Wheelchair no hindrance for Sergeant Bluff cheerleader
School spirit makes wheeled debut in Sergeant Bluff
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, November 14, 2007
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa -- Abby Menefee took her orange and black pleated skirt and placed it neatly on the desk in her bedroom two weeks ago. Atop it went the black shirt, the one with "Warriors" embroidered across the front.
Abby kept it there until she dressed Monday morning.
"She was that excited about today," her father, Chad, says as Abby, a Sergeant Bluff-Luton Middle School basketball cheerleader takes the floor Monday afternoon. "You can't believe how much she's been looking forward to this."
Abby, 13, made some history Monday afternoon, becoming the first SB-L cheerleader with cerebral palsy to take the floor for a middle school game. Let the record show the seventh-grader's first cheer was the "Hello" cheer.
"Hi! Hello! How do you do?" Abby and her cheerleaders shout from midcourt seconds before the action begins. The cheer ends with each cheerleader saying her name and wishing the opponent -- yes, the opponent -- good luck.
"It's a sportsmanship cheer," says cheerleader Shandy Porter, an eighth-grader at SB-L.
Abby shrieks in delight as she wheels past the players after the cheer ends. She high-fives her teammates at the end of the court.
"That's my favorite cheer," she says with a smile that runs from baseline to baseline.
She then looks to her pals and gets down to business as the MOC-Floyd Valley team takes the early lead on her Warriors.
"Hey! Hey! Get out of the way! Because today is the day we will push you away!"
Noticed shortly after birth
Abby, the younger of two girls raised by Chad and Lori Menefee of Sergeant Bluff, didn't crawl much as a toddler. She never walked. She was diagnosed within the first two years as having cerebral palsy.
"She walks a little bit in a reverse-K walker," Chad said. "She braces herself with her forearms."
Those forearms are a blur Monday as she handles complex movements for the "Truckin'" cheer and the school fight song. A charm bracelet moves and jingles as Abby makes a fist and shouts, "Warrior Power!"
"I wore that bracelet when I cheered for East High (Sioux City) basketball in 1966," said Julie Burow, her grandmother. "Abby has always had it in the back of her mind that she could do this."
Not only did she follow Grandma's footsteps, she also followed her mother, who cheered for East in 1990. Older sister Kendra, a freshman at Sergeant Bluff-Luton, cheered for the varsity football team this fall. Both earned spots on their cheer squads after tryouts were held last March.
"I'll never forget that Friday in March," Lori said. "I got a call on my cell phone at 4 o'clock when the rosters were put on the front door at the school. Kendra called me to tell me she made it for football."
Mom congratulated Kendra, then hung up. She waited. And waited.
"I hoped Abby would call with good news," she said.
She did. Five minutes later. Abby cried as she told her mother she'd earned a spot on the middle school basketball cheerleading squad.
"It was happy tears for sure," her mother says from the bleachers as Abby cheers below. "I think in the back of her mind she thought it might be tough for her to make it. But she gave everything she had."
Not everyone made it. Abby, according to her coach, showed all the right moves.
"I don't care if you walk, sprint or roll out onto that field or floor, just as long as you represent your school with pride," said Tammy Camerer, the cheerleading sponsor. "School spirit comes in all shapes and sizes."
School spirit this Monday wheels out before the crowd. It sports an orange SB-L hair ribbon, bright white shoes and socks and the "Warriors" uniform that waited two lonnnng weeks for this moment.
"Hi! Hello! And how do you do?" the cheerleaders shout.
After it's over, Abby smiles and says, "I'm doing great!"
Video
Watch Abby Menefee and her Sergeant Bluff-Luton Middle School cheerleaders in action as the seventh-grade basketball team faced MOC-Floyd Valley on Monday at Sergeant Bluff.
Abby kept it there until she dressed Monday morning.
"She was that excited about today," her father, Chad, says as Abby, a Sergeant Bluff-Luton Middle School basketball cheerleader takes the floor Monday afternoon. "You can't believe how much she's been looking forward to this."
Abby, 13, made some history Monday afternoon, becoming the first SB-L cheerleader with cerebral palsy to take the floor for a middle school game. Let the record show the seventh-grader's first cheer was the "Hello" cheer.
"Hi! Hello! How do you do?" Abby and her cheerleaders shout from midcourt seconds before the action begins. The cheer ends with each cheerleader saying her name and wishing the opponent -- yes, the opponent -- good luck.
"It's a sportsmanship cheer," says cheerleader Shandy Porter, an eighth-grader at SB-L.
Abby shrieks in delight as she wheels past the players after the cheer ends. She high-fives her teammates at the end of the court.
"That's my favorite cheer," she says with a smile that runs from baseline to baseline.
She then looks to her pals and gets down to business as the MOC-Floyd Valley team takes the early lead on her Warriors.
"Hey! Hey! Get out of the way! Because today is the day we will push you away!"
Noticed shortly after birth
Abby, the younger of two girls raised by Chad and Lori Menefee of Sergeant Bluff, didn't crawl much as a toddler. She never walked. She was diagnosed within the first two years as having cerebral palsy.
"She walks a little bit in a reverse-K walker," Chad said. "She braces herself with her forearms."
Those forearms are a blur Monday as she handles complex movements for the "Truckin'" cheer and the school fight song. A charm bracelet moves and jingles as Abby makes a fist and shouts, "Warrior Power!"
"I wore that bracelet when I cheered for East High (Sioux City) basketball in 1966," said Julie Burow, her grandmother. "Abby has always had it in the back of her mind that she could do this."
Not only did she follow Grandma's footsteps, she also followed her mother, who cheered for East in 1990. Older sister Kendra, a freshman at Sergeant Bluff-Luton, cheered for the varsity football team this fall. Both earned spots on their cheer squads after tryouts were held last March.
"I'll never forget that Friday in March," Lori said. "I got a call on my cell phone at 4 o'clock when the rosters were put on the front door at the school. Kendra called me to tell me she made it for football."
Mom congratulated Kendra, then hung up. She waited. And waited.
"I hoped Abby would call with good news," she said.
She did. Five minutes later. Abby cried as she told her mother she'd earned a spot on the middle school basketball cheerleading squad.
"It was happy tears for sure," her mother says from the bleachers as Abby cheers below. "I think in the back of her mind she thought it might be tough for her to make it. But she gave everything she had."
Not everyone made it. Abby, according to her coach, showed all the right moves.
"I don't care if you walk, sprint or roll out onto that field or floor, just as long as you represent your school with pride," said Tammy Camerer, the cheerleading sponsor. "School spirit comes in all shapes and sizes."
School spirit this Monday wheels out before the crowd. It sports an orange SB-L hair ribbon, bright white shoes and socks and the "Warriors" uniform that waited two lonnnng weeks for this moment.
"Hi! Hello! And how do you do?" the cheerleaders shout.
After it's over, Abby smiles and says, "I'm doing great!"
Video
Watch Abby Menefee and her Sergeant Bluff-Luton Middle School cheerleaders in action as the seventh-grade basketball team faced MOC-Floyd Valley on Monday at Sergeant Bluff.
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Okoboji wrote on Nov 14, 2007 6:12 PM:
Jacob wrote on Nov 14, 2007 12:13 PM:
Braeden's Mom wrote on Nov 14, 2007 11:02 AM:
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JJ wrote on Nov 14, 2007 8:47 AM: