Have we talked about the girls being forced into splits?

That's horrible and as a parent I would be pissed and looking for appropriate action to be taken against the coach and his assistants.

When I started in cheer in 3rd grade (Pop Warner) they told everyone that if they ever wanted to be Captain of their squad, they had to show leadership qualities, know the cheers and the dances exactly right and they had to be able to do the splits and a back flip. I didn't even know what being captain of the squad meant, but I knew it must be important. I went home and told my Mom (who had never done dance, cheer, or gymnastics in her life) that I needed to be able to do these things so I could be captain! She knew I could do a back bend and a cartwheel, so she helped me learn to do a back walkover first and then we turned that into a back flip. She asked me to show her how far I could split, so I showed her. I had about a foot to go, so every night while I was watching an 8:00 pm show she would have me stick pillows under myself to hold me up and until I got more comfortable and was able to stretch an extra bit. Every night the stack of pillows would lessen until I was on the floor. It took about 3 weeks and I could do left, right and middle splits. Teaching those muscles to give just a little more each day is the only way you are going to be able to get there without hurting yourself unless you just happen to be a super flexible person to begin with.

Uh. It's probably because women's bodies are genetically predisposed to be more flexible... you know, childbirth and everything.

I feel sick just reading the first few posts on this thread, so there's no way I am clicking on the link. I think therefore it's easy to guess that my opinion on this ("this" being what the first few posters are talking about) being done to anyone is very negative, especially since an adult is having or allowing other kids to this to one another.

Coach shouldn't be fired and charges should be pressed. That was abuse

My body doesnt move like that.  I know because I tried the entire summer between 4th and 5th grade to do the splits and it just would not happen.  Any coach that thinks you can force it is a fucking dumbass.

I read the article but didn't watch the video. I was a gymnast in high school. I'd never done any organized sports prior to that, no dance lessons, nothing. I couldn't do the splits to the floor at first, and it took a LOT of stretching and practicing before I could. Eventually I was able to do it, but to be forced to the floor without doing the gradual stretching over time definitely would have caused an injury. I can't believe any coach would think that was an okay thing to do, and it's seriously messed up. Stuff like gymnastics and cheer are inherently dangerous to begin with so I can't begin to fathom why anyone would take the risk of giving a kid a potentially permanent injury on purpose. Stupid.

And I thought our coach was an ass for telling some of the girls on the team that their butts were made of jello and they needed to diet... 

This story is local to me. A "doctor" with CU tweeted out "iEvery athlete goes through some difficult pain. If you cannot deal with it mommy is always at home". He is apparently an OBGYN. His tweet and account has since been deleted (he tweeted his reply to a popular anchor at the station and the reporter on the story). Can't imagine having him as my OB during childbirth. Ass

The one girl holding her back leg is laughing!

I work for this school district, and while my kids don't go to this high school, many of my friends' kids do, and this is crazy- they placed a lot of the admin, including the principal, on leave while they sort out who knew what when. This is a very large high school, the whole thing is quite a mess! Video is awful!

I asked my young gymnast who is about to level up in our new gym, and was told that this didn't happen in our previous gym and doesn't happen in our current gym. We aren't Olympic hopefuls or anything, but we do participate in competitive gymnastics and this is not part of our training routine. A LOT of stretching is done in and out of the gym. A little pain is accepted. Screaming pain is past the boundary.

This is sickening.

I heard about it and felt the same way.

The TV is on in background and the news (Chicago station) came on and there it was.  WTF?!

That poor girl.

This article says he was terminated as a cheer consultant because he did the exact same thing to another student. 

www.wfaa.com/news/east-high-coach-let-go-from-previous-job-over-forced-splits/467142182

Some people just have no common sense.

I thought the worst thing about the video was that when they were done torturing the poor girl, they just kind of threw her on the mat instead of bringing her up out of the splits slowly.