The Brandon Bears

My niece Allison is involved with a competitive cheerleading squad in Brandon, Florida. She and her 33 cheerleader teammates are middle schoolers. They regularly compete against varsity high school squads and win. They have been the Grand Champions in several competitions this year. I've not seen them in person, but I have seen video clips and they are very good. In addition to cheering in competitions, these girls also cheer for the Brandon Bears football team. The Bears are currently undefeated and headed to the Super Bowl of youth football in their area. Well, at least that was true until some recent events developed. This is why I am saying the world has gone crazy.

A week or so ago, seven girls from this cheerleading squad were at a birthday party. As a little treat for the adults at the party, these girls performed a small portion of their routine. As is the case for most things in life nowadays, this little impromptu display was recorded and posted on Facebook. No big deal, right? Wrong. Somebody on the governing body of this football league saw the video and banned the cheerleaders from further competition because they participated in an "unauthorized practice". Yep! You read that right. This innocent little display was considered some kind of unsanctioned rehearsal and I'm guessing those are against the rules. Do you want to hear the kicker? The football team has now been banned from playing in the championship game because a small fraction of the cheerleading squad did a little routine at a birthday party. I fail to see where this activity gave the cheerleading squad or the football team an unfair advantage. Ridiculous doesn't even begin to describe this. However, I surmise there is more here than meets the eye. Would it surprise you to hear that disqualifying the Bears subsequently allows another team to play in the championship game and that this new team might have some connection to the adults on the governing board of the league? Yeah, it doesn't surprise me either. Is there funny business afoot? Keep in mind we're talking about a football league of 11 and 12 year olds. We're not talking about the NFL.

This story has made the local news in Brandon, but it seems to me this is exactly the kind of story national news websites would love to get their hands on. I've seen far less important stories on national news outlets. I don't know much, but I do know it's a travesty to punish a bunch of young teens because some adults who never grew up are trying to vicariously win a championship they never won when they were young. The world has gone crazy!

*** New Note On This Story ***

It was decided on Tuesday that the football team would still be allowed to play in the championship game this coming Sunday. However, the cheerleaders have still been banned from further competitions. I guess it's okay they didn't punish the boys for something they had nothing to do with, but it's still insane that these girls are being punished for something so minor. I know, I know... rules are rules. But a small group of cheerleaders doing a short portion of their routine being called an unauthorized practice? OH PUH-LEEEEEZE! I repeat... the world has gone crazy!

Here's the Link To The Story

Here's another

One last link