US high school cheerleaders say midriff-baring uniforms too skimpy

NEW YORK - Cheerleaders at a US high school are fighting to get uniforms that are less skimpy as they do not want to bare too much of themselves.

According to the Connecticut Post, members of the cheerleading squad, at Central High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, went before their local Board of Education this week to lobby for less revealing uniforms.

“We ask with the utmost respect you do anything in your power to help us,” the New York Daily News quoted Heidi Medina, a former team captain, as saying to the board.

Medina demonstrated the problem, wearing the uniform’s cropped top and ill-fitting sweatpants, which left her stomach bare.

“I don’t feel comfortable wearing this,” she said.

Nyasia Clemons, a senior on the team, argued the uniforms were not just uncomfortable, they actually violated league rules.

She cited a rule in the National Federation Spirit rules book, the standard guide for high school cheerleading competitions, which states, “When standing at attention, apparel must cover the midriff”.

Ariana Mesaros, a senior on the team, told the school board the midriff-exposing uniform really hurts their self-esteem.

“I am embarrassed to stand up here dressed like this. Is this really how you want Bridgeport to be represented?” she added.

Denise Clemons, the school’s assistant superintendent, defended the uniforms as appropriate, and said they were given to students based on size information the cheerleaders themselves had provided.

Clemons said the school had made some adjustments, returning the skirts that originally came with the uniforms because they were “cheesy” and working to exchange the sweatpants.

Clemons said she didn’t know about the rule barring exposed stomachs, but said the city would solve the problem by buying black body suits the cheerleaders could wear under their uniforms. (ANI)