Welcome to Cheerleading Ireland

The team who have formed Cheerleading Ireland to serve the Irish All Star Cheerleading Industry would like to take a moment to introduce you to the goals and motivations of the organisation, how the organisation can help your club, coaches and athletes and why it’s such great news for clubs in Ireland to have access to resources that are currently limited.
 
What is Cheerleading Ireland?
Cheerleading Ireland is an organisation built by like-minded industry leaders who are excited to create a catalyst for change within the industry. We see the current state of the industry as stagnant as despite the obvious growth in numbers, the resources, facilities and support available to Irish clubs and coaches has regressed. Instead, private entities and trusted coaches have stepped forward to fill the gaps created by inconsistent and often contradictory leadership. The aim of Cheerleading Ireland is to provide an amplified focus on the best interests of the athlete. In doing so we can guarantee that the entire sport is held to the highest standards and effectively create an overhaul from the top down. Athletes are trained by coaches, coaches are hired by clubs, clubs are paid by parents, routines are created by choreographers and in turn, performed by athletes. This is the circle of the All Star Cheerleading industry. There are cracks in the industry engine because the components needed to make the engine run smoothly have never worked in unison. We are here to encourage you to change all of that.  
With an organisation that places the best interests of the athlete at the forefront of all decisions, it creates accountability for the leaders of the organisation to provide resources that will enable clubs to upgrade their standards, improve their staff and coach training, overall athlete welfare, and standardise the industry for the betterment of all.
 
How will Cheerleading Ireland implement these changes?

Cheerleading Ireland was founded with the following tenets:
Athlete centred services including clinics, elite development training, and events.
Provision of Welfare resources including training and Garda Vetting, and a complaints and “ombudsman” procedure..
Coach Training facilitation including access to ICU coach credential exams.
Distribution of Standard Operating Procedures to ensure clubs are adequately equipped to deal with modern issues affecting our coaches, support staff and members.
Access to insurance coverage that will be open to all registered members.
Centralised athlete/roster verification system for Cheerleading Ireland event registration that will be used by affiliated event producers for verification purposes only. This system will confirm that over 16s are Garda Vetted to work with children or to be on teams with children, will confirm the coach has been trained to the level of the team they are coaching and will make the event staff aware that the coach is allowed access to areas where minors are present. This may inconvenience clubs in the short term and so these policies will be grandfathered in over the coming 3 seasons. In the long term this creates an athlete centric sport putting welfare, solid coach training and progressive clubs at the forefront of the sport.
Qualified Coaches List, and a list of coaches who have been banned, or sanctioned by Cheerleading Ireland for an actionable offense. Actionable offenses and investigation protocols will be laid out clearly to help clubs put their athletes first.

The truth is that the organisation can only do so much. You as the club owner or coach must take accountability for the future of your sport by adopting an interest in the overall development of All Star Cheerleading and not just how that will affect your club.

It’s a very simple equation. The education of coaches creates more successful teams; successful teams generate the desire for more athletes to join; that natural growth of All Star Cheerleading adds more teams and therefore more athletes to your books; those athletes create revenue for events; those events generate interest for clubs; clubs can use that interest to further grow. However, when clubs are ill-prepared for growth, it brings problems.

And here’s where Cheerleading Ireland is really important.

Cheerleading Ireland will support you if you find you are having problems with your club and we understand that to plan for those problems before they arise is the only way to run a successful business.  

What can Cheerleading Ireland provide for your club now?

Choice. Having options puts you in control, and without you and your contribution to the industry, there would be nothing. You deserve to be catered for by an organisation that understands that the growth of your club helps the entire industry.

Becoming a member of Cheerleading Ireland gives you immediate access to:
Garda Vetting:
We believe that all clubs should have access to Garda Vetting to ensure that the safety of our athletes is being met at the most grass roots level. All adult members who register with Cheerleading Ireland will be automatically enrolled in our Garda Vetting procedure.
Insurance:
By registering your athlete membership, the athlete is automatically covered for personal accident insurance and the coach, director and other staff are also covered once they are registered as an interested party.
Education:
Any coach can teach an athlete a skill, only an educated coach can teach an athlete to understand the skill. Your success as a coach, and the success of your club, depends on the ongoing upskilling of coaches and your administration and support staff.
With this in mind, we have established a network that can be used to provide credentialing, and practical training for coaches.
We can also provide resources for upskilling administration and support staff.
Events:
Our first events are planned for this summer with more to come. We want opportunities to be open to all athletes and clubs of all levels.
 
Who are the industry leaders behind Cheerleading Ireland?

We believe that change requires an opt-in from people with different experiences, who have had various opportunities and insights.  In order to bring about much needed change to Irish Cheerleading, the individuals who came together to promote new options, opportunities and bring focus away from coaches back to the athletes are from an array of different backgrounds.  While these coaches have had very different opinions, different routes and different successes, you can see there are a number of similarities that unite them.

Amy White Lamb - Owner and Coach at DTC Allstars and Inspire Cheer and Dance, Former director Cheer Sport Ireland
Everth Campos - ICU Judge, Head Coach and Education Official, Former Head Coach of gold winning ICU team, Team Colombia
Hayden McGurk - Owner of Allstar Advisor and Former Owner/Coach of Strike Force Cheer, Former Head Coach of Team Ireland, Former director Cheer Sport Ireland
Hilton Holian - Owner of Stuntworx Elite and 21st Century Cheer, Former Head Coach of Team Ireland, Former Director Cheer Sport Ireland
Shannon O’Reilly - Owner and Head Coach of Strike Force Cheer, Former Head Coach of Team Ireland
 
How can you get involved?

We need to know what the industry requires in order to facilitate services for you. This organisation is formed with the knowledge that coming together is only a start, working together with the greater good in mind will take effort, grit and sometimes requires individuals to swallow their pride and work for the outcome that will benefit the entire industry rather than just our own interests.
We want people to get involved and be part of the push for change. If you are a doer, we’d love your input. If you want change, you need to create it.

We are hosting our first Town Hall Discussion and Information Session on June 8th in Mullingar. We would like to invite you to attend, discuss what you require to successfully provide services and support to your athletes and help guide the future of Irish Cheerleading.

If you would like to be involved please let us know. We would love to meet you all and have you be part of the change.