An Update to VHS Cheer

This fall, two different VHS cheer coaches quit, which temporarily left the team coachless and distraught. Without leadership, the team wasn’t allowed to practice after school or perform at football games. For the senior cheerleaders, this was a devastating setback because it’s their last season to participate in the sport they love.

At the start of the season, their first coach went on a three week trip and resigned soon after returning. The cheer squad then got a new coach who was a family member of one of the cheerleaders. However, she too left after realizing it was a bigger commitment than anticipated. Next, the team had a parent volunteer supervise while the captains lead practices.

“Out of the nine weeks that the season has been going, we’ve practiced four of them,” Captain Ashley Rice said.

Even when the team did have an instructor, captains Ashley Rice and Lilly Sternberg found themselves handling many responsibilities.

“We were fully planning and leading practices, and when our coach was gone, we were shown the final forms of [which cheerleaders] hadn’t paid their bills,” Rice explained.

Sports captains are meant to lead and motivate the team, not handle paperwork.

Throughout this coaching debacle, the cheer group and their families were unsure how the season would progress. Rice and Sternberg kept questioning the administration about what was being done to save the season. While they understand the school is very busy, they still felt left in the dark.

“Are you interviewing? Are you trying? We kept pushing buttons,” Rice explained.

Principal John Erickson explained how they were trying to fill the position, but finding qualified coaches on an Island so small is a difficult task.

“We put the word out with phone calls, in person requests, and text messages,” Erickson said.

High school sports coaches are not paid much and it’s quite the time commitment, which makes it a labor of love. Thankfully, as the season comes to a close, a new coach has been hired.

“Her name is Ms. Courtny Jarman, and she has a really strong cheer and dance background,” Erickson explained.

Jarman and her family recently moved to the Island, and she has a background working in public schools.

After learning about the new coach, the team is feeling optimistic about the winter season.

“I’m hopeful that we can have a good, productive season,” said Rice.

Erickson expressed his gratitude towards the cheerleaders for their patience and perseverance during this time.

“Cheer this year has been especially student-led, and that’s really awesome. We’ve got great leaders on the team,” Erickson said.

Still, the situation raises an important question with how we value girls’ sports. While cheer at VHS isn’t a competitive sport, it still deserves the same amount of respect as other athletics do. I can’t help but wonder, if this was the boys’ football team, would a new coach have been found faster, and would the community have been more responsive?

This trend is not just within the school district, but rather the Island in general. Last spring, the Vashon Valkyries girls’ lacrosse team’s season was canceled while the boys were able to play. While lacrosse is not a school sport, the issue was the same as cheer: inconsistent coaching.

Additionally, the community turnout between boys’ and girls’ sports show a sharp contrast. Last winter, the crowds for girls’ basketball games consisted of a few parents and friends, but the boys’ games would attract what felt like half the island. Funnily enough, the girl’s team brought home more wins.

These discrepancies are not the fault of any single person, but rather a norm that pervades in our society. As an Island, we need to support our girls’ programs, whether that’s volunteering if able or driving better turnout to their events. It’s time for girls' sports to be treated equally, and until then, we will continue showing up and speaking out.