Cheerleaders show true sportsmanship

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

Whitefish High School junior Ceadar Vance is a fan favorite and a popular cheerleader for the Bulldogs. She’s at every home game, rousing the crowd and helping perform complicated routines and stunts to get the student section going. She knows all the chants, the Bulldog fight songs and the correct timing of every cheer.

None of this would be remarkable except that Vance has Down syndrome.

In the spirit of true sportsmanship, the Whitefish cheerleading squad allowed Vance to join the team at the beginning of this year. She attends every practice and is involved in all of the team’s activities and half-time shows.

“It’s great they allowed her to join the team,” Vance’s mother Bobbi Holland said. “In the past, (people with Down syndrome) were called ‘mongoloids’ and put in institutions. It’s nice to see things have changed.”

Vance, 18, participates in the Special Olympics every year in the slalom ski races.

“She’s very athletic,” head cheerleading coach Ashlie Fleming said. “She’s involved in a lot of activities, so cheerleading was just another thing she was interested in.”

Vance’s mother inquired about the possibility of joining the cheerleading squad, and nobody objected.

“Everybody’s really supportive,” cheerleader Jessie Mazur said. “The crowd loves her. She’s fit right in. You have to trust people because we do routines where girls are flying in the air, and we all have gotten really close.”

Mazur said she’s never heard a negative word about Vance joining the team.

“I don’t recognize any of that,” she said. “Everybody loves her.”

After practice one day, as the other cheerleaders were leaving the gym to go home for the night, they all smiled and waved at Vance as they walked past.

“Yes, they’re my friends,” Vance explained with a grin. “I need to be with my friends.”

Holland said that although many schools across the country are starting to allow special-needs students join cheerleading teams, the Whitefish squad still deserves credit for their character.

“The other girls have been great with her,” she said. “It has come a long ways. People always encourage her and tell her ‘hi.’ It’s good to see.”