Soon after winning the National Cheerleaders Association Small Co-ed Division I title at the Collegiate Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida April 9 and 10, the Cal State Long Beach cheer team forfeited the title. The team's coach, Eric Anderson, was also fired.
"Because we had discovered the Monday after the competition that one of the students who participated in the competition was not an actual student at Cal State Long Beach," said Christina Esparza. "He had graduated the December before the competition."
Esparza is the spokesperson for the Associated Students at Cal State Long Beach. She said the Associated Students funds and oversees the cheer squad.
"The advisor for the cheer team, who also works with the Associated Students, she discovered that the student was not a student and decided to forfeit the title," said Esparza. "We terminated our contract with the coach, he was an independent contractor."
Esparza said that to her knowledge, Anderson knew that the individual on the team was not eligible.
She adds that it's a simple policy at Cal State Long Beach. If you are not a student at the university, you cannot compete on any team.
