Cheerleaders on the Bus

I have never had a problem with this. they sit in the first seats of the bus and are quiet. they know the drill and know what is expected of them. their coach sits with them.

I was at a place were we had an equipment bus and they sat in that bus.

The administration threw that on us a couple of year ago. Partly because they keep letting more and more girls on the cheerleading squad and partly because the cheerleading sponsors don’t want to drive the school vans. Our HC has one bus and the DC has the other. The girls sit in the front then the coach then the players. The cheerleading sponsors drive themselves. (which is BS) I am lucky and I ride with the other coaches and extra equipment in the van. How many cheerleaders do you have to take? I think we have to take just under 20.

Didn't have a problem with this the past two years, but there were only about six girls on the entire squad.

I'm with airman

Our cheerleaders sit in front of the bus with our reserve players. The coaches for their group and some of our FB assistants sit in between them and our reserve players. Been doing this for 4 years.

It is not an issue. The only time it was was when our cheer coaches couldn't ride with the girls to one of the games.

In this case, they did not ride as it's not our job to watch over them.

I guess if you believe it's going to be a distraction, it will be.

I have a lot of respect for our cheer coaches and they return that so it's worked so far.

You guys don't have spectator buses they can ride on?

When I played we had 4-5 cheerleaders on all four-five of our spectator buses. They had them fired up when they got off the bus.

Don't see how them doing their job is treating them as second class citizens.

They are part of the program but they are not part of the team. No chance in hell they would ride on the players bus if I could do anything about it.

K

Only eluding to treating them as a 2nd class citizen when we decide to treat them differently.

They ride with us because that's our district's policy - I think they are trying to be fiscally responsible. It actually costs the district $175 per bus to send us from our school to our gamesite (away games are much more). We have two buses for each game. Making the cheer squad take a 3rd bus wouldn't be responsible when the taxpayers are footing the bill.

Our cheerleaders are considered athletes and actually can compete. They practice daily and train year around and act professionally.

When we have booster buses - that transport our student body to a playoff side - and if I were to tell the cheer squad that they had to ride that bus instead of the team bus, that would be treating them different (see Rosa Parks)

I think some of us head coaches (leaders - right?) take our programs at the H.S. level far too seriously. And we should but never at the expense of others. This is just my opinion.

It's just a game.

They ride with us, front part of the bus. I have told them before to please keep the noise down. They are pretty good really

The biggest problem I have is when they have to spray on some perfume . They just can't wait to get off the bus!

k

I respect your views but don't see this issue as a hill to die on. Our program receives probably more support than most from our school and our district. Much of that has to do (I think) with the fact that we will work with others and do the fiscally responsible thing when we are given a chance.

We do pretty well with our cheer staff riding our bus. We just don't let it become an issue or a distraction.

That would be closely followed by my resignation letter. The day I am made to keep ANY of my players at home so some cheerleader can have a ride to the game.. will be my last day at that school..

That is ABSURD!!!

An old coach told me one time.. "learn to pick your battles young buck".. and that would be one worth picking..

I don't think it is a problem. In this day, schools are going to look at every possibility when it coomes to saving money. Anyone who knows anything about school finances will tell you that, after personnal, transportation is the biggest slice of the budget.

I think that if the cheerleaders sit in the front and are separated by at least 1 empty seat from the players, there shouldn't be any problems. The only thing I would be worried about would be healthy male and female teenagers sitting together on a dark bus. Adequate supervision would be pretty important.

I don't think it would be a proble with the kids if you preface it correctly with them. Set the parameters and then follow through and I don't think you should have a problem.

I just wouldn't do it because most cheerleaders annoy the crap out of me.

I wish that we didn't have them at games.

Similar situation...junior high basketball game, long bus ride back home, 7th grade cheerleader was "servicing" members of the 8th grade team on the back of the bus. The school managed to sweep everything under the rug, mainly because the girl's parents didn't want the publicity, but the three coaches who were on the bus (cheerleading and two basketball) were not re-hired the next year.

That's why, whenever I am on a bus with female and male students, the females sit up front and there is at least 1 empty seat between them and the boys.

Get used to this fellas. Many of us smaller schools, we have never even HEARD of equipment buses or spectator buses! And in an age of cost cutting, you might lose the ones you have now! As for us, we have always had good success with the girls in front, coaches in between, minus the two coaches who sit in the backity-back to smack heads. The girls know the drill, and I inform them of it at the beginning before we start. Thus far, no problems.

(A few years ago, had a former cheerleader confessed all the girls had been scared of me because of how I barked at the players, and they didnt want that turned towards them.)