FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Cheerleaders and parents from Florence School District 1 called the WBTW News13 newsroom on Wednesday, upset after finding out school leaders will no longer allow certain stunts to be performed.

The district said the change was made as a safety precaution, and aerial stunting could pose a danger to the students. 

The district released this statement to News13:

“It has been recommended by the McLeod Athletic Training Department for the safety of all cheerleaders, that aerial stunting (i.e. any lifting or where cheerleaders are in the air) be eliminated.  It has been further noted that aerial stunting could pose a danger to students involved in the sport of cheerleading.  Upon this recommendation, school(s) that may have been  involved in aerial stunting have decided to refrain from it in order to maintain safety of the cheerleading sport here in Florence One Schools.”

Bella McDaniel, Nichole Douglas, and Kateyon Young-Coleman are all cheerleaders for Southside Middle School, and said they were shocked to learn at their Wednesday practice that aerial stunts had been eliminated.

“I was kind of let down because that’s what we spend time doing,” said McDaniel. “That’s what we do at practices is we try to like do our best so we can performm” she continued. “We worked so hard on it, like, this is why we cheer.”

Young-Coleman agreed with her teammate, and said it’s important to the sport.

“Stunting is one of my favorite parts of cheer because we get to showcase all of our talents,” said Young-Coleman. “We get to show our strengths pulling them up.”

Sophia Ross is  Young-Coleman’s mother, and said cheerleaders are required to pay more than $200 after they make the team in order to pay for stunt classes.

“Either refund the money back or bring stunting back,” said Ross. “From my point of view, I would prefer stunting because the stunt camps they went to in May and August feel like a waste of their time, and energy,” she told News13. “The money is not a big priority. I want the girls to stunt because they love cheering.”

13-year-old Douglas said her team is advanced, and wanted to know why the team was told weeks before school is about to start.

 
 
“It’s just really disappointing to know all of that hard work was basically for nothing, and we can’t even showcase it anymore,” Douglas said.
 
Ross said taking the stunts away from cheerleading is the same as taking a ball away from football.
 
 
“I analyze things like cheer: stunt,” she explained. “Basketball, football, baseball: the ball. You take stunting from cheer, you take the ball from those sports.”
 
Ross said the girls will miss out on opportunities if they aren’t able to perform stunts.
 
“They’re hoping to get scholarships,” Ross said. “They’re not cheering just for fun and it’s too late for the cheerleaders to try out for other sports.”
 
McDaniel’s mother, Ashley Fogle, said the district should have consulted coaches and parents before making the decision.
 
“This is going to affect other girls years down the road from now,” said Fogle. “This is a very big decision to make without even talking to a cheer coach.”
 
Fogle said the parents understand the stunts can be dangerous, but that safety measures are already in place to make sure students don’t get hurt.”
 
“The cheer parents are the ones who pay for these stunts,” Fogle said. “We’re well aware of the cost, the risk, and everything involved. We do it because they love it, and we trust them to not do something that they can’t do.”
 
Fogle and Ross said they will be at the next Florence 1 school board meeting to ask the board to reconsider the decision.