On Thursday, December 16, 2021, the New York State cheerleading community was informed that all athletes must be vaccinated for the Covid 19 virus in order to compete in the 2022 New York State Cheerleading Championships at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY.

This is not a New York State (NYS) requirement for athletes, nor is it a requirement for athletes throughout the 11 NYS athletic sections.  This is a requirement set forth by RIT to use the venue that NYS contracted to host the 2022 State Cheerleading Championship.

The athletes who will compete in the other 2022 state championships (basketball, wrestling, indoor track, gymnastics, bowling, boys swimming, hockey, skiing) are not being held to this vaccination restriction, as the venues where those championships are being held do not have a vaccination requirement.

Because all NYS male and female athletes must be treated equally, regardless of the sport in which they participate, New York State must change the venue where the 2022 New York State Cheerleading Championships is being held to ensure that no one is excluded.  It is simply not acceptable that in order to compete for a state championship, athletes in one sport are being held to a different standard than athletes in other sports.