Anaheim : Cheerleaders Get a Second Chance

Cheerleaders in the Anaheim Union High School District, unhappy that a ban on their pyramid stunt could hamper them in upcoming national competition, have been given another chance to compete--but only if they fork over money for additional insurance.

The varsity cheerleading squads at the district’s eight high schools are being told that if they obtain insurance through booster clubs or parent-teacher associations, they may perform the pyramid in competition.

Cheerleaders from Cypress and Katella high schools had planned to showcase their moves in the National Cheerleading Assn. contest in Dallas next month.

The teen-agers have been downhearted because the district, concerned about the students’ safety, recently began enforcing a longstanding ban on the stunt, in which girls stand on each other’s shoulders. The cheerleaders said the stunt is so important to high-powered competition that there was no point in entering if they were barred from doing it.

Rita Newman, Anaheim Union’s assistant superintendent for business, said that if the cheerleaders choose to obtain the liability insurance, it will cover performance of the pyramid stunt in competitions but not at school events.

But Mandy Strohmyer, a member of the Cypress High squad, said the girls have all but given up hope of being able to compete in Dallas. When the ban on pyramids was enforced, the squad withheld its $200 entry fee because its advisers doubted the cheerleaders would be able to go. With the Nov. 13 fee deadline past, it may be too late.

“Everybody’s spirit level is kind of down,” said Strohmyer, 16. “We’re kind of depressed about the whole thing, but we don’t really want to give up.”

Cypress’ cheerleading coach, Cris Stuart, said he is trying to get the National Cheerleading Assn. to let the squad into the competition belatedly. Stuart and Mandy’s mother, Johnnie Strohmyer, said they are working hastily to form a booster club that could pay for the additional insurance.

Maria Hoffman, adviser to the Katella squad, said the school’s athletics booster club has offered to forward the $700 necessary to pay for the cheerleaders’ insurance. The squad will hold a fund-raiser later to reimburse the group, Hoffman said. The Katella squad’s fees for the Dallas competition have already been paid, she said.

Newman said the ban on pyramids was designed only to protect students’ safety, not to prevent them from competing. She said she hopes that with the option of obtaining additional insurance, all the girls who wish to go to Dallas may do so.

But Stuart said he thinks the enforcement of the ban is “crazy.” He said that in nine years of coaching the squad--which placed second in an international competition in Japan in 1990--his girls have never suffered a serious injury from performing the stunt.

“It’s not fair to do this to them,” Stuart said.