Rule clarification gets cheerleaders back in the game

EL CENTRO – Just in a nick of time, cheerleaders were allowed back on the sidelines for Friday night’s football games in Imperial County.

One Friday, the California Department of Public Health announced it would consider sideline cheerleading as comparable to competitive cheerleading as a moderate-contact sport. As such, it should follow all requirements of other moderate-contract team sports.

The state defines moderate-contract sports as those that can be played with only incidental or intermittent close contact between participants and have moderate exertion rates.

Imperial County Health Officer Dr. Stephen Monday said the new guidance would take effect immediately.

Brawley Union High School Cheer Coach Megan Griggs was delighted. “We will be cheering tonight,” she said. “Everyone is so excited.”

Prior to Friday’s game, Griggs’ squad would have been restricted to performing a routine at halftime during the Wildcats’ game vs. Southwest High School and then leaving the field.

Griggs had been an outspoken advocate for getting the restrictions removed. “Explain to me how a football game can take place, but we can’t stand 6 feet apart,” she commented recently to this newspaper.

She said her squad’s abridged role in the games was having a sapping effect on morale.

“We were down,” she said. “Now we’re headed in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, band, drumline or similar supporting groups are not allowed to attend sporting events at this time. CDPH said additional guidance is forthcoming to address these other youth activities.

PHOTO TOM BODUS Central Union cheerleaders were present, but rather confined, at the Spartans’ home football contest Friday night against the Calexico Bulldogs. Cheer squads learned earlier in the day of a state rule clarification that would allow them to perform during the game.