Dear Editor,
\nTwo similar anonymous items appeared in the Aug. 30 edition of this publication\u2019s Readers\u2019 Column. The submissions were on the subject of cheerleading at Owego Free Academy (OFA). Both were full of errors. This letter to the editor presents just the facts.
\nIn one anonymous claim it was alleged that for several years now the girls have managed to scrounge up a team, with volunteer coaches, and were forced to wear old, outdated uniforms.<\/p>\n
In fact, new cheerleading uniforms were purchased two years ago at Owego Free Academy as part of the regular athletics uniform replacement plan. Also, OFA has had a paid cheerleading coach for many years, for both the fall and winter seasons. Last year, the district paid the winter cheer coach for the competitive cheer season and used the fall as a pre-season for the team, with a volunteer coach.<\/p>\n
One anonymous comment stated that it\u2019s \u201ca disgrace and embarrassment that they (district officials, presumably) don\u2019t feel girls\u2019 sports activities such as cheerleading, which could help them out in college, are important. It doesn\u2019t seem like they really care.\u201d
\nIn fact, last year New York State, for the first time, made cheerleading an official varsity sport, and made its official season in the winter. Many districts, including Owego Apalachin, followed the state\u2019s winter competitive season as a guide, making the fall a pre-season leading to the competitive season.<\/p>\n
Last fall and winter, despite extensive efforts by coaches and the athletics department, OFA was unable to put a full cheer squad together, with only a few girls participating at football games in the fall, and averaging only about four or five cheerleaders at basketball games in the winter. OFA was forced to withdraw from the STAC cheer competition last winter due to lack of participation.<\/p>\n
Each year, the athletics department assesses whether we have sufficient interest among student-athletes to field teams at various levels in various sports. For example, last spring the district was unable to field a modified boys\u2019 tennis team. Interest came from too few players. And this fall OFA was close to not fielding a girls\u2019 junior varsity soccer team for the same reason. A last-minute surge in numbers allowed the team to continue.
\nAndy Buchsbaum, OFA director of athletics, has ongoing discussions with leaders of area youth programs, including cheerleading, in an effort to assess trends, and in the case of cheerleading, to attempt to re-build the program at the high school level in the future.<\/p>\n
Another anonymous claim asked readers to \u201cTake a look around! Every high school has cheerleaders with nice uniforms, who represent their schools proudly, and who are appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, other schools in OFA\u2019s league have dropped or reduced their cheer squads due to lack of participation. One school has dropped football and basketball cheerleading but will still have a winter competitive team, while other districts have dropped the sport entirely, or are considering that move.<\/p>\n
One more anonymous claim in the Readers\u2019 Column suggested, \u201cOur school district in Owego doesn\u2019t feel that the girls and their sports activities are as important as the boys.\u201d
\nLast fall alone, OFA offered six girls\u2019 varsity sports (seven, including cheerleading), compared with four for the boys. Every one of those girls\u2019 teams successfully advanced to the post-season, and two of the six teams won sectional championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be the case that the numerous offerings and resounding success of our other girls\u2019 varsity sports is directly related to the waning numbers interested in cheerleading,\u201d Buchsbaum said.<\/p>\n
Another point of pride at OFA, announced last spring, is the accolade coming from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, citing OFA as the only school from Section 4 to be named a 2014-15 Scholar Athlete School of Distinction. OFA received School of Distinction status by having 100 percent of its varsity teams \u2013 both girls and boys – earn a 90.0 percent grade point average or higher.<\/p>\n
To be clear, OFA has not cut its cheerleading team.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the interest in cheerleading at OFA is not sufficient to field a team at this time,\u201d Buchsbaum said. \u201cAs it does with all sports, the district will review interest in cheerleading annually.<\/p>\n
The district\u2019s motto over the past few years (22 Sports, one Team) shows a deep commitment to all our student-athletes, in competition, as well as in the classroom.
\nSincerely,<\/p>\n
Stephen Jensen
\nPublic Information Coordinator
\nOwego Apalachin Schools<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Editor, Two similar anonymous items appeared in the Aug. 30 edition of this publication\u2019s Readers\u2019 Column. The submissions were on the subject of cheerleading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters"],"yoast_head":"\n