Official Boos Norwood Cheers-September 20, 1980

School Committee Member Criticizes Cheerleading Routines as Risque, Prompting Defense from Former Coach

High school cheerleading has unexpectedly landed at the center of a local controversy after School Committee member Joan H. Cuff publicly criticized the squad’s routines, claiming some cheers contain double meanings and are in bad taste.

Joan H. Cuff Sparks Debate Over Modern Cheer Styles

During a school committee meeting this week, Cuff raised concerns about the evolving nature of high school cheerleading, arguing that modern routines feature suggestive undertones. “It’s no longer ‘Rah, rah, rah / Three cheers for Norwood High.’ There is a general change in cheerleading. The double entendre is being used,” Cuff said in an interview, noting that risqué collegiate cheers have increasingly filtered down to high schools.

Cuff’s remarks drew a swift and fiery rebuttal from Gail Callahan, the squad’s former coach and current coordinator for the New England Patriots’ cheerleaders. Calling Cuff’s remarks “top the list of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard,” Callahan defended the girls passionately. “Are there that many dirty minded people that they could find something deviant about an innocent cheer? That has to be the most ridiculous thing to come out of Norwood this year,” Callahan said.

Defenders Point to Innocent Rhythms and Traditional Roots

Callahan highlighted several standard squad chants, such as:

• “Well hey, hey / Without a doubt / The mighty mustangs / Are gonna knock you out.”
• “Shout it out / What the mustangs are all about / We’ve got what it takes / To make it great / So shout, shout, shout / It out!”

“They’re really great kids—every one of them. They work hard and they practice hard,” Callahan added, noting that the cheers—many taught at camps run by the International Cheerleading Foundation—have been used for years, with some “older than the girls.” She also dismissed claims that the squad’s new uniforms are provocative, pointing out that members wear long-sleeved turtlenecks, pleated skirts, bobby socks, and oxford shoes.

Newly appointed coach Donna Glaser, a 22-year-old former Norwood High cheerleader, acknowledged that contemporary cheering styles are more creative and peppy compared to the “military” routines of the past, but insisted they are neither suggestive nor improper. Glaser explained that today’s routines incorporate jazz dance movements choreographed to words.

Administrators to Review Routines

Principal John Piccirilli and Athletic Director Arthur Gulla will review the cheers following the public discussion. Piccirilli noted that Cuff’s statements marked the first formal complaints he had received regarding the squad.

Parents and cheerleaders also voiced bewilderment at the controversy. Senior cheerleader Amy McGrath remarked, “I have a really strict father. If he doesn’t mind, I don’t see why anyone else should.” Mary Herlihy, mother of co-captain Donna Herlihy, added that she found nothing objectionable in the routines: “Gosh, I thought they were just regular cheers.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger