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.
