Cheer Dad Defends Booster Club Independence

We’ve written about how Title IX poses a threat to high school athletic booster clubs. That’s why we were cheered earlier today when we read this account of how the father of two cheerleaders sprung into actionwhen his local school board tried to pass regulations that would have forced the cheer boosters to share the money they raised with other clubs:

Thomas Dougherty, a member of the cheerleading booster club and father of two cheerleaders, said the policy will “handcuff” the clubs that exist to support extracurricular student activities.

“The amount of money the cheerleading booster club generates offsets a lot of the costs not covered by the district. Our fear is that this policy will eliminate some of the fundraising we do,” Dougherty said.

“If the whole idea is to prevent shady things from happening, I’m all for it. But if you handcuff your booster clubs, it’s the students and the athletic programs that will suffer,” he said.

He asked the board to vote down the policy, or at least table action on the proposal until it could be examined by booster club members.

The proposal was tabled. Congratulations, Mr. Dougherty. Here’s hoping other parents have the guts to take on their school board when confronted in a similar manner.

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