Young cheer squad devastated after trophy stripped for scoring error

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A local cheerleading controversy has reignited the debate over the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality.

The Avalon Park peewee cheer team said Pop Warner officials are trying to take away its championship trophy because of a scoring error.

Channel 9's Lori Brown spoke to members of the team on Tuesday. Parents are arguing that if the judges made a mistake, the kids shouldn't be punished.

The girls received the national championship on live television at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World and have spent the week celebrating since.

Their parents said it's far too late to ask the young kids to give up their trophy.

The Avalon Park Wolves took home the trophy, but it doesn't look like officials are backing off stripping the team of it.

"The next day, we got a call saying we need to return our trophy, that it was the right thing to do," said mother Chanin Griffin.

Pop Warner officials said there was a human error and the Wolves actually placed second and the Monroe New Jersey Wolverines placed first.

"At that point, National Pop Warner said we're not going to take this away from the girls. They will be co-champions with the Monroe Wolverines," said Griffin.

Later, however, Pop Warner officials changed their minds about the co-national championship, leaving the kids devastated.

"How can you give something to these girls and then just rip it away from them?" asked father Crist Valentine.

Pop Warner sent Channel 9 a statement saying, "We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused both teams and are evaluating our internal communication process to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future."

WFTV