Amanda Claire Curcio

Democrat staff writer

A girl who wasn’t picked to be a Leon High cheerleader threatened legal action against the school district if she wasn’t put on the team.

But the coaches and a few cheerleaders said they would likely quit if the selection process was bypassed — a move Leon County Schools may be considering. A final decision should be made this week.

The results of cheerleading tryouts have been overruled in the past.

Caylen Berry, Leon’s head cheerleading coach, pointed to occurrences at Leon last year and earlier at Montford Middle School, in which certain girls were placed on the team even though they didn't originally make the cut. And years ago, at Lincoln High School, a change in selection criteria had coaches reconsider who made the squad.

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“They should not put an athlete on the team that doesn’t deserve to be on the team,” Berry said. “A decision like this would question my integrity as a professional. It also questions the entire legitimacy of tryouts and cheerleading as a sport.”

Berry has coached for eight years; this will be her second year at Leon. She said she refuses to have “something like this” stain her career.

“This is just a thing the district does and thinks is okay,” Berry added. “I don’t know why the district feels the need to go behind the back of the coaches and the school.”

Chris Petley, a spokesman for the district, did not provide additional details about the decision, but said officials were "made aware of a parent's complaint" and have "forwarded information back to Leon High School." More information will be available this week, Petley said.

Leon has an “open tryout” and cheerleading hopefuls audition before multiple coaches. Leon will be the first-ever local team to compete in the nationals and was the state runner-up last season.

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Berry said the girl threatening to use legal action will be entering the 12th grade and, as a rule, cannot be on junior varsity. She didn’t initially make the varsity team last year, and during the recent tryout, she fell twice during the same tumbling routine and was ranked too low for a place on the squad. Berry also said that she is not the only senior who didn’t make the team.

Contact Amanda Claire Curcio by email at acurcio@tallahassee.com or follow @MandaCurcio on Twitter.