Group Will Field National All-Star Team to Compete At Inaugural World Cup Championship; Represent the U.S. Globally

A group of America’s most accomplished leaders in cheerleading have announced today the formation of the USA Federation for Sports Cheering, which will be known and marketed as USA Cheer.

USA Cheer will serve as the official governing body of cheerleading in the United States, and the officially recognized U.S. representative of the International Cheer Union (ICU), the acting worldwide organization overseeing the activity.

The new governing body will represent the U.S. in international cheer competitions, including the inaugural World Cup Championship that will be held in April 2009 at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. USA Cheer will assemble a 24-member national team of America’s elite cheer talent that will compete against similar teams from over 50 countries. Competing countries will field co-ed and all girl teams, ages 14 and up.

In addition to representing the U.S. internationally, USA Cheer will focus efforts and resources on increasing participation in and support of cheer throughout the country. The organization has stated that two of their primary goals is to USA Cheer brings together the entire cheerleading community, both at the school level, as well as clubs, known as all-star programs, to promote the many positive experiences cheerleading provides millions of young people across the country, as well as promoting cheer safety education nationwide.

Jeff Webb, the CEO and founder of Varsity Brands Inc, the world’s largest cheerleading brand, has been selected President of USA Cheer. Other executives and board members include:

• Jim Chadwick (VP) - President of U.S. All-Star Federation for Cheer and Dance and the International All-Star Federation
• Dawn Calitri (VP) - President of the National Cheerleaders Association and the National Dance Association

Representing the U.S. All-Star Federation (USAF)

• Aaron Flaker - Founder and Co-Owner of the JAM Brands and a director for the USASF
• Karen Halterman - Director for the USASF

Representing the National Federation of State High School Associations

• Rhonda Blanford Green - Assistant Commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association

Representing the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators are (AACCA):

• Jim Lord - Executive Director of AACCA T. Lynn Williamson - Senior Associate General Counsel for the University of Kentucky, and Spirit Advisor for University of Kentucky for the last 30 years.
• Carolyn Shoemaker - President for the Florida Cheer Coaches Association, and a director for the AACCA

Representing the National Alliance for School Cheerleading:

• Mike Burgess - President of the United Spirit Association (USA)
• Jim Thorp - Founder and President of Cheerleading Technique Camps and the American Championships

Representing the Active Athletes:

• Krisler Bailey - Executive Committee Representative for Active Athletes and former cheerleader for Hofstra University.
• David McDowell - Former four-year cheerleader for the University of Kentucky and currently Head Coach for University of Alabama Cheerleaders.
• Emily Burster - Former four year cheerleader for Drexel University

“Establishing USA Cheer and unifying this multi-talented leadership team is an historic, pivotal step toward continuing the steady domestic growth and international expansion of competitive cheer,” said Webb, who is widely credited with revolutionizing the sport. He added, “Cheerleading is a unique activity in that it functions at times as a sport during competitions, but it is also viewed as an important campus leadership activity at thousands of colleges and high schools in the US.”

Source: USA Cheer

Ninth annual LIFE Event brings another $500,000 to the cause; funds benefit the Val Skinner Foundation and programs that drive “Young Women’s Initiative.”

Thirty-two LPGA pros including world no. 1 Lorena Ochoa, Hall of Fame members, Beth Daniel and Karrie Webb, and top-ranked players such as Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome, Nicole Castrale and Sherri Steinhauer came together for the ninth annual LIFE (LPGA Pros in the Fight to Eradicate Breast Cancer) Event on May 19. The event, hosted by LPGA veteran Val Skinner, raised $500,000 for the breast cancer fight. This year’s event brings the cumulative funds raised by LIFE for the breast cancer cause to $4.5 million.

Held again at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., the LIFE Event benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the LPGA’s official national charity and largest private backer of breast cancer research and education, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Together, Skinner and these beneficiaries created the “Young Women’s Initiative” — a multifaceted approach to educating young women and other audiences about the risks associated with breast cancer and the importance of early detection. Komen and CINJ programs funded by LIFE move this initiative forward.

“The LIFE Event is an opportunity for LPGA friends, event partners and beneficiaries with a common desire to play a role in the fight against breast cancer to come together to make a difference,” said Val Skinner, event founder and host. “This one-day event results in powerful programs that are changing the future of the disease.”

LIFE Event partners include: the Joe Plumeri Family, Merrill Lynch, Emblem Health, Guy Carpenter, QualCare and Roche. Other notable supporters are: Assured Guaranty, Commerce Bank, The ACE Group, Ortho Biotech, Citigroup Smith Barney, Marsh, New Smith, GUND, Inc. and Lincoln Mercury.

Skinner will host a second LIFE Series event in the fall in Hilton Head, S.C., which will raise an additional $500,000 for the cause. Collectively, both events will bring the first LIFE $1 million annual donation to the cause.

Skinner founded LIFE after the loss of her friend and fellow LPGA golfer, Heather Farr, who died of breast cancer in 1993 at the age of 28. For more information about the LIFE Event or Val Skinner Foundation call 866-882-LIFE or visit www.valskinnerfoundation.org .

Source: Val Skinner Foundation

Web site: http://www.valskinnerfoundation.org/

The electrical construction industry’s NECA-IBEW team broke new ground in union recruitment when they became the first to sponsor a NASCAR driver with the aim of promoting a website.

Alli Owens, the sponsored driver and among the youngest women ever to compete in NASCAR events, races her #12 car emblazoned with the URL www.electrifyingcareers.com, the main apprentice recruiting website created by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).

“It was clear to us that NASCAR sponsorship was an optimal fit for our recruitment strategy,” says Ed Hill, president of IBEW. “NASCAR is the number two sport in America in terms of audience draw, just behind the NFL, and 58 percent of those fans are between the ages of 18 and 44, right in our target demographic. The alliance creates a powerful national marketing platform for reaching millions of potential recruits.”

Since the sponsorship began, visits to the website have risen by more than 300 percent.

Says E. Milner Irvin, president of NECA, “We’re proud to support Alli as she moves up in the rankings. At the same time, we’re speaking to our target audience. We’re raising awareness and driving traffic to our website. And once there, we’re giving visitors a persuasive presentation of the career opportunities open in the electrical construction and information systems industries. In that regard, the program has been an unqualified success.”

Source: NLMCC

Web site: http://www.electrifyingcareers.com/
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