A seven-year-old Black girl in Maryland was kicked off her cheerleading team following a dispute over her hair, according to her mother.
In a series of social media posts, Saraya Woolridge, the mother of seven-year-old cheerleader Ryan, detailed the incident that led to her daughter’s alleged removal from the Maryland Twisters cheerleading team, per Newsweek.
Woolridge said her daughter was told she needed to change her hairstyle if she wanted to compete.
“Over the weekend, Ryan was discriminated against at her first competition this season. These were the references on the right we were given and Ryan is on the right. We were told Ryan cannot wear her hair like this because it’s thicker and not layered!” the mother wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside photos of her daughter’s hair and reference photos provided by the team.
Woolridge said she was informed by her daughter’s cheer coach on the morning of a competition that her hair needed to be changed.
“I dont [sic] spend all this money to send my child to an organization that allows anyone let alone coaches treat them differently or make them feel inferior to anyone!” the mother wrote in an email to the team.
In another email shared by Woolridge, the president of the Maryland Twisters said Ryan had “beautiful hair” but it was more than what the reference photos show.
“Ryan needs to have her hair in a high pony for the next event,” the email said.
A third email Woolridge posted on Instagram from the team’s president read: “It’s best for both parties that you no longer continue at the Maryland Twisters program.”
A Maryland Twisters spokesperson denied claims that Ryan was kicked off the team over her hair.
“It’s never a good day when a child is impacted by a parent’s actions, and for that we apologize to the athlete. In our 26 years, no athlete has ever been removed for their appearance, however we have made the hard decision to remove families from our program for other reasons, this could include poor parent behavior, violations of our code of conduct, and more,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The conversations that are occurring nationally about diversity and inclusion are incredibly important to us. To support a place and voice for that, we launched a DEI committee to offer independent guidance on how to continue to provide the best experience for our family of athletes while maintaining a positive parent community.”
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