By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

LIBERTY TWP. - A new approach meant to allow more students to be junior high school cheerleaders means no cuts, but it hasn't been without bumps and bruises.

Lakota Plains and Ridge schools are piloting a cheerleading program that allows students to join the team without going through tryouts. And that's left some parents with little to cheer about.

Students who join the team through Friday are guaranteed a place on the team, said Brian Wallace, Plains' athletic director.

"Our attempt is to try to get as many kids involved with activities as we can," said Bruce Lewis, Plains principal. "The cheerleading squad seemed like an area it would be fairly simple to do."

But some Plains parents who brought their concerns to the Lakota school board this week say it's not fair that students who didn't attend three weeks of practice earlier this month should be able to join the team so late. Both squads have already cheered at scrimmage football games earlier this week.

"I don't think most of the parents have a problem with open participation,'' said Becky Howard of Liberty Township. "A lot of the girls don't know the cheers. It doesn't represent the school very well if half don't know the cheers."

Howard's daughter, Paige, said the open participation is good, but she favors an earlier cutoff and worries that some who joined after the practices ended might have done so for the wrong reasons.

"It (open participation) gives girls a chance to cheer without being put down by the judges," said Paige, 13, who cheered last year at Ridge. "(Some are) joining for the wrong reasons. They want to be popular or have jackets with their names on it that say they're cheerleaders."

Lewis said it is up to the coaches to determine who cheers when, depending on factors that include each student's skill level, readiness and other factors.

"We want everybody to be involved, but they all don't have to be doing the same thing at the same time," Lewis said. "We're not letting anybody come and go as they please."

Wallace said 35-40 students signed up to cheer. They are divided into two squads based on their grade level.

The squads cheer at football and volleyball games in the fall and basketball in the winter. Competition cheering begins at the high school level, he said.

The program will be evaluated at the end of the year to see if changes need to be made, Wallace said.