Cheerleader Claims She was Kicked Off Squad For Needing Water

October 7, 2010 /
From the Patriot Ledger

A Brockton High School senior says she was kicked off the cheerleading team after arguing with a coach to get water for her teammates as they cheered in 90-degree weather at a recent football game.

Mya Mallory, 17, said speaking up cost her a spot on the squad, after she argued with coach Emily Hart during the Sept. 25 Brockton vs. Xaverian high school football game in Westwood. But after meeting Wednesday with school officials, Mallory was allowed back on the team.

School officials have since admitted the students were overdressed and not prepared for that day’s heat, and have announced changes in how they will approach warm-weather athletic events.

“We were so thirsty,” Mallory said this week. “I said, ‘It’s the hottest day out and we’re in black uniforms. I just don’t understand why we can’t get water.’”

Mallory said Hart had told the cheerleaders to stop taking water breaks “because it looks bad.” One cheerleader fainted, according to the girl’s mother, and another reportedly bowed out of the game with exhaustion.

“The problem was those kids weren’t hydrated enough, and they needed access to water and liquids,” School Committee Vice Chairman Thomas Minichiello said. “It’s something that never should have happened, and it will not happen again.”

The incident prompted changes in policies on sports games played in warm weather, such as sending a school nurse to hot-weather away games, and buying lightweight uniforms for cheerleaders and half-time performers.

The cheerleaders and half-time dancers wore turtlenecks and vests in direct sunlight and sweltering heat during the Xaverian game, when temperatures reached the low 90s.

“It was really hot and there was no shade. The kids were sitting for a very long time in direct sun,” Brockton High School Principal Susan Szachowicz said.

Mallory said she objected during the game, but continued arguing with her coach to get water for her teammates.

Mallory said she apologized during the game for disobeying her coach, but said she had no choice.

Three days after the game, on Sept. 28, Mallory said Hart and the other cheerleading coach, Jodi Nelson, kicked her off the squad.

Nelson had not attended the Xaverian game, according to a letter about the incident from Mallory’s mother to school officials.

Calls to Hart, Nelson and Tom Kenney, Brockton High’s athletic director, were not returned Wednesday. Hart is a first-year coach, according to the school.

According to Mallory, Nelson cited two reasons for removing her from the team: using profanity on the field – a charge Mallory denies – and arguing with Hart about the water.

“I’ve worked up to this since freshman year, and to get kicked off was heartbreaking,” she said.

Mallory met with Kenney, Nelson, Hart and an assistant housemaster Wednesday, after The Enterprise made inquiries about the incident to school officials.

Mallory said she has been allowed back on the team.

“They just said they had skipped a step in my discipline and that I deserved a spot back on the team,” she said.

Her mother, Kelly Mallory, said she sent a five-page letter about the water incident to the principal and all seven School Committee members last week.

“Myself, my husband and other spectators all witness(ed) a cheerleader pass out,” the letter said. “One woman behind us was screaming, ‘I’m a nurse, lay her down.’”

Szachowicz said the incident prompted the new policies for warm-weather games.

They include having a school nurse travel to away games and purchasing new lightweight uniforms for cheerleaders, half-time dancers, majorettes, the color guard and any half-time performers, Szachowicz said.


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