Jump to content

High Schooler With No Legs or Arms Doesn't Make Cheerleading Team


CRed05

Recommended Posts

Lacking legs and arms isn't stopping Julia Sullivan from pursuing her dream of becoming a high school cheerleader. It is, however, leading to a complex case.

Sullivan, a student at Aurora High School in Nebraska, tried out for the school's cheerleading team, but she was unable to make it. Since then, her parents, Mike and Carolyn Sullivan, have been trying to get the school board to reverse the decision, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

The teenager's lowest marks came in the jumps/kicks category, and the Sullivans are arguing that her disability was not accommodated for in the tryouts. Kevin Schneider, the family's attorney, wrote in a letter to the school board that the sponsor of the cheerleading tryouts was told that no special accommodations would be made for the 16-year-old Sullivan, even though 75 percent of the tryouts relied on scores from the physical category.

The district's policies on discrimination were reviewed by the school's administration, board and two separate legal counsels. Damon McDonald, who has been Aurora's superintendent since July 1, said both counsels claimed the school's policies "are appropriate and legitimate for all students."

This was the third time Sullivan tried out for the cheerleading squad.

"For us, it's the basic principle" Mike Sullivan said. "Any handicapped child in Nebraska could be kept out of activities."

According to the assistant director of the Nebraska School Activities Association, Jim Angele, schools need to accommodate students in high school sports sanctioned by the state under the disabilities act. Cheerleading, however, is not state-sanctioned in Nebraska.

http://www.nesn.com/2011/07/lacking-legs-and-arms-isnt-stopping-julia-sullivan-from-pursuing-her-dream-of-becoming-a-high-school-varsity-cheerleader-it.html

 

:dumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no, i think the article was about her

 

The parents are getting a lawyer and backing her up and shit. If I were her dad I'd be like bitch you can't dress a pig as a monkey and expect that shit to jump around.. go back to your room and tongue your keyboard on facebook about it ya dumb ho

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The parents are getting a lawyer and backing her up and shit. If I were her dad I'd be like bitch you can't dress a pig as a monkey and expect that shit to jump around.. go back to your room and tongue your keyboard on facebook about it ya dumb ho

 

tongue your keyboard.lol its def gonna be hard for her to pull off myspace angles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her vagina aint handicapped

 

 

I knew that was coming.

 

 

I'm sorry but if they make special accommodations for her then they would have to do it for everyone. Try outs are for a reason, if she isn't good enough to make the team then she should fuck off like everyone else that didn't make the cut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll try and come at this thinking as a rational human being first, parent 2nd, and lastly an agent of compromise. Rationally, she has no chance of being a cheerleader. She simply lacks the default required physical equipment to perform, and compete in the manner expected. As a parent, if my daughter had dreamed of being a cheerleader as a little girl, and I had been telling her she could do whatever she set her mind to, despite her handicap, it would be heartbreaking to explain otherwise. Of course a decent person would suck it up, explain realistic expectation, and not call the lawyers. Lastly the school could probably give her a menial position on the team, say 'Lead Spirit Cheerleader', under the expectation that she would be excluded certain functions. That is probably no more cheerleader than limbless mascot, but could have been enough to make someone who had a rough start, happy. Or maybe not, not sure if they tried something similar or not.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew that was coming.

 

 

I'm sorry but if they make special accommodations for her then they would have to do it for everyone. Try outs are for a reason, if she isn't good enough to make the team then she should fuck off like everyone else that didn't make the cut.

 

I agree. With both your statements. lol

 

Maybe she should try out for something she'd be good at. Like basketball... as the ball. Or perhaps the swimming team... as a safety buoy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...