A St. Louis area high school has suspended its cheerleading program for the rest of the season after a fight broke out with another team.
On Saturday, East St. Louis High School and Trinity Catholic High School cheerleading teams performed “dueling routines,” St. Louis news channel KSDK reports. After the teams went back and forth, things took a turn for the worse, when a brawl broke out. The incident was filmed on camera.
The East St. Louis cheerleading team has now been shut down for the remainder of the season.
“We expect our teams to conduct themselves in a manner that will protect the safety of athletes, officials, coaches, and spectators at sporting events," East St. Louis Superintendent Arthur R. Culver said in a statement, per KSDK.
Culver continued, “We regret that our cheerleading team did not conduct themselves in a manner commensurate with these expectations. After a thorough investigation, consequences were administered which resulted in the immediate conclusion of the cheerleading season for this school year. We will not lower our expectations and will consistently take strong action when safety and sportsmanship is compromised.”
The man who filmed the fight is Larry Duncan Allen. He captures most East St. Louis games for his company City of Champions TV.
“This one video got more hits than all my games put together,” he told the news channel. He also defended the girls, saying, “In East St. Louis, we just want to condemn our kids for any little wrong they do and forget about the good that they've done. These girls have carried themselves with class all year long, and with one problem, they're suspended the rest of the season.”
No charges were filed from the fight.
