The parents of Hanover Park High School students are enraged after the school decided to amend the rules to their athletic department and allow anyone who wants to be apart of the cheerleading team to join, despite lack of ability and/or talent.
The decision came after tryouts were held at the New Jersey high school and resulted in one of the students not being selected for the squad. The mother of that child then complained and the athletic director responded by changing the policy to allow everyone to make the team in an effort to “facilitate a more inclusive program.”
The statement from the school board read: “In order to facilitate a more inclusive program, the alignment between the various cheerleading squads would be modified to allow all interested students to be able to participate. This decision was made in the best interest of all students and was made to be as inclusive as possible.”
That decision was met with harsh criticism, with some parents asking: “why go for excellence when you can just let a little snowflake whine and cry to get the position?”
Many also sent letter to the principal on behalf of their daughters who felt the policy was unfair.
The principal then escalated to threats to disband cheerleading all together, saying, “it’s not a sport,” according to News 12 New Jersey.
Cheerleaders then hit back at the school’s board of education meeting on Wednesday May 2, asking for Hanover Park to reverse its decision.
Stephanie Krueger was among the 10 member of the squad who spoke. She told the board: “I tried my hardest, and now everything’s going away, all because of one child who did not make the team, and a parent complained, so now all my hard work has been thrown out the window.”
Many spoke out on the school’s Facebook page as well and shared their thoughts on the new rule, with one woman writing: “I’m 52 and live in Georgia. I want to be on your cheer squad. And I can still do a cartwheel. Well, not without a lot of back pain and limping afterwards. But that’s OK, right?”
The board is reviewing the policy, but it is unclear when a final decision will be made.
