Information Packet 2014-2015 Season We are so excited that you have chosen to become a part of the Pacific Northwest’s newest All Star Cheerleading facilities! Our mission at Sonic Elite is to provide your children a place to enrich their lives through the world of competitive cheer! Our goal is to give your children the guidance, skills, integrity, leadership, commitment, confidence, positivity, teamwork and hard work as well as share the love for the sport. We take pride in our ability to focus specific attention on each individual all the while teaching each member to excel in all skill areas of cheerleading. Our program is about pulling families together and making everyone a member of our team. All Star cheerleading is all about serious competition. It’s unlike high school or college cheerleading because there are no games to cheer at, no spirit-raising, and most of the cheerleaders on each team will not even go to the same school. So for someone who is looking for competition only, All Star cheerleading may be the answer. All Star cheerleading is a competitive team sport incorporating skills from several other disciplines such as gymnastics, dance, stunting and, of course, cheer. All Star cheerleading squads do not cheer for other sports teams. They are the team! All-Star cheerleading teams differ from other teams by training year-round for competitions. They also differ from most other sports in that every team member is vital to the team and the performance. There are no benchwarmers. Everybody has an integral part! Each member of the squad is trained in all aspects of the sport in order to develop their skills to reach their maximum potential. The try out process is very casual and fun! It is not a “try out” per say but an evaluation of your child’s current skill level. We will have every child perform the following solo and then again in a group; jumps, tumbling skills, dance and choreography. After try-outs staff will begin placing members in their teams. There may be athletes on any given team that tumble at different levels than the rest of their teammates. The coaching staff will place athletes by level the best that they can, but please remember that stunting, pyramids, jumps, dance, motion and most of all age are the biggest factors when being placed. Some members will be stronger tumblers than others, we chose our teams based on the positions that we need filled i.e.; bases, flyers, tumblers, etc. Every athletes is placed on certain teams for a reason, please trust our staff to make the right decisions and what is best for the team. A breakdown of the levels offered for All Star Cheer. Levels are based off of age as well as skill level. We are unable to commit to any levels of our teams until placements have happened. Eligibility is based on age by August the 31st 2014 Team practices are mandatory. Calendars will be provided once placements have been made to allow families to prepare for the season to come. Schedule changes can and will occur based on coaching, weather and gym schedules as necessary. All Star Cheerleading requires a 100% commitment by athletes and by families. If you are unable to attend a practice you must notify a coach or staff immediately. Absences can cause safety factors for other members when you are not there. All Star cheerleading is a team sport and every member is a key tool to the success of the team. Once absence can cause an entire stunt group to be out for an evening, we need to be able to plan around these occurrences. Attendance is crucial to team success. An “absent request form” must be filled out prior to missed practices. We ask that NO PRACTICE IS MISSED two weeks prior to any competition. Excused Absences: -Illness -School functions that affect grades -Family emergencies -Family vacations during holidays and summer break -case by case situations **** Vacations are not permitted during competition season, unless the gym is closed and the athlete has already cleared it with their coaches. Please see your coaches with any vacations at any time. Also, any summer vacations must be in writing 2 weeks prior to the missed practice(s). Unexcused Absences-School dances -“too tired” -don’t have a ride -traffic -etc. Sonic Elite would like to practice with zero distractions; this is for the safety of your child as well as the safety of others. We ask that there be a “no parent viewing policy” after team placements has been made. We do understand the concerns of parents not being able to see what is going on during a practice and with that we will allow parents to view the last 15 minutes of any scheduled practice and that all viewing is done from designated viewing areas. We ask that at no time parents or non-athletes are to enter practice area. Viewing will be allowed during any open gym, tumbling classes, skill classes, privates, etc. we just ask that during team practice we allow our coaches and athletes to be fully focused with zero distraction. If an injury should occur, it is the responsibility of the parent to seek professional help. Our gym does not provide any form of medical insurance, medical insurance is the sole responsibility of each individual athlete. Upon occurrence of an injury, an athlete must provide a doctor’s note, release form before stepping back into the gym to perform any form of practice. COMMUNICATION- Communication is key to any operation and we would like to provide an open book policy to all athletes as well as parents. As a parent, you will be receiving information in ways such as weekly email newsletters, calendars, Facebook page updates as well as handouts at practices. We will also have a team bulletin board set out in front that will include all updates, competition schedule and any changes! FEES- A schedule of all payments including camps, tuition, apparel, etc. has been attached. Forms will include all due dates. A late payment fee of $15 will be added to all fees, there will be a 3-day grace period on all fees and tuition. If something comes up and you need assistance or extensions on any payment please let us know at least 10 days prior to due date and we will be more than happy to help you arrange any form of postponement or payment plan. All fees are NON-REFUNDABLE, if you choose to leave the gym for any reason there will be no refund, no exception. Each parent will be asked to sign a financial contract. Each person signing the contract will be responsible for keeping his/her child’s account current. Tuition will be due by the 20th of each month, any payment made after the 23rd will have a $15 late fee attached. Athletes with excessive past due accounts are still required to be at practice but may be asked to sit out. FUNDRAISING- We will be working our hardest to provide any every fundraiser possible for our athletes to help pay accounts and fees. Any fundraisers in which a child is individually earning money will go directly to their own personal accounts. Any fundraiser that is a group activity will be split equally amongst all who participated only. The gym will NEVER take a portion from any fundraiser money earned, this money is for you and we will do everything we can to help you earn it. OTHER IMPORTANT GUIDELINES *All cell phones must be turned off during practice. We are not responsible for any lost phones, iPods or personal belongings, please store these in your car or don’t bring them at all. *Do not gossip about other teams, parents, coaches, staff, gyms or rules of our facility. Again, if you have questions or concerns please ask. This can affect your position on our team. *Withholding your child from practice as a form of discipline is not allowed. This is unfair and hurts the rest of the team who is attending practice. It effects everyone *Please do not create, duplicate any Sonic Elite apparel or merchandise. We love that you are excited about your team; if you have something in particular you want to do, please ask before doing it. *It is the parent’s responsibility to stay informed, please make sure you are checking your emails regularly and reading papers that are sent home with your athletes. *Please do not post videos of our teams routines online unless we post them first on our social networking sites PRIOR to competition season, you are free to share any photos and video we post. *Punctuality is a must! Please arrive to practice 10 minutes early in order to put on your shoes and put away your belongings, you must be on the floor and ready to go when your practice time begins. *No food or drink is allowed in the practice area at any time with the exception of water. This includes, no Gatorades, PowerAde’s, etc. *Remove all piercings before practice, this includes earrings, belly rings, etc. this is for your safety, we cannot stress this enough We will be attending several competitions throughout the season. Competitions usually begin in the month of December and we want to make sure that we are all prepared. Please note, all competitions are out of town, there are no local competitions at this time. All competitions will be likely in Tacoma, Bellevue, Portland and if we attend a National Event, they will be out of state. We will get all information to you in as much advance as possible. For out of state events the likeliness will be that of Anaheim, CA –Dallas, TX- Vancouver, BC and if we qualify we will attend The Summit in Orlando, FL **We will only be traveling to one out of state event (besides Portland), the only other time we will attend a second out of state event is The Summit, which you must win a bid for. IF, we attend Summit, we will do all we can in fundraising and sponsorships to get there** TRANSPORTATION- All transportation/accommodations are solely the responsibility of each family. We will make any and all efforts to provide you information for travel in a timely manner. We are not responsible for competition cancellations. If you are unable to get your athlete to a competition please let us know immediately and we will find another form of transportation for them to ride with another athlete. Out of state competitions are solely the responsibility of the parents as well, this includes airfare and lodging. ATTIRE- Your athlete must wear their uniform shell, spankies and warm ups to all competitions. Please bring your skirt/shorts in bag. DO NOT wear your shoes outside, please bring an extra pair of shoes to all practices and events, remember flyers; your bases will be touching your feet, we need your shoes to be clean and sanitary. Please arrive at competitions in full hair and makeup **A competition packet will be sent out in early November with more specifics**