A Colorado mother says her 11-year-old daughter was kicked off of her cheerleading team because the coach refused to allow her to compete with her natural hair. The coach contends the girl was dismissed because her mother threatened the team's staff.
Tiyana Young, who is black, brought attention to her daughter's dismissal in a Dec. 14 Facebook post.
Young told NBC News her daughter, Niemah, would wear her hair naturally — either in ponytails or crochet braids — during practices, but was required by her coach, Stephanie Trujillo, to wear a $20 ponytail hairpiece during competitions to match her teammates.
Young said she and Trujillo, coach and owner of Diamond Elite Cheerleading in Denver, came to this agreement last season.
"My daughter being able to wear her natural hair was never an issue," she said. "This coach told Niemah and I almost the whole season she can wear her natural hair because my daughter would complain about how tight her hair was and the bobby pins were digging into her head."
But Young said Niemah was singled out at a Nov. 2 practice by Trujillo for wearing her hair in crochet braids.
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"While my daughter was at practice, coach Steph singled her out asking the team how they felt about her hair being different," Young said.
Young believes her daughter was targeted because the other athletes and parents were questioning why Niemah got to wear her hair differently. Two days after the practice, Young said she received an email informing her that her daughter had been dismissed from the team.
"This coach and I never even had a conversation around the conversation she had with the girls at practice on Saturday nor why we were being dismissed," Young said.
Trujillo told NBC News the decision to dismiss Niemah "was never based on the athlete or her ethnic background," but on the alleged behavior of the mother.
"The decision was based on threats received that were directed at the staff which brought forth major safety concerns for the program and its affiliates," Trujillo said, adding that this was explained in the dismissal letter.
She also said that the team discussed the hair policy at the Nov. 2 meeting in order to put it to a vote.
"I apologized to the entire team for not giving the other athletes the same opportunity to choose their hair style," Trujillo said. "The team voted and decided they would all wear the team pony."
Trujillo said after the vote, the team gathered around Niemah, hugged her and assured her that they would support her choice to wear braids.
"Niemah's teammates assured her that regardless of her choices they didn’t want her to feel bad," Trujillo said. "Young’s statement is so far from the truth."
Young, who denies threatening anyone, said she received a cease and desist letter from Trujillo on Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to NBC News.
The letter, says Young, is "notified to cease and desist any and all further unlawful defamation, slander and/or libel," coincided with an interview she appeared in that aired on "CBS This Morning."
Young said she will not be silenced and is hopeful Trujillo will apologize.
"An apology is the least they can do and apologize for the negative accusation of me making threats to the gym," Young said.
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December 19, 2019 at 05:42AM
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Black cheerleader kicked off team over her natural hair, mom says - NBCNews.com
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