So maybe I'm totally off the wall here and/or this is a relatively trivial issue, but

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Couldn't they do hair pieces?

The problem with these cheer leading teams/schools seems to be they are trying to push something athletic - that they want to throw some showmanship around.

Any ballet dancer that goes all the way knows that the pretty costume masks the extreme athleticism that goes into the art/showmanship.

I was doing choreography on the side (love ballet and lyrical!) until my early 30's and my mentality? My routine, my costume, my stage make up, my hair. I only liked working with kids about 11/12 and older so their parents already knew what was going to be expected.

Maybe "cheer" schools need to make up their minds - the whole system of competition. Are these athletes or are they performers? To me - athletes need their hair back and it doesn't matter if it is curly or straight. I'm shocked at the gobs of street make up they put on those little girls. I had more than a few parents happy when their kids pulled me for company choreography because they knew their daughters and sons weren't going to be in clown red lipstick and bright blue eyeshadow.