Bloody morons.
Cheerleading is a sport. Making "reasonable accommodations" so that someone who can't do any of the things that cheerleaders do can "make the squad" is no different from changing the rules of football or basketball so a person with no arms or legs can play.
Good grief, I've been an advocate for accessibility issues for more than 30 years, and even I know this is idiotic. What they'll end up doing is getting the cheerleading squad disbanded. No cheerleaders = no discrimination.
+eleventydozen, here.
It's just a short step to basketball teams being forced to bring on short people. Or one-armed baseball players.
Can you imagine the varsity tennis team being compelled to allow a kid with cerebral palsy on?
This also threatens to undermine the concept of VARSITY sports. There are try-outs.
I never made the cut for varsity basketball. I tried my hardest, but didn't cut it. Do you know how absolutely livid I'd be if some kid with cerebral palsy, or in a wheelchair, or one-handed, got a spot on the VARSITY team, and I didn't? Especially if I smoked him on the court every single day during try-outs?
Cheer in my high school was a varsity sport. There was also a JV cheer team, too, just like every other sport had a JV team. There were try-outs for the JV teams, just like varsity.
Can you imagine an aspiring athlete with real skill/potential getting bumped so someone with a disability can feel good about themselves?
High school sports are the last bastion of competition in public schools. They aren't part of the guidance counselor's group-hug sessions.
No one says these kids can't play ball or cheer. They can go do it extra-curricularly, at a private organization outside of school. YMCA, dance studios, whatever.
Stay out of Varsity try-outs. Seriously.
