Cheri Nickolay, whose daughter, Anna, was on the cheer team said, “That [video] made me sick to my stomach. I don’t know how you could justify that."
A newly released set of videos of high school cheerleader practices at a Colorado high school have revealed a number of disturbing coaching methods.
In a shocking video obtained by KUSA, one can witness a Ally Wakefield an incoming freshman on the cheerleading team at East High School in Denver, Colo. being forced into the splits position by her team members and coach. She is clearly crying out in pain, and asks multiple times for the coach to “please, stop.”
Wakefield received a leg injury from being forced into this dangerous position. Her mother sent the first video to administrators at the school in June in an email saying, “My husband and I would like to know what the administration is going to do about my daughter’s injury and how it happened.”
This is one of multiple videos of girls being forced into these painful and physically dangerous positions. They were all shot on cell phones by two members of the cheer team who sent the videos anonymously to KUSA. The other videos have been withheld by the network, for now, due to privacy concerns.
The coach of the cheer team, Ozell Williams, was recently hired and is an ex-University of Colorado Boulder varsity cheerleader. He was known for doing backflips down the field at Colorado University and Denver Broncos football games. Williams can be seen in the video forcing down Wakefield’s shoulders.
Cheri Nickolay, whose daughter, Anna, was on the cheer team said, “That made me sick to my stomach. I don’t know how you could justify that.”
The cheer coach, assistant cheer coach, principal, and assistant principal of the school, as well as the Denver Public Schools deputy general counsel, have all been placed on leave following the release of this video.
The school district, and the local police, are now investigating this incident.
Next, learn about the high school teacher that told his class “To be white is to be racist, period.” Then, read about the student who sued his school for the “humiliating” experience of having to share a bathroom with a trans person.
