<p>Problem is… you are thinking that cheerleading is just standing by the sidelines, clapping and yelling cheers. Nowadays (actually for quite a while now) cheerleading is a full-fledged physical sport requiring tumbling skills and much physical strength.</p>
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Of course, this is a wonderful idea… but who will run it, coach it, fund it?</p>
<p>I really depends on the school. Our cheerleaders don’t do any stunts and even at my age I could do what they do!</p>
<p>@Walker: If the team has cuts, it is by nature “competitive.” It doesn’t matter if they are on the competition circuit or not. </p>
<p>I COMPLETELY support being nice and paying it forward. I just don’t think allowing this girl on the cheer squad is the only (or right) way to do it. Encouraging the school to develop an alternate, no-cut team would make it fair not just to this girl, but all the others who didn’t make the team.</p>
<p>At my DDs high school, there was an activity for everyone. Our cheerleader do stunts. But there are many activities that do not require this ability, including a pep squad, a dance squad and many.many non-athletic teams.</p>
<p>Exactly.</p>
<p>And couldn’t/wouldn’t interested parents help organize and run non-competitive cheering teams like might be happening with the competitive teams?
Couldn’t the school budget help fund such teams? Or would they be seen as not worthy of support?</p>
<p>When I googled it, I remembered the story from last year…when she didn’t make the squad last year, a school hundreds of miles away invited her to come cheer for them. Of course, I bet if she had been willing to only cheer at one game at her own HS, they probably would have gladly offered that.</p>
<p>From what last years article’s said, under the ADA the school doesn’t have to “fundamentally alter” the activity. So a school couldn’t keep a blind kid off the wrestling team because he couldn’t find his own way to the bus after a match, but they could keep a kid who was missing his arms and legs off the team.</p>
<p>Would anyone expect the Model UN team or the Mathletes to give up spots to kids who couldnt make the cut academically?</p>
<p>I hate cheerleading squads that are just aboutncheering boys on. It’s stupid. Many schools have cheer groups that are boys and girls of all shapes and sizes and it’s all about attitude and showing up. </p>
<p>Yes I know many squads are about the sport of cheer itself, which I get, but a rally squad that is more inclusive is much more fin and valid.</p>
<p>And having classmates votes? Ewwww</p>
<p>interesting example missypie:
but the kid missing only his legs became a star wrestler. </p>
<p>I think it would have been very nice if they had been able to include her in the cheerleading squad, but not a requirement. Had it been an episode of Glee, she probably would have made it… or not.</p>
<p>I bet some of the parents suggesting she should be given a spot also spend time lamenting how “watered down” achievements are nowadays, how “every kid getting a trophy” has created an entitled generation, and how said generation is psychologically fragile because we’ve never known failure?</p>
<p>Agree that its a tough call. Agree that if this was a competitive squad and she was evaluated on her merit (limbs or no limbs) and she wasn’t as good as the others, then it was fair to decline a spot if she simply wasnt as good as the others.</p>
<p>I think they could have compromised. There was officially one spot open. So, maybe just this year they take two girls. The person who would have won the spot, and also this girl, who quite likely has a lot of spirit and energy, obviously knew the routine and had the commitment, but maybe can’t do all of the moves.
Usually the girls on these teams choreograph their own routines. They could certainly make up routines that give her a role without being exactly the same as everyone else.
I was a song leader in high school, and we were a very competitive team. We won the California State Championship in my senior year. But honestly, I think that had this been our school, even with our competitive attitude and hope for a winning squad, we could have accommodated her, and we would have thought it was a cool thing to do.</p>
<p>It’s true that we all have to face our limitations and work with what we have. But this girl does have the ability to rally the student body in support of the players- and that is at the heart of what being a song/cheer leader is --even for the most competitive teams.</p>
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<p>is it though? I would toss out the idea that none of the cheerleading squads you see on ESPN care about rallying the fans in support of the team, but rather their competitions and quest for excellence. Similar to the most competitive high school marching bands not really caring about their role to sit in the stands at football games and play music. Sure, they do it to satisfy the people they need to satisfy, but these groups are focused on the competitions and achieving what they can in their area of expertise. They can equally exist with no football or basketball game to attend.</p>
<p>^^ Actually, it is what the sport is about. Most of the time spent is at one’s school, rallying the student body.But what goes on at the high school game is not the same as what goes on in competitive meets,or on ESPN–that’s competition. What our squad did in state competitions was very different from the bread and butter of an afternoon football game. And the real fun? The school games, with all of your friends in attendance. Remember, this is high school.</p>
<p>My thought is that this girl would be an asset to the team, and the school, in their weekly games and school events, which is what she really wanted to be part of. If the team were truly competitive, and expected to take state trophies (I saw no evidence of that in the news) they could have found a way for her to participate without actually being in the physically challenging competition. At my high school, although she would not have been able to do the moves, she could have traveled with us, helped us with choreography, critiqued, and been helpful in other ways. Personally, I think the school missed an opportunity.</p>
<p>I just want to note that at many public schools where uniforms are provided to the students, it is not as simple as taking two students where there is only one open spot in a given year. Most cheerleading/dance squads have only so many uniforms/pom poms to give out, and particularly where uniforms have been customized, it is not a simple process to order one additional uniform, even if the “additional” team member is willing to foot the bill themselves.</p>
<p>I’d be very surprised if uniforms were the problem. Every year, our entire squad (-public school) got measured and fitted for new uniforms, at each team member’s expense. We also made our own new pom-poms every year. It was a ritual. Making pom-poms is not difficult.<br>
Girls come in all shapes and sizes, and song and cheer uniforms get sweaty and worn out. They usually are new each year, and yes, are customized. I think it’s not unusual for the parents to foot the bill for their kids, although a lot of schools have Booster Clubs.
There is no doubt that taking this girl along with the “best athlete” would have been less convenient, and things would have to be done differently. But it would have been a great thing to do.</p>
<p>The whole notion of “a spot” is made up by the school administration and the coaches. The number of cheerleaders on a squad is not something the district mandates, or is carved in stone.
This school has three cheer teams. Even if the Varsity is very competitive and spends the majority of their time practicing for high level competition - what about JV?</p>
<p>Im wondering if most of the posters who are saying the girl should have been chosen, actually read the article? In order for her to even try out, the school had to modify the try outs. All of the jumps, kicks, hand clenches and a few other things were taken out of the try-out routine. Kind of makes one wonder, whats left? Standing in place hollering? The girl was also allowed to try out not based on the new requirements, but on those modified for her disability. What I found telling are two things - fact that there was a lawyer involved in negotiating throwing out all the old school routines - and the comments left at the end of the article by readers who claim they are familiar with the girl and the family, and who both urge them to face up to the limitations dealt. Of course it goes without saying that its an uphill struggle when faced with issues such as the girl and her family are facing.</p>
<p>They modified the tryouts for her, because she couldn’t do them, true. But there are a lot of things besides jumps, kicks and hand clenches. She was in dance for ten years, according to the article, so movement and rhythm are not unfamiliar to her. He sister, a cheerleader, helped her with her practices, so apparently it wasn’t completely out of step with what was going on.</p>
<p>Granted, it would be an exception to the rules. It would be unusual. But this is high school. </p>
<p>There was a boy in my son’s Scout troop who was disabled. There were some activities and exercises that he was unable to do, or were unsafe for him to do, and going up the ranks, special accommodations were made for him. He became an Eagle Scout, and one of the finest in the troop.
Was he able to do all of the physical things that the other Eagles were required to do? No, but no one complained, or said he shouldn’t be able to attain the rank because he couldn’t do everything by the book.
I realize, no one loses out because one more boy makes Eagle. But I think in this case, no one needed to lose out by having one more cheerleader cheering her heart out for her school.</p>
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<p>I agree. From the article, both the daughter and her parents seemed to acknowledge and be at peace with the fact that she may not make the team–a possibility <em>anyone</em> faces when trying out for any sports team or other competitive endeavor with limited spots (be it choir, grad school, employment, etc).</p>
<p>A lot of activities are based on skills AND looks. For example, a super skinny kid with braces and bad posture might have a loud voice and be able to do tumbling, but probably wouldn’t make the cheerleading squad, either The same kid might be able to act, but won’t get a part in a school play–because she doesn’t “look the part” of an adult woman. Most high school kids experience the disappointment of not getting something they wanted–not making the varsity team, not having a date to the prom, not getting the GPA/test scores/college acceptances hoped for. We all have limitations. This girl is already in the pep band. Isn’t that enough? Anyone can cheer from the stands. (IMO if she were a cheerleader, this might call attention to her disabilities in a negative way–I’m not sure if the crowd would react positively to her. If she were my daughter, I’d be afraid she’d be ridiculed. I have a severely handicapped brother, btw.)</p>