Word: all-stars
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Some of the biggest wheels in the cheer business (known as the "spirit" industry) are the increasingly popular "All-Star" competitive squads, which are run out of private gyms, often as part of gymnastic clubs. All-Stars are the flashy fringe of the cheering world; because they are privately run and unencumbered by school affiliation, the squads blur the boundaries between spectacular gymnastics, outrageous stunts, cheer and dance. They have helped make competitive cheer the fastest-growing women's sport in the country. The squads exist to practice, perform and compete, and have popularized an in-your-face style...
Dawn Pierson, coach of the Northeast Ohio All Stars, says her squads push the envelope, both athletically and in terms of their moves, but not so much as they used to. "A lot of All-Star teams are re-evaluating their 'thrusting'--competition judges don't want to see fourth-graders out there bumping and grinding...
Techniques popular at All-Star squads have filtered into the tamer world of high school sideline cheer through camps, videos and the movie Bring It On, a cult favorite among high schoolers about cheerleading in California. But many schools prohibit the elaborate mounts, stunts, flying and dancing that All-Star squads work to perfect. And while the National Federation of State High School Associations annually updates its guidelines about safety, appropriate apparel and dance moves, it is up to communities to enforce them...
...When Beers was nominated last spring - a lifetime ago - an all-star ad exec looked like just the ticket for a post that has long been a high-level plum akin to an ambassadorship, or a harmless halfway house for political appointees. Beers's predecessor, Evelyn Lieberman, was exiled there after a brave (but fruitless) effort to keep the president and Monica apart in the White House. Post-Sept. 11, with the battle for the Arab street to whom Osama is a hero almost as important as the battle to capture Jalalabad, the job seems to call more...
...It’s like having an all-star national faculty to work on the most pressing issues of the day,” Fineberg said...