all star cheer & dance

The Australian All Star Cheerleading Federation is committed to our athletes and their feeling of inclusion and belonging within All Star cheer and dance sport.

We are taking a stand against bullying and encourage YOU whether you are an athlete, coach or parent to join us.

Bullying is not OK and a great majority of our youth experience some form of bullying.

AASCF have come together to form the “AASCF BUDDY” community where members of the cheer and dance community can stand together, empower and support one another as we stand against bullying.

The main directive of the “AASCF – I’m a BUDDY” program is to educate our community that no matter what team or program we are with that we are all ONE community joined by the love of our sport and need to stand together as one.

All Star is our happy & safe place so what you say or how you act has an impact and as an AASCF Buddy you choose to be POSITIVE and if you feel a behaviour would hurt YOUR feelings then it will HURT someone else.

As an AASCF Buddy , you promise to respect and to join together with my AASCF All Star Community to stop bullying and as an AASCF Buddy my PLEDGE is:

• I make a COMMITMENT to take a stand against bullying
• I WON’T watch, laugh, or join in when a friend or peer is mean or hurtful to others. 
• I will treat others with RESPECT and KINDNESS.
• I will have the COMPASSION to not be a bully and the COURAGE to not be a bystander.
• I will REACH out to others who are bullied and be a friend whenever I see bullying.
• I will wear/display my AASCF Buddy badge to show anyone who feels bullied that I am a friend and happy to talk.

 By signing the pledge you will be eligible to receive the FREE  “AASCF – I’m a BUDDY …Not a BULLY”  badge to pin on your backpack or jacket to show all that you are committed to empower and support others in your team, program or general community and will lift one another up and are an advocate for positivity within our sport.

Once you have submitted your signed Pledge you will be presented with a Thank You page.

To receive your FREE AASCF "I'm a BUDDY" badge please either print this Thank You  page out or take a photo of it and present to the AASCF Merchandise Booth to collect your badge at any 2021 AASCF competition.

 GYMS - Sign the GYM PLEDGE against bullying and you will receive the AASCF BUDDY GYM Poster to display in your gym/studio

Bullying is an intentional and ongoing behavior conducted by a more powerful person or group against a less powerful person or group that causes physical, social, emotional and/or psychological harm. Bullying happens in different ways: verbally, physically (directly to person or property), covertly (behind someone’s back) and online.

Bullying is when you keep picking on someone because you think you’re cooler, smarter, stronger or better than them.

Bullying is deliberately hurting other people with words and actions.

Bullying causes pain and stress to victims and is never justified or excusable as “I was only teasing,” “just joking”, "It was only a bit of fun" or any other reason.

Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, messaging apps, or via social media. It includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, nasty, false, or mean content about someone else.

Social Bullying happens face-to-face consisting of name calling, insulting, threatening, embarrassing and teasing as well excluding someone from an activity or friendship group.

Physical Bullying is both physical contact such as punching and kicking and property abuse such as breaking someone’s belongings, stealing money/valuables or vandalising property belonging to someone else.

Covert Bullying usually happens behind someone’s back consisting of spreading rumours among friendship groups; telling lies and gossip or sharing secrets entrusted within a friendship. It is a sort of secretive or hidden way to make others feel bad and make people believe things about you that are untrue. 

Cyberbullying happens through electronic communication devices including mobile phones, computers, tablets etc. Cyberbullying usually occurs via social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, YouTube but also via text, email, instant messenger, chatrooms, forums etc. This is also a form of hidden bullying; it can be anonymous and can spread quickly to a wide audience where content can be viewed repeatedly over time. Once something hits cyberspace it is there forever and can be extremely difficult to remove.

In a sports context bullying can take many forms, for example:

• a parent telling their child that they are incompetent, hopeless, useless, etc.;
• a coach alienating an athlete (adult or child);
• several people ganging-up on an individual team member;
• spectators verbally abusing players from the opposition;
• athletes putting down other clubs or their teams;
• a parent intimidating a young coach.

Sometimes you may be bullying someone and not even aware of it. If you are upset at a person, feel like they have hurt you or are jealous of them you may find yourself responding in a bullying manner.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Would I feel bad if I was spoken to or about the same way?
• How are people responding to how I act?
• Are my actions or words hurting someone else’s feelings?
• Am I trying to control someone else?
• Am I unfairly taking out my feelings of anger or frustration on someone else?
• Are the words I am using towards someone not true or hurtful?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be bullying.

Are you being bullied or do you know of someone else being bullied? Here are some ideas about how to handle a bullying situation: 

• Walk away
• Stay calm, try not to react to or fight back the bully – don’t let them believe their actions bother you
• Tell a trusted adult what has happened

Make the choice to stand up against bullying - NOW IS THE TIME - Join the ‘AASCF BUDDY’ community which is a group of cheer and dancers who empower and support each other, lift one another up and are advocates for positivity within our sport.

 Sign the AASCF BUDDY pledge HERE :-)

DOWNLOAD AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION BULLYING FACT SHEET

As a coach, you are the leader of your athletes, team and gym. Working with athletes, parents, or even other coaches and staff you might find yourself being bullied or that you are accused of being a bully.

AM I A BULLY? ASK YOURSELF… 

• Do I favour some athletes over others and make it obvious in my coaching?
• Would I feel bad if I was spoken to or about the same way as I speak to my athletes?
• Are my actions or words hurting someone else’s feelings?
• Am I leading in positive or demeaned way?
• Do my athletes leave practice feeling positive and empowered?
• Am I unfairly taking out my feelings of anger or frustration on my athletes?

Below article courtesy of PLAYBYTHERULES.NET.AU 

If you recognise a bully and bullying behaviour, what action should you take? Here are some tips for coaches about how to take the appropriate action if bullying is taking place in your team:

• First and most important.. STOP THE BULLYING from occurring;
• Listen to both parties involved – give everyone a fair and reasonable chance to put their side of the story;
• Ask some questions to help you gain a full understanding of the situation:
• Was this a one off occurrence or has it been ongoing? Were there any witnesses? Who exactly was involved and what exactly did they do?
• When and where did it happen?
• Refer the matter to the Team’s Disciplinary Council or if you don’t have one, form a committee of three people to work through the issues in a fair and reasonable manner;
• If after establishing all the facts there is clear evidence of bullying, adopt a zero-tolerance approach and remove the bully / bullies from the team.

The most important step in eradicating bullying from your team is to educate all athletes, coaches, parents and staff about the issues. There are many great web sites and a lot of outstanding educational resources about bullying, discrimination and harassment available (many are listed at the end of this article). Here are some practical things you can do as a coach to help wipe out bullying:

• Have clear and fair “zero-tolerance” policy to bullying which every athlete, coach, parent and staff member is aware of and supports;
• Have a clear and fair process in place to deal with bullying issues in the team, e.g. a Team Disciplinary Council which can hear evidence, listen to the views of the people involved and apply the appropriate consequences and penalties.
• Have a clear and widely available document which details the consequences of bullying;
• Conduct regular team education sessions which include open discussions about bullying and harassment;
• Include some anti-bullying resources in your team diaries, team induction materials etc.

Summary

• Bulling, intimidation, violence and harassment are unacceptable in sport;
• Understanding bullying is the key: if you know what it is and can recognise the signs you can take action - fast;
• Look – be aware and observant of the things that are going on in and around your coaching program;
• Listen – to athletes who tell you they feel afraid, scared or even if they seem to lack the confidence to express themselves;
• You – are they key. Coaches can be powerful forces for change. With your help we can aim to rid sport of this problem and make sure that every athlete feels safe, secure and happy while they enjoy training and competition.

HOW TO RESPOND TO BEING BULLIED

As an adult, handling bullying is different

• Communicate – face to face meetings with a calm mind and clear evidence are the best ways to clear up situations without tensions building with hearsay or emails/text with unintended or wrongly interpreted tone of voice.
• Apologize – if you realize either you may have bullied or have bullied someone, own up to it, showing you are human is commendable.
• Ask for help – connect with other coaches and ask how they may have handled a situation

TAKE THE AASCF BUDDY PLEDGE and encourage your athletes and even parents to do the same!

DOWNLOAD USASF 2019 BULLYING GUIDELINES