Monday, May 14, 2007

Mark Bogarin / Special to The Detroit News

The Plymouth
High School
cheerleading team and its boosters have collected more than 2,000 signatures
on a petition to allow it to compete. Complicated state rules were crafted to
elevate cheerleading to the level of a competitive sport.

Cheerleaders find themselves
stuck on the sidelines

Plymouth
High team fighting to compete

Karen Bouffard | / The Detroit
News

Danielle Lawlor, a junior, does a toe touch. The district says
it will decide soon on whether to let the team compete.

CANTON TOWNSHIP
-- Plymouth High School
cheerleader Jessica Lauer says she just can't get any respect. Boys don't
think cheerleading is a sport, despite hours of conditioning, training,
flexing and jumping. And her own school district is locked in a yearlong
controversy tinged with gender politics over efforts to establish a
competitive cheerleading team so she and 60 friends can show their stuff.

"A lot of people don't think it's a
sport because we don't really compete," the 16-year-old said.

Boosters claim the district is balking
because a new team might draw girls from its prized Plymouth-Canton-Salem
United cheerleaders, a co-ed cheer-and-dance ensemble.

"They have met us with a very closed mind on the situation," said Doug
Isaacson of Canton,
president of the cheerleaders boosters.

The group has collected more than 2,000
signatures calling for a competitive cheering team. Unlike traditional squads
that roam sidelines, competitive cheering teams vie against other teams in
judged events that grade tumbling, cheering and "stunting" --
building pyramids and such.

"Our athletic director was all for
it," Isaacson said, "but everybody else just shot it down."

Mike Bender, director of secondary
education for the district, acknowledged that funding is an issue but said a
decision is expected this month.

The controversy stems from rules that
went into effect last fall from the Michigan High School Athletic
Association. Seeking to maintain Title IX requirements that mandate equal
treatment for male and female sports, the group ruled that only all-girl
cheer teams could compete in state tournaments. It also outlawed
state-sanctioned teams from competing in national tournaments.

Plymouth-Canton asked for an exception
to allow boys and girls to compete, then the
American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue the athletic association,
claiming discrimination.

The standoff ended with a compromise
that allowed the Plymouth-Canton-Salem United co-ed team to compete
nationwide this year -- with the caveat that, starting this fall, students on
the team will be banned from participation in all other school sports.

"We were told about a month ago
that the district decided not to let us cheer competitively," said
Alexis Hambrick, 17, a Plymouth High student.
"I think it's because of co-ed, that it would take some attention away
from them.

"Mostly everybody on that team
doesn't want to see us be able to compete, because a lot of girls would want
to be on the competitive team. If we had competitive cheer, a lot of people
wouldn't be on their team."

The complicated state rules were crafted
to elevate cheerleading to the level of a competitive sport by subjecting it
to the same standards of scrutiny and regulation as every other school sport,
said John Johnson, spokesman for the high school athletic group.

Sideline cheerleading, which takes place
during the football season, is considered a spirit-raising activity that is
not competitive. "We're still allowing (Plymouth-Canton) to have a team
that basically breaks all MHSAA rules, but as a result, those kids can't
participate in any other sports," Johnson said.

Amanda Pelukas,
coach of the Plymouth High School Wildcats sideline cheerleaders, said girls
flocked to the team last fall after word spread that a competitive team was
on the horizon. About 60 girls now attend conditioning practice every
Tuesday, just in case they are allowed to compete.

"When they weren't competing, they
had no interest. It was a really small team with less than a dozen
kids," Pelukas said. "Everybody has that
competitive spirit in them.

"It's one thing to stand on the
football field and cheer on the guys and another thing to compete yourself.
At the end of the day, sideline cheerleading is just about fun, it's about
generating spirit and supporting the boys," Pelukas
added. "Once the girls know they can be rewarded with a trophy, that is satisfaction for them that they don't get
on the sidelines."

Isaacson said he is disappointed with
the lack of action.

"These girls are going out for
tryout and they still don't know if they're going to compete," Isaacson
said. "I don't think that's fair to the kids."