Being asked to rehash the cheer controversy

It was a Friday afternoon in late December when my phone rang. It

was a distraught parent from Newport Harbor High School telling me

that there would be a meeting in the next few hours regarding the

cheerleading crisis that had exploded at the school.

I looked at my watch and hurried to finish the stories I was

working on before I rushed over to the school. I expected to get

there as the meeting was ending, talk to some people, file my story

and get home at a reasonable hour.

The meeting ended up going on for hours, as tearful girls and

livid parents vented their frustration to Principal Michael Vossen.

Thus was my introduction to the cult of cheerleading in Southern

California.

As the story dragged on for months the fallout continued and some

parents filed a complaint with the school district -- I kept hoping

the end was in sight. I felt weird covering a cheerleading crisis

when the country was still reeling from last year’s terrorist

attacks. So when the story finally ended in May, when the district

hired two new coaches to replace the veteran coach, Lisa Callahan, I

couldn’t wait to stash my notes away and move on.

So I was surprised when I checked my voicemail a few weeks ago and

heard a message from an ESPN producer who wanted to interview me

about my coverage of the cheerleading crisis.

The controversy erupted after the tryouts in late November, when

Callahan said she had seen some inconsistencies in the judging that

distorted the final results, which was reportedly confirmed by some

senior cheerleaders. Also, some of the girls who made the team

allegedly admitted they had cheated on their routines.

By the time I heard about the story, the school -- with the

coach’s blessing -- had decided to let all 48 girls who had tried out

be on the two squads to compensate for the alleged judging

discrepancies. But this decision didn’t sit well with some parents of

cheerleaders who had made the squads originally. They charged that

the solution was unmanageable for the coach and financially

infeasible. They referred to the cheerleading handbook, which read

that the judges’ decisions are final.

After the four dozen cheerleaders started practicing together, the

parents took their complaint to the district, which set up an

independent committee to investigate the judging. The committee found

no sign of judging irregularities and recommended new tryouts be held

for four open spots. Vossen agreed, but after relaying this to the

parents of the girls who didn’t make it the first time and the

cheerleaders, an emotional backlash ensued.

I followed the story throughout the ordeal as Vossen wavered back

and forth in deciding what to do. After listening to some of the

cheerleaders’ opinions, he again sided with the committee. I covered

the way some of the parents ran Callahan out of town -- having her

barred from coming on campus because her original hiring 13 years ago

allegedly did not follow proper procedures. And I covered a complaint

that two parents filed against the district.

It turned out that ESPN’s show “Outside the Lines” -- a show that

explores trends and issues in the world of sports -- would be

devoting an entire show to cheerleading and wanted to follow up with

some of the Newport Harbor cheerleaders who did not make the squads

last year. The producer also wanted to see how the district had

changed its cheerleading policies to make sure another cheerleading

controversy does not happen again.

I would be providing the objective voice to carry the story along.

So although I wasn’t keen on rehashing the cheerleading saga, I

definitely knew the nuances of what had happened from covering it in

depth.

I knew how it pitted parents against parents, cheerleaders against

cheerleaders and how it put Vossen in the unenviable position of

having to choose between some of the detached parents and the

emotional students.

So using my stories, I made a timeline of events to keep my mind

refreshed as to what order everything happened in since there were a

lot of decisions that ultimately changed.

That I would be on TV did not really phase me, since I worked as a

broadcast journalist early on in my reporting career. But while I was

used to being the one asking the questions, I had no idea how it

would feel to be on the other side.

When the ESPN crew arrived, they set up a light so bright I felt

like I was being roasted for dinner. But they handled their jobs with

such professionalism that I immediately felt at ease. Trying not to

sweat like a pig was another story.

Their questions mainly concerned the sequence of events and how

the crisis divided the community. While I could handle the timeline

questions -- especially after having made a cheat-sheet -- it was a

little harder for me to answer questions about how the crisis

escalated to the point it did, why the coach was essentially

dismissed from her job after 13 years and why it created national

media attention.

I have never been a cheerleader and since I like to do a lot of

sports myself, it is hard for me to imagine wanting to be on a team

just for the sake of rooting other teams on. But I can imagine the

angst of teenage girls who have dreamed of being a cheerleader for a

long time, who didn’t make the squads originally, who then were

invited to be on the teams and then told they were not cheerleaders

and that they have to try out again.

I don’t think parents should have gotten involved in an issue that

the school administrators had already decided. And I don’t think the

school or district has been forthcoming in what actually happened

during the tryouts last year involving how the girls were judged.

I think it’s sad that something divided the school community in

the aftermath of last year’s terrorist attacks, when most communities

were coming together in ways they never had before.

I think it reflected poorly on the school that it attracted

national attention for this. I would hate for people around the

country to think that cheerleading is the most important part of

Newport Harbor High, which boasts rigorous academic programs.

And even worse for Newport Beach’s image -- which is instrumental

in luring tourists -- to be tarnished by students and parents

squabbling over a cheerleading program when most people around the

country had a lot more pressing issues to worry about.

But I do hope the friendships that were severed last year have

been mended. And I pray I won’t have to cover another cheerleading

crisis story this school year.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.