Ah, cheerleaders. The spirit leaders of any school. Girls and boys, young men and women, who get up in front of their schools’ fans to pump up the volume at football games and other events. Those same students who ask their parents to shell out hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars on cheer camps and lessons to help their squads win competitions in the hope of claiming a cheering scholarship to college. Yes, cheering has come a long way over the years and is now considered a sport. Thanks to Hanover Park High School in New Jersey, cheering is in the news for something quite different from the abilities and talents of its squad members. Hanover Park High School (HHPS) has deemed it more important to be inclusive so, for at least the next school year, any student who wants to be on the squad shall be — no matter what.

It seems after tryouts were held and cuts were announced, a mother went to school administrators complaining because her little darling didn’t make the team. The administrators in a perfect example of waffling and rolling over and playing dead decided the best course of action was to tell those students who worked hard to make the team that their efforts meant nothing. If someone wanted to be on the team, they were on it. It was all in the name of inclusivity and not ability.