Each $1 represents a caring sharing heart within our cheer world.”
Coach Julie Bolton is the enthusiastic founder of Cheer for a Cause. She says, “These are tough times. We all recognize there are needs greater than our own. One of our goals at Cheer for a Cause is to give our cheer family a means to give back in a way that each of us can. And our lives change as we change the lives of others.”
Causes planned in the upcoming months include Juvenile Diabetes and an anniversary cause in January benefiting Hope for Haiti, a charity founded by Maddie Gardner of North Carolina’s 2010 world champion Cheer Extreme Senior Elite allstars.
Cheer for a Cause will share stories and pictures of fundraising efforts and community projects that athletes, teams and coaches participate in that relate to the cause for that particular month. Because there are so many potential causes, they will also feature efforts that may not directly relate to the current month’s cause.
Cheer for a Cause plans a fully interactive website at www.cheerforacause.org. They hope to present the site in several languages, but for now facebook is the hub. Cheer for a Cause is looking for sponsors and partnerships to spread the word by providing the group vendor space at competitions and conventions to promote unity in giving and reach what Coach Julie calls a “World of Spirit”. The Cheer World is diverse and everyone is welcome at Cheer for a Cause.
Cheer Moms, an affiliate of Cheer Channel, is partnering with Cheer for a Cause to encourage participation through their new website and forums set to launch Monday, October 4th. Nikki DeLude, co-founder of Cheer Moms promotes, “Teaching our children to share their giving hearts and efforts with those living through challenges or adversity, is important for all parents. Cheer for a Cause provides an inspiring connection of love for our cheer family!”
Rayna Marques of Canada’s Cheer Sport Great White Sharks, has already reached out to Cheer for a Cause. She heard about Cheer for a Cause through Ashleen Gaddy, a writer for Cheer Live and cheer friend in Texas! Rayna and her team, along with Canada’s Cheer Sport Sharks’ gym owner Ali Moffatt, ran in a 5k Run for the Cure on October 3rd. This event, along with participation information, and a video will be featured on the page! Rayna is inspired to help others, and was in charge of filming the event! The team has two moms that are breast cancer survivors, an aunt that passed away and the hope that should any of their shark sisters face this disease that there will be a cure! Every one of Cheer Sports’ 35 teams participates in a charitable cause! That’s something to be proud of!
Cheer for a Cause is also looking for suggestions for causes, video messages of hope and reports to post on the page. Do you have a story to share?
Coach Julie Bolton is the Cheer Mom of many grown up cheerleaders and some little ones! She is the founder of Cheer for a Cause, a project designed to unite the cheer world through charitable causes and create a global impact. She is the owner of Coach Julie Cheers, and produces cheerleading training DVDs that are endorsed by the National Cheer Safety Foundation. She has 15 years experience in youth cheer, 11 years as a head coach, and volunteer-coaches three teams. Coach Julie is passionate about safety, mentoring youth and building self-esteem through the sport of cheer!
In Facebook, search for your region’s group:
While you’re joining your group, be sure to friend your Regional Director*: