Sacramento State insurance issues threatened cheer and dance teams

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    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — Insurance is to blame for the confusion surrounding Sacramento State’s cheer and dance teams.

The cheerleaders were told they would no longer be considered athletes but rather a club or student-run team.

“I was really shocked and disappointed to see that’s what they decided to do with the program,” said Sac State cheer alumni Tieya Hairston.

This recent Sac State grad is sharing her frustrations over where the cheerleading program was headed.

“(Athletic Director) Mark Orr came to one of our practices and informed us they would be moving us to a club,” she said.

The current members of the team didn’t want to speak out for fear of retaliation. The team, formed only earlier this week after tryouts ended Sunday, was told they wouldn’t be considered athletes and would become a club team due to insurance issues, which wouldn’t allow them to sideline cheer like usual.

“Just because they realized after two decades that whenever we were going to competition in Florida, we did not have insurance to go, which seemed really interesting to know you didn’t know this about your students, your athletes all this time,” Hairston said.

Outrage from parents had the athletic department take a second look.

“They don’t understand the traditions. They don’t understand the deep-rooted history of cheer on this campus,” said parent Denise Miller.

This concerned parent said they already pay out of pocket for competitions, uniforms, you name it, and to take away their title as an athlete was extremely disheartening.

“One of the things that had brought athletes and students to this school was the gameday experience,” Miller said.

“If they knew that this was going to happen, they might not have gone with Sac State to cheer,” Hairston said.

In a statement to CBS13. Sac State said:

“Members of the cheer and dance teams will still have the ability to perform at athletic events for the upcoming year and the competitive programs will have the opportunity to showcase their skills on a national level.”

“They work hard together. They trust each other with their life, literally, when they’re throwing each other up 10-15 feet in the air and then get caught,” Miller said. “To have this is so disheartening for all of them. They are hopeful the school is going to make the right decision but fearful they’re not.”

At an afternoon meeting on Friday, the teams and the athletic department were able to come to a resolution. the cheer team will be insured through the university and will be allowed to both sideline cheer and compete. So you can expect to see the cheerleaders on the sidelines and hyping up crowds.

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