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View Winners → Cheerleading Mum Fuming at Monrovia High School
Monrovia Weekly Feb 24, 2016
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– Courtesy Photo
By Stephanie Rosa
Cheerleading is a sport most schools support as they do the other sports they host. At Monrovia High School this is not the case. Cheer is always overlooked by the administration and has undergone major changes year after year. A team is only as good as its leadership. I personally believe administration is in charge of the overall team and leadership should start there.
This is my daughter’s second year on MHS cheer and it has been a fight from day one. I thought this would be a great experience for her to learn teamwork, grow sisterly bonds, and do something she enjoyed. However, what we got was miscommunication, lack of leadership, and discrimination. The administration initially tried blaming the coaches each time leadership failed but after being a part of this for two years I can say this is not the case. A formal meeting with parents and the principal explaining what is going on would have been ideal. It is a bit much to expect a teen full of disappointment and tears to convey the excuse of “bad timing.” The kids have worked very hard to get here and monies have been paid.
Mr. McGinnis is responsible for his staff as the principal for Monrovia High School. When there is an issue concerning the students there should be some sort of compassion and duty to resolve issues in the best interests of the student. In this particular circumstance, we have almost 30 students who were denied permission to travel and participate in a national competition in Las Vegas, NV that they previously qualified for in 2015. Rooms had been booked, flights had been made, and parents were all set to make this trip in support of our students. Five days prior to the competition, we got a denial notification from our kids.
There is no excuse for not assisting the new coach and working with parents to make sure the team is aware of important deadlines. Administration does not care about the MHS cheer team and I can’t accept them saying they were unaware of the competition out of state. The team qualified in Anaheim November 2015 where they took first place. Not one time did the school or its staff issue a congratulatory email, phone call, or announcement as they do for other sports. Mr. Iller, Assistant Principal, had been cc’d in communications that go out to parents regarding competition on Jan. 28, 2016. Students also had to get the approval by administration to miss school days in order to attend competition out of state for Feb. 29, 2016.
Two weeks ago, a member from the school board finally acknowledged the cheer team’s win and announced the team would move on to Nationals at the end of the month. There was not one single person who put together that the School Board would vote on their participation in Las Vegas on March 7, 2016 which is after the actual competition. Several members of our school system failed our students.
The problem with administration not caring about the cheer team runs deeper. Summer of 2014 the girls did not have access to restrooms the entire summer during practice or a dedicated indoor practice space during excessively hot days. When do we hold administration accountable for these issues? Why do we not have a dedicated space for the team to store their heavy bags with essential gear? Instead, each team member packs more than a 20 lb. bag daily back and forth to school along with all their books.
How does the MHS cheer team promote school spirit when they are constantly being overlooked or discriminated against? When does the administration help the cheer team and assist them in getting to their competition? Last year the cheer team was not even allowed to eat donated team meals from community restaurants with the football players even though they were expected to cheer them on. Cheer parents were told we had to provide independently for our team. Separating the two teams only conveys that one is better than the other and therefore treated as less than.
My hopes are that MHS administration get its act together and does its job by looking out for the interest of all student and not just football, baseball, or track. Cheer is a great opportunity to learn leadership skills but only if those who are in charge are good leaders. The team and parents are very disappointed in MHS’s behavior in this situation.
