Dear UHSAA Board Members,
This letter expresses the deep dissatisfaction and concerns of numerous parents, coaches, and community members regarding the lack of professionalism, transparency, and fairness exhibited by RC Competes in managing the UHSAA Competitive Cheer season. We urge the UHSAA Board to terminate its contract with RC Competes and explore alternative options.

RC Competes has consistently demonstrated a lack of professionalism, transparency, and fairness, creating a negative and detrimental environment for athletes, coaches, and schools. While we have other concerns, we wish to highlight the following key issues:

1-Disregard for Athlete Safety:
◦ Inadequate personnel/Coach screening: There is currently no process in place to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to restricted areas such as warm-up rooms, changing areas, or team rooms. While school districts are responsible for background-checking coaches, RC Competes does not have a system to verify that only cleared personnel can enter these areas. When Coaches check in, they do not have to show ID or their background check, allowing anyone to pose as authorized personnel. The lack of ID checks for background-checked personnel poses a significant liability risk.
◦ Excessive warm-up wait times: Inconsistent and lengthy delays between warm-up and performance, negating the purpose of warm ups which impacts athlete safety and performance.

2-Scheduling Chaos/Lack of Organization:
◦ Last-minute schedule changes: Often making last-minute schedule changes (i.e. those made the day before the competition), which causes significant inconvenience and logistical challenges for teams, particularly those traveling long distances.
◦ Lack of Organization: RC Competes competitions are consistently poorly organized and significantly behind schedule, leading to long wait times for athletes. For example, at the State competition, most teams had to wait hours between performance times at a venue that did not allow outside food. Catering was unavailable, nor were the teams allowed more than one cooler for their team.

3-Conflict of Interest:
◦ Hosting Divisional competitions at the gym of a competing school: This created an inherent conflict of interest, allowing the host school an unfair advantage. In addition, the host school used these Divisional competitions as a fundraising opportunity, which is inappropriate and should not be permitted.
◦ UCTCA and RC Competes Dual Role: RC Competes is also responsible for the Utah Cheer Team Coaches Association (UCTCA), which is supposed to be independently managed by coaches. However, RC Competes is the founder of UCTCA and has handpicked board members who make key decisions for Utah cheerleading programs. This dual role presents a clear conflict of interest, especially given that fees and dues are run through the RC Competes website.

4-Inconsistent and Unfair Judging:
◦ Lack of clear scoring criteria: Nontransparent and inconsistent scoring rubric for both Dance and Cheer portions of the competition, leading to confusion and potential bias in judging.
◦ Significant score discrepancies: Instances of judges providing high scores at Divisional and then drastically deducting points for the same routines at State without clear explanation.
◦ Electronic judging/tallying system: Concerns exist regarding the vulnerability of the electronic judging/tallying system to later alteration or manipulation, potentially compromising the integrity of the scoring process. Furthermore, internet connectivity issues may negatively affect a team coach’s ability to contest a deduction or score within the allotted deadline.

5-Lack of Accountability and Transparency:
◦ Arbitrary rule changes: The RC Competes owner has demonstrated a lack of transparency and accountability by unilaterally changing rules without proper notification or consultation. For example, the order of performance at the State competition is usually determined by the scores achieved at the Divisional level. The Highest scoring team typically performs last in the State competition. However, at this year's State competition, a team with a lower Divisional score performed last twice, preceding a team with a higher Divisional score. No explanation was provided for this deviation from the usual order.
◦ Divisional/Region Assignment: Changes of Divisions/Regions with no clear reasoning or guidelines.

These issues have created a climate of distrust and frustration among coaches and parents, and have significantly impacted the enjoyment and participation of many schools in the UHSAA Competitive Cheer program. Several schools chose to not compete at the state level this year because of the mismanagement of RC Competes.

To address these concerns, we request that the UHSAA Board:
1. Conduct an independent investigation into RC Competes and the UTCTA for UHSAA Competitive Cheer.
2. Terminate the contract with RC Competes as the official contractor for UHSAA Competitive Cheer Divisional and State Competitions.
3. Implement a bylaw prohibiting coaches, who are currently coaching schools in the classification or region they are competing in, from serving as judges, hosts, or advisors to the competition chairperson during Divisional and State competitions.
4. Explore alternative options for competition management:
◦ Consider hiring Varsity Cheer or similar organization to oversee the organization and execution of future competitions.
◦ Implement a model similar to the successful UHSAA Drill Team competitions, which has a more proven record of success.

We urge the UHSAA Board to carefully consider these concerns and take action to ensure a fair, transparent, and safe competitive environment for all cheerleaders.

Sincerely,
Concerned Parents, Coaches and Community Members