{"id":34064,"date":"2025-11-04T02:15:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T02:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/34064\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T02:15:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T02:15:36","slug":"texas-all-star-cheer-gym-declares-bankruptcy-before-sex-abuse-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/34064\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas All-Star Cheer Gym Declares Bankruptcy Before Sex Abuse Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tCheer Athletics-Plano, the flagship branch for one of the nation\u2019s largest and most successful all-star cheerleading<\/a> organizations, has filed for bankruptcy protection just one day before a sex abuse lawsuit against it was scheduled to go to trial in Texas state court.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Plano-based gym filed for Chapter 11 on Sunday, listing estimated assets at less than $50,000 and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. The filing comes as Cheer Athletics faces multiple lawsuits, including a 2021 case brought by twin sisters Hannah and Jessica Gerlacher, who allege they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by former Cheer Athletics coach Jason \u201cJay\u201d McCartney when they were minors.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sisters\u2019 suit names McCartney, three other Cheer Athletics entities and the U.S. All Star Federation (USASF), accusing the latter of failing to take appropriate action after being informed of McCartney\u2019s alleged abuse.<\/p>\n

\n\t(McCartney has denied wrongdoing. He is currently listed as temporarily ineligible on USASF\u2019s restricted and ineligible list<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe plaintiffs, who have publicly spoken about their allegations, are seeking more than $10 million in damages. Their case, which was set to go to trial Monday morning in Austin, Texas, has been put on hold as a result of the bankruptcy. On Oct. 17, the court denied the defendants\u2019 motion for summary judgment, prompting a flurry of pre-trial motions by Cheer Athletics and the USASF in the last few weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMichelle Simpson Tuegel, the sisters\u2019 attorney, criticized the timing of the bankruptcy filing and argued it reflected Cheer Athletics\u2019 lack of confidence in its defense.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think it is pretty obvious what they were trying to avoid and what they were afraid of,\u201d Simpson Tuegel told Sportico in a phone interview. \u201cWe were literally at the last hour before a jury trial, where Hannah and Jessica were going to see justice in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Gerlachers are among dozens of former youth cheerleaders who in recent years have filed lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by coaches and negligence by the organizations that employ or oversee them, including governing bodies like the USASF and USA Cheer<\/a>, as well as the sport\u2019s corporate giant, Varsity Brands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tSimpson Tuegel has represented three other plaintiffs in suits against McCartney and Cheer Athletics, including two Jane Does who settled their claims in 2023 but were prepared to appear as plaintiffs\u2019 witnesses in the Gerlachers\u2019 trial.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe made the strategic decision to do this for the purpose of reorganization after nearly five years of significant legal expenses,\u201d Cheer Athletics\u2019 owners said in a written statement provided to Sportico from an outside PR firm. \u201cWhile we remain confident in our legal position, this incredibly difficult decision will allow us to strengthen our foundation and continue serving our athletes now and for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond the Gerlachers\u2019 case, Cheer Athletics also faces a federal lawsuit filed by Alicia Mims, the mother of a deaf cheerleader, who has accused Cheer Athletics of discriminating against her daughter by failing to properly accommodate her disability. A bench trial in that case\u2014which includes a crossclaim filed against the Mims for breach of contract\u2014was scheduled for Nov. 17. Because the lawsuit is in federal court, Mims can seek permission to continue her lawsuit or transfer it to the bankruptcy proceedings.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s a clear pattern here: avoid accountability at all costs,\u201d Mims\u2019 attorney, Andrew Rozynski, said in an emailed statement. \u201cWe believe this isn\u2019t a struggling business trying to reorganize. This is a litigation strategy. This won\u2019t stop us. We\u2019re challenging this filing and fighting to make sure the Mims family, who have already been through so much, get their day in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCheer Athletics was founded in Plano in 1994 by two prominent cheerleading coaches, Angela Rogers and Joseph \u201cJody\u201d Melton, and later joined by Brad Habermel as a co-owner. The brand has since expanded to 20 franchises nationwide, most recently adding a Maine location earlier this year. Along the way, Cheer Athletics\u2019 all-star teams have come to dominate the annual Cheerleading Worlds competition held at Walt Disney World in Orlando and co-hosted by the USASF.\u00a0 In 2020, a squad from Cheer Athletics-Plano competed<\/a> in Season 15 of America\u2019s Got Talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis summer, Rogers, Melton and Habermel were named managers of the Dallas Drive team set to compete next year in Varsity\u2019s Pro Cheer League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheer Athletics-Plano operates as a Texas LLC, with Rogers, Habermel and Melton listed as its managing members. The trio are also owners of Cheer Athletics-Frisco, Cheer Athletics-Austin (now inactive), Cheer Athletics Brands and Cheer Athletics Holdings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with any bankruptcy matter, one key consideration is whether creditors can claim that the named debtor has a significantly close relationship with other entities to justify piercing the corporate veil.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt will be interesting what is unraveled as far as when and how and what they were moving around with these other entities,\u201d said Simpson Tuegel. \u201cFrankly, they have tried to hide the ball as to their entity structure. \u2026 I can\u2019t say for sure yet if that\u2019s the case here, but I sure suspect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs of Monday, only one creditor, the Plano Independent School District, had filed a claim ($4,185.21) against the debtor related to past property taxes owed. The bankruptcy court overseeing Cheer Athletics\u2019 Chapter 11 case has scheduled a meeting of creditors for Dec. 10, with proof of creditors\u2019 claims due by March 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cheer Athletics-Plano, the flagship branch for one of the nation\u2019s largest and most successful all-star cheerleading organizations, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[21634,160,162,161,21635],"class_list":{"0":"post-34064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-cheerleading","9":"tag-plano","10":"tag-plano-headlines","11":"tag-plano-news","12":"tag-varsity-brands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}