After LI Teams Protest, State Cheerleading Final Loses Vax Rule

SACHEM, NY — After high school cheerleaders across New York State, including many from Sachem East and North, protested a vaccine requirement for competitors at the state championships, the rule has been reversed.

According to ABC News, the ruling body, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced that vaccines will not be mandatory but that they will hold the competition without spectators.

Those opposed to the original vaccine rule cited the fact that cheerleading was the only high school sport final that required athletes to show proof of vaccination. The venue, Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, requires proof of vaccination status at events.

NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas told WHEC TV in Rochester that the new decision "was done in the best interest of student-athletes so that cheerleaders will be able to participate regardless of their vaccination status."

The competition is scheduled for March 5.