Kelly tells girls they can't travel

If you didn't see The Hudson Press this week, you missed an interesting story. Apparently, Councilman Dan Kelly, who is also the Recreation Commissioner, has decided that the Harrison Cheerleaders (you know, the ones who won an International Championship this spring!) cannot make any more out of state trips. This means no more national or international competitions for these hard-working young women.

I don't understand where this comes from. The newspaper article quotes Councilman Kelly as saying this is about fiscal responsibility, yet the recreation budget hardly contributes a thing to these trips. The cheerleaders, and their families, do their own fundraising, and pay their own way with a minor contribution from the town. If this was really about saving taxpayer money, I could consider the Councilman's point as valid. Since the tax money involved is so minimal, I fail to see why such a rule is necessary. I also wonder why such a rule exists specifically for the Cheerleading program, and not all of Harrison's Recreation programs. I wonder what Councilman Kelly would do if one of our Little League teams were to qualify for the Little League World Series? If out of state trips are "financially irresponsible" for one segment of the recreation program, then they should be the same for all programs - boys or girls, cheerleaders or baseball or whatever. Yet this rule is specifically for the Cheerleading program - Harrison's only International Champions.

Stay tuned for even more interesting news about the Harrison Recreation programs. I should have something interesting to post here by the end of the week.