She Came To Cheer... So Why Won't They Let Her?

Forget the fact that Jamie Burns was recruited to come to Dallas' SMU (Southern Methodist University) to cheer from the field, but has now been told that she can only cheer from the sideline. Her doctors have cleared her medically, and her mom has said to let her daughter do what she was recruited for.

Her coach informed her on Friday that she can do nothing more than clap on the sidelines because she wears a pacemaker for an irregular heartbeat, and her condition is not covered by SMU’s insurance.

"Cheerleading has always been my life," Burns said. "I've always pushed myself to get better at tumbling, jumps, everything."

Burns' cardiologist sent releases stating that she’s good to go, and she even signed a waiver of liability, promising not to sue the Dallas-based university if she were to fall sick or get injured. But Lori White, the vice president of student affairs, said that isn’t enough.

"It's not only the liability for this individual student," said White. "For example, if she's at the base of a pyramid and something were to happen to her and she collapses, then she may also injure other students," she said.

Burns can keep her cheerleading scholarship, SMU says, but she’ll have to give up her acrobatic moves.

"It's not right," Burns said. "If they didn't want me to cheer to begin with, then they should have probably said that at the beginning and not gotten my hopes up as far as they have now. I feel like I'm being cheated for no reason. There's nothing wrong with me."

Although I understand where the school is going with this from a safety and liability stand point, but if she and her family fully understand the ramifications of what could happen if she get's out there and things go wrong, then so be it. I know it sounds cruel but it's the truth. If she was given a scholorship to cheer, let her do what she loves!