EDITORIAL: Do not the state finals warrant a change?

OK, people are going to scream at me. 

Yes, I am a man with an exceptionally strong affinity for tradition. I DON’T CARE! We have a problem. Some folks need held accountable for it, and it needs to be fixed. 

The last time I checked, the English language definition of a cheerleader was a person who led cheers. I know, I know. In this era of political correctness when everybody should get a trophy, please don’t limit my kid’s world romantic notion of the 21st century.

I attended the state volleyball championships Nov. 7 in Muncie. It was an incredibly intense event that attracted a large audience. I personally watched 10 of the 16 teams that competed during the day. 

I saw exactly one school that had an official cheerleading squad in attendance. So, let’s take a look at the conceivable reasons why that might be the case …

Perhaps volleyball is not a sport that lends itself to cheerleading activities. WRONG. Volleyball has timeouts and time between sets, just like football and basketball. 

Perhaps the cheerleading squads had competitions of their own on Saturday. I am sure this is true for some, but I doubt if it holds true for nearly every school in attendance at the finals.

While I am on that particular scenario, let me rant some more. I appreciate that cheerleading is considered a sport in its own right. I even support that notion. The main purpose of cheerleaders, however, is to serve as a support mechanism for the athletic department as a whole. They are liaisons between the athletes and the student body at large. 

If the fact they are competing in their own right interferes with that mandate, then don’t call them cheerleaders. Call them team gymnastic squads or stunt teams, but do not call them cheerleaders because they aren’t.

Perhaps the absence on Saturday was because many cheerleading sponsors consider their responsibility to be just football and boys basketball. A-ha! I think we are getting somewhere here. 

Those are the sports that normally generate large crowds and, therefore, a prominent stage for the talents of cheerleading squads. I can’t argue with that on a general basis. 

But when an athletic team from your school gets to the level these volleyball teams were on Saturday, maybe you should rethink your assumptions.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not on a Title IX tirade here. I, like a lot of folks, think Title IX can be a pain in the keister. It is unquestionably used by ***** parents and factions within communities to champion some absurd notions. 

This is not a male-female issue. The fact is that these athletes are better at what they do than nearly any athletic team in Indiana in any sport. Several of these teams are among the best in the entire nation. 

I don’t care if they are male, female, or asexual; they deserve the support of the unit within the school charged with that responsibility.

I once coached at a school which had a pep band, but in which the band director refused to play at sporting events. My position was simple: That was his right. 

But he should exercise it somewhere else, and that my feeling is the same in this instance. If you do not want to take the time or expend the effort to support your school’s top athletes, then do not become a cheerleader or a cheerleading sponsor.

Go ahead and send the **** mail to me. Like I said, I have a strong affinity for tradition.