I wrote this guy a letter...and based on his response I can tell he didn't even read it! I will post both
I'm sure you've been receiving hundreds of email from angry cheerleaders and I surely hope mine does not wind up in spam. I read your article and the response you sent to a girl.
While I admire the fact that you could admit your mistake, the fact that people might misconstrue your article to be talking about Allstars was not what bothered me. It was the awful stereotyping and unrealistic solution to the problem. Yes high school cheerleading is dangerous because our ADs, schools systems and states don't give a damn about us. The solution is not for us go back to the sidelines, pep up, and shake our pom poms (eh hem, the 1950's called, they want their stereotype back), the solution is for the people who are supposed to be looking out for the well being of athletes to wake up and smell the coffee. This thing isn't going away. And it desperately need rules and guidelines. Suggesting that dedicated athletes have to quit something they love because the adults who are in charge are too stupid, careless, or stuck in the past to recognize their status as athletes and give them the proper rules and benefits is offensive.
Write me an article petitioning the high school athletic association to recognize these amazing and hard working boys and girls as athletes, and that's something I'll stand behind.
Thank you for your time,
____________________________________________________________________
Hi Lauren -
I think there is room for both.
I don't think there's anything wrong with 1950s cheerleaders with pom-poms, megaphones, whatever. If that's what they want to do, good for them. (My entire point was that's NOT what they want to do)
I also have no problem with AllStar cheer.
What I have a problem with is that participants in HS activities such as basketball, wrestling, track, etc., are treated differently than the HS cheerleaders (or whatever you want to call it — spirit squad, or sideline cheer, etc.).
When that girl hit the concrete at our state tournament she was on her own. If she were playing in the sanctioned game, she would have had legal and medical protection. Without it, she's got serious decisions to make.
The difference in this state is, AllStar cheer is regulated by private gyms. If they lose their USASF accredidation, they are likely going out of business. If a HS cheerleader breaks her hip, its just tough luck.
The cheer column was regarding a local Idaho HS cheer issue ONLY (sideline cheer or spirit team) — not at all directed at all AllStar cheer organizations worldwide.
When I was using the term "competitive cheer" it was in reference to HS kids practicing and performing Level 2 and sometimes Level 3 stunts over hardwood floors and sometimes concrete.
I don't even consider AllStar athletes to be cheerleaders, because as one of my more lucid detractors points out, "we don't cheer and we don't lead." Moreover, most AllStar cheer athletes reject sideline cheer and want no association with it. I wasn't remotely referring to AllStar or other club organizations. Never crossed my mind.
In the first sentence of my letter I said that what bothered me was not that people may misconstrue what he was talking about as Allstars. And he wrote me a whole letter about Allstars....:mad: