There is a serious coaching problem with DHS cheer. This has affected our girls for the last year and is now carrying over to this upcoming school year. So many girls have quit cheer due to this coach. They have been screamed at, cussed at, bullied, belittled, talked about to other cheerleaders, and made to feel worthless.  Many parents and students have gone to the school with proof of true concerns. Nothing has been done by the school, the coach has taken action though. She holds a grudge and retaliates against the girls, as this coach believes she is untouchable since she is friends with a member of the athletic department. No one is untouchable and if the school is not going to listen to 10 parents maybe they will listen to a lot of parents and student. I recently tried to get the school to do something about this coach. Even when I could prove she was lying in emails they did nothing. Sports are so important for kids and no kid should ever be treated this way by a coach. We have always been a strong community that has come together and today our DHS cheerleaders/former cheerleaders/and one's that were forced to quit need our help.    

***With permission I am adding another parent's story to this post to give you a real look at what just some of the things these girls have been through. 

I wanted to explain mine and Haedyn’s experience with the cheer coach. Multiple people had reached out asking what was going on, so this is going to be a very long post, so thank you in advance for reading. Last August cheer season started with a new coach. This coach is a mom to one of the girls on Varsity. Haedyn did not go into this with a negative attitude but had already experienced how things were going to be during the summer at a couple practices she went to. Fast forward, the cheer season started. I started to see a change in behavior with Haedyn. So, I messaged the coach and explained what Haedyn had been through recently and I was concerned with her behavior changes. I asked the coach if something had happened at cheer and if she could also keep me posted if she notices a difference with Haedyn as well. She did reply and said she would keep on eye on her. Some time goes by and almost every practice I would pick Haedyn up she would get in the car in tears. She finally told me what was going on with cheer. She said the coaches were extremely negative, talking down to the girls, favoritism was going on and she felt singled out. She said she felt as the coach didn’t like her because she was questioning the safety of some stunts, she was making the girls do. She said some of the stunts were not safe and the coaches were getting mad because most of the girls were not able to do them and girls were getting hurt. I then sent a message to the Coach addressing Haedyn’s concern and what she had told me. She replied to me with a very snarky message, telling me to cheer up buttercup and that not all kids are going to like their coach. As annoyed as I was, I left it as that hoping some things would change since I brought some issues up. But no things then got worse for Haedyn. Haedyn didn’t know I messaged the coach but by the next practice she told me she felt targeted. That the coaches were singling her out and being extremely rude to her. They then removed her from the stunt. I told Haedyn to message her coach and ask why she was being removed from stunts and explain how she felt, and she did. The coach responded with a generic response and Haedyn then asked for a meeting and that I would be in attendance as well. The coach responded that she would let the athletic director know. Fast forward to the meeting. I have never been so disgusted with how this woman acted and spoke to me and my daughter. When we first arrived, she didn’t even wait for us, she just started walking to the room where we were going to talk. She did not introduce herself, mind you, this is my first interaction with this coach outside of the parent meeting. We sit down and the first thing the coach says is, “So what’s the problem,” in a very rude voice. I was in shock by her tone. She would not look at me or make eye contact with me. Haedyn started addressing her concerns and how she has been feeling. The coach dismissed everything Haedyn was saying. I tried to jump in, but she would cut me off saying I was violating the school code of conduct, that parents aren’t supposed to contact coaches. She made it very clear she did not want to deal with parents. I had even said her tone was very belittling and I didn’t like how she was speaking to us. She would continue to cut us off. I had said I can see now why Haedyn would be upset with the way you talk to the girls if how you’re talking to us right now is comparable. I told her other parents I had talked to were hearing similar things from their daughters and the negativity taking place on the team. She then tried to turn it around on Haedyn and said people were complaining about her being negative and that parents have contacted her about my daughter. Narcissistic move, to try and flip things around to avoid being called out. She then said to Haedyn, “Your mom is the only one who messages me and it’s annoying.” I know for fact I wasn’t because I had spoken to other parents. I was in complete shock in how this meeting went and I felt like I didn’t stand up for my daughter like I should have. Haedyn went to practice after this meeting. I then picked her up when it was over and there were instant tears. The coach told her she could not talk to any of the other girls. She kept isolated during practice. If she had nothing to hide, then why isolate my daughter? I then contacted the Athletic director and the principal. We had a meeting that was well over an hour. Haedyn and I both brought notes of everything we wanted to discuss, and we were hopeful something would come of this. Nothing did. The school did nothing. So, Haedyn quit the team and did not cheer for basketball season. It was so sad to see her give up something that she loves doing and has helped keep her busy while dealing with some things. From our meeting with the school until now, I had multiple parents reach out to me who told me what their daughter had been through and that THEY ALSO HAD MEETINGS WITH THE AD AND PRINCIPAL.  And still nothing was done. Now we are in April and cheer tryouts were last Saturday. Haedyn has missed doing cheer and we discussed her trying out again. She was hoping things maybe would be different and maybe this coach had changed since so many parents had contacted the school. Unfortunately, she was wrong. Haedyn said from the moment she arrived at tryouts the coaches were extremely dismisses of her. She was getting dirty looks and felt like her scoring was purposely placed low because we had gone to the school. The judge panel for these tryouts was the main Coach, her assistant, the main coach’s mom, and her friends. There is no doubt in my mind that before tryouts or during she told them who she favored and did not like at all. Haedyn then got the results Saturday evening that she had been placed on JV as a Junior. That freshman, girls who have NEVER cheered before were on Varsity. I would also like to bring up the fact that 12 girls, yes 12 girls have either quit the team or did not try out. Out of all the parents that have went to the school only 3 girls remained to try out. Haedyn was one of those girls, Kendra who is a senior (who also got placed on JV) and another girl who did make Varsity (but her parents work for the school so they did not and could not complain about the coach). I told Haedyn to message the coach and ask about her scoring and why she was placed on JV. The coach did not respond to her for two days. After I emailed the athletic director, and he told her to respond did she then respond to Haedyn. It's no coincidence that both Haedyn and Kendra whose parents complained to the school were both placed on JV. I think this was done out of spite. Yes, she could of not allowed them on the team at all, but I believe that would have been obvious. Both of these girls have cheered since 6th grade together. How is it that girls with 4+ years’ experience get placed on JV and girls with no experience are placed on Varsity? It doesn’t make sense because it is favoritism and she’s punishing the girls for speaking out. Haedyn and Kendra have both rejected the position to be on JV not because its JV but because of this coach. This coach has cornered girls in rooms and screamed at them and a parent witnessed them. Comments have been made degrading the girl’s self-esteem. She talks badly about other girls to other girls on the team. I could go on and on with things I’ve heard from other parents. A new coach is needed. The school has ignored our concerns and dismissed how these girls are feeling. I don’t think parents should be coaches in high school or even middle school. Please consider signing this petition. Thank you.