Wake bans cheerleaders from events sponsored by company named in sex abuse lawsuits
The Wake County school system is banning cheerleading teams from participating in events sponsored by a company that’s been named as a defendant in multiple sex abuse lawsuits.
Last Thursday, Varsity Spirit was named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit alleging that a teenage boy was sexually abused at Cheer Extreme of Raleigh. On Friday, Wake informed high school cheerleading teams that they could no longer participate in Varsity Spirit events, including those that would allow them to qualify for the 2023 National High School Cheerleading Championship.
“We fully acknowledge the impact of this decision on student-athletes and their supporters,” the school district said in a statement. “It was not made without full consideration of all factors involved.
“Ultimately, the decision was made based on what we believe to be the best interest and well-being of our student-athletes at this time.”
The decision has upset cheerleaders and their parents, who say it’s unfair that the student-athletes will lose the opportunity to compete in events they’ve been preparing for all year.
“It would be like the baseball team or basketball team practicing for months but not being allowed to play in any games,” Krissy Ricard, the parent of an Apex High cheerleader, said in an interview Wednesday.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed this year alleging sex abuse at gyms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. As part of the litigation, groups that oversee cheerleading competitions such as Varsity Spirit have been named as defendants.
Varsity Brands, the parent company of Varsity Spirit, is threatening to file a defamation lawsuit against Bakari Sellers, the attorney who has been filing the abuse lawsuits.
“Varsity Spirit’s concern, first and foremost, is for the survivors and their safety, and Varsity Spirit wholeheartedly supports survivors in their pursuit of justice against the individuals responsible,” Varsity said in a statement. “That said, Mr. Sellers has made alarming accusations against Varsity without providing a shred of evidence in his sham litigation against the company. We have asked him to provide such evidence. He has not.”
Wake asked to reconsider ban
Wake’s ban comes as teams were planning to compete in regional events this month to qualify for Varsity’s national finals in February.
An online petition asking Wake to reconsider its decision had more than 250 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. According to the petition, Wake is the only North Carolina county that has banned teams from participating in Varsity Spirit events.
“Wake County says they have taken into consideration all factors, however, they spent less than a day making this decision and Cheerleading is the only sport being punished even though Varsity Spirit is also associated with other sports,” according to the petition.
“This is unfair and unjust as we have followed all of the rules set and have worked too hard all season to just not go.”
Several Wake cheerleading teams had already registered for Varsity’s regional qualifying event on Nov. 12 at Dorton Arena in Raleigh. Teams from across the state, except for Wake, will be at the event.
In response, the school district is organizing a competition on Nov. 12 at Broughton High School in Raleigh to help Wake teams prepare for the N.C. High School Athletic Association competition at the Raleigh Convention Center on Dec. 3.
But Ricard, the parent, said the Broughton event won’t serve as a qualifier for the national competition that will be held in Orlando in February. Ricard said the ban is especially frustrating for older cheerleaders whose ability to compete has been disrupted the past few years due to pandemic travel restrictions.
“I just think they should talk about it with the individual coaches, parents and students before taking away all their options,” Ricard said.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 4:10 PM.
