August 18, 2016 at 5:28 p.m.
State fair flubbed cheer contest
Editorial
No one cheered Saturday at the Indiana State Fair.
Well, that’s not quite accurate. The Southport Middle School squad was able to perform on the grandstand stage. But that was as far as the cheering went.
Rain delayed the start of the Indiana State Fair cheerleading competition by nearly an hour. And after Southport managed to get on stage, lightning forced the grandstand to be cleared. It was about two and a half hours later, after rain foiled an attempt to get re-started, that organizers finally made the call that there would be no competition Saturday.
The surprise was that there would not be any competition at all. It was canceled.
Calling off Saturday’s competition was the right move. It’s one that probably should have been made earlier — anyone looking at radar could see the day was destined to be doused — before cheerleaders and fans became frustrated by hours of fruitless waiting.
But to cancel the event completely, to not have a back-up plan of any kind, is inexcusable.
Cheerleading is different from baseball, football or soccer — outdoor events that might be canceled because of rain or lightning. In each of those, there is another game coming the next day or the next week. In cheerleading, the state fair is it.
Yes some squads will turn their attention to Indiana Cheer Championship competitions during the fall or shoot for Universal Cheerleaders Association nationals in February as Jay County High School will this year. But for most, including East Jay and West Jay middle schools, the state fair is everything.
The cheerleaders work all summer toward that one competition. Without it, they don’t have a chance to show what they’ve accomplished.
It’s understandable that they’d be left with an empty feeling. And there’s no reason for it.
It seems, especially given that rain had been in the forecast all week, that having a back-up plan would not be all that difficult. There are really two options:
1) Plan on bringing the squads back a week later to hold the competition. This has been done before, in 2001, when JCHS finished second. There are potential issues, including conflicts with IHSAA sports, but at least it would give squads a chance to compete if they wanted to do so.
2) Have an alternate indoor site available, on or off of the fairgrounds, to host the competition. If the state fair doesn’t have an indoor venue available, surely an area high school could serve as a backup. It would take some work, but it’s certainly possible.
We’re not blaming the Indiana State Fair for the weather. Mother Nature is out of anyone’s control, as we know all too well here in Jay County following the constant rain and frequent flooding of June and July 2015. And volunteers who tried to keep the mats dry deserve credit for the hard work they put in Saturday.
However, for the state fair to be completely unprepared for the possibility that rain could wash out the day is mind-boggling.
It was disrespectful to the hundreds of cheerleaders who worked all summer for that one day of competition. It sent the message that the state fair just didn’t care.
We’ll never know which squads would have won the 2016 Indiana State Fair competitions.
But we know this for sure: the state fair lost. — R.C.
Well, that’s not quite accurate. The Southport Middle School squad was able to perform on the grandstand stage. But that was as far as the cheering went.
Rain delayed the start of the Indiana State Fair cheerleading competition by nearly an hour. And after Southport managed to get on stage, lightning forced the grandstand to be cleared. It was about two and a half hours later, after rain foiled an attempt to get re-started, that organizers finally made the call that there would be no competition Saturday.
The surprise was that there would not be any competition at all. It was canceled.
Calling off Saturday’s competition was the right move. It’s one that probably should have been made earlier — anyone looking at radar could see the day was destined to be doused — before cheerleaders and fans became frustrated by hours of fruitless waiting.
But to cancel the event completely, to not have a back-up plan of any kind, is inexcusable.
Cheerleading is different from baseball, football or soccer — outdoor events that might be canceled because of rain or lightning. In each of those, there is another game coming the next day or the next week. In cheerleading, the state fair is it.
Yes some squads will turn their attention to Indiana Cheer Championship competitions during the fall or shoot for Universal Cheerleaders Association nationals in February as Jay County High School will this year. But for most, including East Jay and West Jay middle schools, the state fair is everything.
The cheerleaders work all summer toward that one competition. Without it, they don’t have a chance to show what they’ve accomplished.
It’s understandable that they’d be left with an empty feeling. And there’s no reason for it.
It seems, especially given that rain had been in the forecast all week, that having a back-up plan would not be all that difficult. There are really two options:
1) Plan on bringing the squads back a week later to hold the competition. This has been done before, in 2001, when JCHS finished second. There are potential issues, including conflicts with IHSAA sports, but at least it would give squads a chance to compete if they wanted to do so.
2) Have an alternate indoor site available, on or off of the fairgrounds, to host the competition. If the state fair doesn’t have an indoor venue available, surely an area high school could serve as a backup. It would take some work, but it’s certainly possible.
We’re not blaming the Indiana State Fair for the weather. Mother Nature is out of anyone’s control, as we know all too well here in Jay County following the constant rain and frequent flooding of June and July 2015. And volunteers who tried to keep the mats dry deserve credit for the hard work they put in Saturday.
However, for the state fair to be completely unprepared for the possibility that rain could wash out the day is mind-boggling.
It was disrespectful to the hundreds of cheerleaders who worked all summer for that one day of competition. It sent the message that the state fair just didn’t care.
We’ll never know which squads would have won the 2016 Indiana State Fair competitions.
But we know this for sure: the state fair lost. — R.C.
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