The Washington, DC Department of Parks and Recreation held a citywide Cheerleading and Pom-Pon competition that had all the potential to be a great event. It fell flat when they changed the rules of the competition to ensure the two-time citywide champions, Shining Stars, were eliminated from the competition.
Hosted at the Stoddert Recreation Center, hundreds of Washington, DC residents from all over the city cheered their local girls as they shouted, tumbled and did lifts. Smiles were the order of the day. More than that, every team cheered for every other team each time. "We are proud of you!" rang out between team cheer routines.
And then it hit: the two-time city-wide pom-pon champions, Shining Stars, were told that the rules to the competition had changed and the routine they had rehearsed for six weeks put them in the other division, cheerleading, two days before the event. It was too late to change their routine and they were unprepared for the new category.
"We didn't stand a chance in the division they put us in," said the pom-pon captain for Stoddert's Shining Stars Selena Shea. "K'Yanna Blackwell should get fired." K'Yanna Blackwell was responsible for organizing the event.
The Shining Stars were in tears and the pom-pon championship went to another team. On top of that, after denying the Shining Stars their opportunity to compete fairly based on a rule change, there was no copy of the new rules available at the event for anyone to review.
"Stoddert is Fenty's rec center and she disrespected it. She was not supporting the team. Probably she did change the rules to stop Stoddert." observed Ms. Shea.
Ms. Blackwell told Rosendale to say their chant five or more times and didn't ask anyone else to say theirs. Shining Stars got a third place trophy after the event was finished as consolation. Pom-pon captain Selena Shea said. "I feel horrible about competing again, but I am going to compete anyway even though there was a rule change and it might have been because of my team."
This issue is not to take away from the great work and energy of the girls at the competition. Before the unfair ruling, the event was fun and it was great to see the girls doing their routines. The Tigers were another team to watch. Here's a photo of them lining up before competing.
Try Varsity.com for all things cheeleader.
Rosedale Recreation Center had its own cheering section, and after seeing them do lifts and tumbles it was easy to see why. They clearly have been working on their routine for a long time and did a tremendous amount of work on it. The whole event could have been fantastic for everyone. No one is helped by reducing the level of competition.
But the Stoddert Recreation Center's Shining Stars were treated unfairly and then no rules were shown at the event to demonstrate that the truth was, in fact, being told.
3 comments:
During the citywide Cheerleading and Pom-Pon Extravaganza on December 4th, Department of Parks and Recreations Cheerleading coordinator Kyanna Blackwell showed extreme bias and favoritism. During the Citywide Pom Pon and Cheer Extravaganza, Ms. Blackwell led cheers for the Rosedale team 5 times while announcing the results and not leading cheers for any other team. Ms. Blackwell also did all she could to see that, the host team and defending champions of, 10 and under Pom-Pon, came in last..
During the ward 3 and 4 regional on December 2, Ms. Blackwell saw that the Stoddert Stars were using a lift which has always been part of the Stars winning routines. Ms. Blackwell informed Coach Belinda Gee that lifts were a violation of the rules of the Pom-Pon Division, so Ms. Blackwell was reclassifying the Stars to compete in the Cheer division. Ms. Blackwell did not reschedule the Stars from the Pom-Pon time slot to the time slot designated for Cheer but told the judges at the Citywide Extravaganza to judge the Stars routine as Cheer, which meant they were guaranteed to lose since their routine was Pom-Pon not Cheer and the use of pom-pons in Cheer is a violation all by itself. Also since they were in the Cheer time slot the judges could not rank the competing routines against each other since the were separated by several hours and the substantial crowd all assumed the Stars were competing and judged in the Pom-Pon division. If the Stars had been rescheduled it would have given them several hours to rework the routine towards Cheer.
There are many questions brought up by Ms. Blackwell’s actions
When did lift become illegal in Pom-Pom?
When asked Ms. Blackwell at first stated that they had always been illegal. Then stated the rules changed in October. Which is it?
If lifts have always been illegal yet many teams were doing them why make and issue of lifts right before THIS before the competition? If the rules had changed in October why didn’t she make the rule change clear to all the coaches? Especially, since the Stars had been developing their routine for over a month when the new rules came out. Did Ms. Blackwell inform some coaches but not all that lifts were now illegal? If so that shows bias. If she simply handed the coaches a stack of paper and expected the coaches to study it in enough detail to notice such changes, that shows an extreme lack of concern for the feeling of the cheerleaders if the coaches did not realize there was a change and lost because of it, which is exactly what happen to the Stars.
Why don’t the Cheerleaders have access to the rules?
This is the third year my daughters have competed in cheerleading yet neither has ever actually seen a copy of the rules. Why are there no rules for cheerleading posted on the DC Department of Parks and Recreation’s website? The coaches are not competing, the girls are, so the girls should have access to the rules.
Where do the rules come from?
Ms. Blackwell stated that DC Pom-pon competition follows the rules from some national cheerleading
organization. I searched on the Internet and could not find any national or regional organization with applicable Pom Pon rules. “United States All Star Federation for Cheer and Dance Competition” was the only national organization, I found on the web but they have no rules for Pom Pon but they do have dance rules. Pom Pon is not dance. Competitive Cheer is very gymnastic but because of that they do not use pom pons. Cheer does not emphasize synchronization, because in Cheer the majority of the team is supporting or spotting during most of the routine. Pom Pon is actually the more traditional cheerleading. It is certainly NOT dance.
During the citywide Cheerleading and Pom-Pon Extravaganza on December 4th, Department of Parks and Recreations Cheerleading coordinator Kyanna Blackwell showed extreme bias and favoritism. During the Citywide Pom Pon and Cheer Extravaganza, Ms. Blackwell led cheers for the Rosedale team 5 times while announcing the results and not leading cheers for any other team. Ms. Blackwell also did all she could to see that, the host team and defending champions of, 10 and under Pom-Pon, came in last..
During the ward 3 and 4 regional on December 2, Ms. Blackwell saw that the Stoddert Stars were using a lift which has always been part of the Stars winning routines. Ms. Blackwell informed Coach Belinda Gee that lifts were a violation of the rules of the Pom-Pon Division, so Ms. Blackwell was reclassifying the Stars to compete in the Cheer division. Ms. Blackwell did not reschedule the Stars from the Pom-Pon time slot to the time slot designated for Cheer but told the judges at the Citywide Extravaganza to judge the Stars routine as Cheer, which meant they were guaranteed to lose since their routine was Pom-Pon not Cheer and the use of pom-pons in Cheer is a violation all by itself. Also since they were in the Cheer time slot the judges could not rank the competing routines against each other since the were separated by several hours and the substantial crowd all assumed the Stars were competing and judged in the Pom-Pon division. If the Stars had been rescheduled it would have given them several hours to rework the routine towards Cheer.
There are many questions brought up by Ms. Blackwell’s actions
When did lift become illegal in Pom-Pom?
When asked Ms. Blackwell at first stated that they had always been illegal. Then stated the rules changed in October. Which is it?
If lifts have always been illegal yet many teams were doing them why make and issue of lifts right before THIS before the competition? If the rules had changed in October why didn’t she make the rule change clear to all the coaches? Especially, since the Stars had been developing their routine for over a month when the new rules came out. Did Ms. Blackwell inform some coaches but not all that lifts were now illegal? If so that shows bias. If she simply handed the coaches a stack of paper and expected the coaches to study it in enough detail to notice such changes, that shows an extreme lack of concern for the feeling of the cheerleaders if the coaches did not realize there was a change and lost because of it, which is exactly what happen to the Stars.
Why don’t the Cheerleaders have access to the rules?
This is the third year my daughters have competed in cheerleading yet neither has ever actually seen a copy of the rules. Why are there no rules for cheerleading posted on the DC Department of Parks and Recreation’s website? The coaches are not competing, the girls are, so the girls should have access to the rules.
Where do the rules come from?
Ms. Blackwell stated that DC Pom-pon competition follows the rules from some national cheerleading
organization. I searched on the Internet and could not find any national or regional organization with applicable Pom Pon rules. “United States All Star Federation for Cheer and Dance Competition” was the only national organization, I found on the web but they have no rules for Pom Pon but they do have dance rules. Pom Pon is not dance. Competitive Cheer is very gymnastic but because of that they do not use pom pons. Cheer does not emphasize synchronization, because in Cheer the majority of the team is supporting or spotting during most of the routine. Pom Pon is actually the more traditional cheerleading. It is certainly NOT dance.
Why did Ms. Blackwell reclassify which division the Stars were competing in instead of giving the team a chance to modify the routine?
While there was little time modify the routine it could have been done by simply cutting the routine short since the lift in question was at the end of the routine. The team could have also decided to go ahead with the routine knowing they might be penalized for violated the rules. This decision should have been left up to the team. This decision was not Ms. Blackwell’s to make. Her ruling put the Stars at an extreme disadvantage.
Why did Ms. Blackwell not change the scheduled time for the Stars to perform once she insisted they compete in Cheer?
If the Stars were going to be judged in Cheer they should have performed along with the other cheer competitors. Having the Stars compete against the Pom Pon teams but be judged by the Cheer rules lead to a lot of unnecessary confusion and put the Stars at an extreme disadvantage. If the Stars had been rescheduled it would have given them several hours to rework the routine towards Cheer.
Why did Ms. Blackwell discuss the routines of the teams and the rules with the Judges?
It is extremely inappropriate for the organizer of the league who sets the rules and picks the judges to be discussing how the rules apply to individual team routines after she has seen the routine. Every team has mistakes, to discuss issues of the rules and details of routines with the judges can only bias the judges. The judges should be well aware of the rules and should not be reminded of them by those who have seen the routines and know which mistakes are likely to be made.
Knowing the reclassification of the Stars division had meant the Stars would not place in the competition and had put on a marvelous performance, why didn’t Ms. Blackwell explain the situation and ask for a round of applause for the Stars? If Ms. Blackwell had time to lead the the Rosedale Cheer 5 times while announcing the awards, she had time to announce the situation and save the Stars from humiliation. As it was the Stars were the only competitors not receiving a trophy during the awards ceremony. The Stars had been expecting to win, when they didn’t even place, the girls all the girls ended up in tears, some wanting to quit cheerleading.
In the 10 and under category there were originally 3 teams in Pom-Pon and 3 teams in Cheer. Which meant that all could do no worse than third. By reclassifying the Stars, Ms. Blackwell assured the two remaining teams in Pom Pom could do no worse than second and that the stars were the forth team in the Cheer division and at an extreme disadvantage.
If lifts were illegal in Pom Pon why were the Hawks, who did a lift at the end of their routine, declared the winners?
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