Videos show East High cheerleaders repeatedly forced into splits, police investigating - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]Denver Police are now investigating incidents involving multiple cheerleaders and the cheer coach at East High School, 9Wants to Know has learned. The cheer coach, assistant cheer coach, high school principal, assistant principal and Denver Public Schools deputy general counsel have all been placed on leave. During the first week of cheer camp for East High School in June, Ally Wakefield, an incoming freshman was surrounded by new teammates, and forced, by the recently hired cheer coach, into an extended split position. In videos obtained by 9Wants to Know, eight cheerleaders are shown repeatedly being pushed down into the forced splits, while their arms are held up by fellow teammates, making each cheerleader unable to move herself out of the position. All cry out in pain. Ally Wakefield asked her coach, 9 times in less than 24 seconds to “please, stop.” All the while, coach Ozell Williams is shown holding down each girl’s shoulders, and pushing them down further.[/quote] [quote]Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg issued the following statement about the investigation: [quote]Earlier today, I became aware of an exercise used at cheer practices this summer at East High School. We immediately began taking steps to investigate this issue, and our Department of Safety is supporting Denver Police in this effort. In order to conduct a fair and thorough investigation, we have placed East Principal Andy Mendelsberg, East Assistant Principal Lisa Porter, East Cheer Coach Ozell Williams, East Assistant Cheer Coach Mariah Cladis and DPS Deputy General Counsel Michael Hickman on leave. This is standard practice in an investigation of this type. It does not imply or prejudge in any way the actions of the individuals or what the investigation might determine. Please know that we will share the results of the investigation as soon as possible. I want to reiterate in no uncertain terms our commitment to the safety of our students. We absolutely prohibit any practices that place our students’ physical and mental health in jeopardy. We do not and will not allow any situation in which a student is forced to perform an activity or exercise beyond the point at which they express their desire to stop. While this investigation is ongoing, we are entirely focused on ensuring our students and staff at East are receiving the supports they need. A senior leader at the school, East Assistant Principal Jason Maclin, will serve as interim principal during this time and we are providing additional counseling for our students and families. With regards to certain videos, I cannot state strongly enough – as the superintendent of the school district and as the father of two high school-aged daughters -- that the images and actions depicted are extremely distressing and absolutely contrary to our core values as a public school community.[/quote] This is an ongoing investigation and will be updated as more information is made available.[/quote] Video in the link *NSFW* [url]http://www.9news.com/news/local/investigations/videos-show-east-high-cheerleaders-repeatedly-forced-into-splits-1/466845236[/url] Longer video with interview of victim and cell phone footage [url=https://youtu.be/7vGjFEB47ZQ]*NSFW*[/url]

sadists

That's terrible. I'm reminded of how cruel and physically straining some Chinese ballerinas are trained from when they're just able to walk.

Jesus fuck. This sort of thing can cause massive damage to ones tendons and muscles, and in extreme and super unlucky circumstances, can lead to the complete inability to use one or both legs unless your undergo surgery to fix the damage. Lock that coach up.

This is pure torture, no other way to put it. Coach is a nutjob piece of shit.

I wouldn't let this guy reflect badly on the school. I went to East, and there's a lot of really amazing teachers and coaches there. The administration is pretty meh, but that's par for the course for an inner city public highschool. I really doubt that this was any sort of school sanctioned thing, rather just the new coach taking everything wayy too seriously.

How in the fuck can you, as coach, look at this and say 'yep, I see no problem here'.

What makes you keep going when the person is fucking screaming "please stop" over and over.

Well... that was very disturbing

This is already awful, but how come the comments in the video are trying to forcibly turn this into a race problem? I'm honestly getting sick of this shit.

Not watched the video due to the *NSFW* tag. How bad is it?

So they're basically hazing the new girls? I hope they all lose their jobs for this, and every student involved loses their cheerleader position, even if it means they'll have to disband the team.

[QUOTE=dingusnin;52609298]Not watched the video due to the *NSFW* tag. How bad is it?[/QUOTE] Very bad IMO, the top comment is [URL="https://i.imgur.com/JL8LWKp.png"]this[/URL], and there's several more like it. This is not an issue of race, and yet people seem intent to force it onto this.

[QUOTE=MacD11;52609319]Very bad IMO, the top comment is [URL="https://i.imgur.com/JL8LWKp.png"]this[/URL], and there's several more like it. This is not an issue of race, and yet people seem intent to force it onto this.[/QUOTE] Judging by the oven comment, he's either a neo-Nazi or at the least a white supremacist who supports ethnic genocide. To people like that, as soon as they see a non-white person, [I]everything[/I] related to that is about race.

Jesus Christ how is this person allowed to even be a coach [QUOTE=MacD11;52609319]Very bad IMO, the top comment is [URL="https://i.imgur.com/JL8LWKp.png"]this[/URL], and there's several more like it. This is not an issue of race, and yet people seem intent to force it onto this.[/QUOTE] Most people bringing up race by calling people racial slurs are just people that want to stir up shit. Just ignore them.

Since when is facepunch considering the opinion of youtube comments?

you can develop the flexibility to do the splits after months of slow progression, and literally every kinesiologist out there will tell you that it's something you [I]cannot[/I] rush unless you want tendon and joint damage. fucking retarded coach, fire his ass. just because you want quick results and subscribe to a tough-love type of teaching doesn't mean you can shove everyone into a one-size-fits-all training routine.

We did that shit as warmup for taekwondo and i guess being flexible is needed to be a cheerleader as well. Yes it was painful but we all knew we had to endure the pain to be better. Idk what you guys are on about this if you cant handle the training. leave

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609693]We did that shit as warmup for taekwondo and i guess being flexible is needed to be a cheerleader as well. Yes it was painful but we all knew we had to endure the pain to be better. Idk what you guys are on about this if you cant handle the training. leave[/QUOTE] Did they hold you down even though you asked them to stop?

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;52609697]Did they hold you down even though you asked them to stop?[/QUOTE] actually if i remembered correctly yes this was in elementary grade 4-6. the 1st time they did it others said to stop as well cause it hurt but the trainer explained why its needed to do this and by day 2 it was still painful but we endured it a bit better. and what do you know after a month we can do those splits on our own with no pain. and perfect roundhouse kicks.

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609693]We did that shit as warmup for taekwondo and i guess being flexible is needed to be a cheerleader as well. Yes it was painful but we all knew we had to endure the pain to be better. Idk what you guys are on about this if you cant handle the training. leave[/QUOTE] Yes I too warm up by tearing all my tendons

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609709]actually if i remembered correctly yes this was in elementary grade 4-6. the 1st time they did it others said to stop as well cause it hurt but the trainer explained why its needed to do this and by day 2 it was still painful but we endured it a bit better. and what do you know after a month we can do those splits on our own with no pain. and perfect roundhouse kicks.[/QUOTE] Gonna say that's probably not true

Extracurriculars in schools have rules. You legally cannot do this kind of thing, especially not when it's causing harm to the students involved. Cheerleading and sports in school have the capabilities of causing injury, but a coach or teacher is never supposed to do it on purpose.

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609693]Idk what you guys are on about this if you cant handle the training. leave[/QUOTE] Did it not sound to you like she wanted to leave?

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;52609714]Gonna say that's probably not true[/QUOTE] what do i know eh? :v: 4 days a week in a month after classes stopped at grade 6 on brown belt cause had to move. even at whitebelt they let you practice kicks to get you exited to learn more. and by "perfect" what i ment was our foot could atleast reach the height of our forehead.

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609693]We did that shit as warmup for taekwondo and i guess being flexible is needed to be a cheerleader as well. Yes it was painful but we all knew we had to endure the pain to be better. Idk what you guys are on about this if you cant handle the training. leave[/QUOTE] Jesus Christ. It was done to them against their will, dude. The fuck you on about. It's getting harder and harder to take anything you say seriously.

What in the everloving fuck? Not everyone's flexible enough for that and forcing it on them can do major damage. Fuck off into jail ya cruel piece of shit coach! [QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52609247]How in the fuck can you, as coach, look at this and say 'yep, I see no problem here'.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=The Rifleman;52609251]What makes you keep going when the person is fucking screaming "please stop" over and over.[/QUOTE] They probably ran out of fucks to give, either that, or they get off on torturing schoolgirls. Neither is particularly conducive to a career in high school athletics. Or, really, high school at all.

The comments at my local news are blaming the girl, telling her to stop being a baby. This is fucked up

[QUOTE=Zekkei;52609757]what do i know eh? :v: 4 days a week in a month after classes stopped at grade 6 on brown belt cause had to move. even at whitebelt they let you practice kicks to get you exited to learn more. and by "perfect" what i ment was our foot could atleast reach the height of our forehead.[/QUOTE] Yeah, what do you know? You're not a medical practitioner. This isn't a good way to treat people let alone kids, and it can readily cause harm. Maybe you did get flexibility from that, but these girls didn't seem to be doing much beyond tearing their ligaments and tendons. Which, from personal experience don't heal super well.

I can't wait to see the lawsuit flying their way.