Cheerleading team caught on camera forcing screaming girl to do the splits
Ally Wakefield and seven others are filmed crying and begging for the coach to stop pushing their legs into the painful position
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Your support makes all the difference.Footage has emerged of a teenage girl being forced into painful splits by her coach and teammates while she begs them to stop.
Ally Wakefield from Denver in Colorado was one of eight cheerleaders attending a "cheer camp" for East High School in June who were filmed having their arms held up by felllow teammates while her coach, Ozell Williams, pushed on her shoulders to force her legs into a split.
In the video the 13-year-old, who is due to start at East High in September, is heard screaming "no I can't" and "please stop" repeatedly.
Speaking to local news channel KUSA, she said: "It was tearing my ligament and my muscle at the same time.
"He was pushing down on the back of my right leg. He was pushing like with his other knee on my back to try to keep my posture straight."
Her mother, Kirsten Wakefield, then sent an email to the assistant principal of the school with the video, writing that her daughter had injured her leg as a result of the incident.
“I have attached a video of the forced splits she and her other team members were forced to do at cheerleading camp and practises; unless they had a doctor's note. This is how Ally injured her leg,” she wrote in the 15 June email.
"My husband and I would like to know what the administration is going to do about my daughter's injury and how it happened," she wrote.
She later told KUSA: "This is a grown man pushing my 13-year-old girl so hard against her will while she's crying and screaming for him to stop that he's ripping tissues in her body."
It is unclear what action the school took at the time but copies of the video showing other girls being forced into the same position, believed to have been recorded by other teammates, were sent anonymously to the news channel in August.
The broadcaster subsequently found eight girls who said they had been forced to do the splits against their will.
Cheri Nickolay, whose daughter Anna was forced to do the splits but was not filmed, said it "made [her] sick to my stomach. I don’t know how you could justify that".
Since the footage came to light, Mr Williams, the assistant coach, the principal, the assistant principal and the Denver Public Schools deputy general counsel have been placed on administrative leave.
Denver Police have since launched an investigation into the incident.
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg released a statement in which he said: "Earlier today, I became aware of an exercise used at cheer practices this summer at East High School.
"We immediately began taking steps to investigate this issue, and our Department of Safety is supporting Denver Police in this effort.
"I want to reiterate in no uncertain terms our commitment to the safety of our students. We absolutely prohibit any practices that place our students’ physical and mental health in jeopardy.
"We do not and will not allow any situation in which a student is forced to perform an activity or exercise beyond the point at which they express their desire to stop."