Mother charged in cheerleading ruckus

It started as a dispute involving youth cheerleaders. The mother of a 9-year-old Forsyth County girl was displeased about the squad her daughter was placed on.

So, she went to complain.

Now Michelle Rains, 39, is facing charges for allegedly punching, then taunting, the president of a youth association. Rains was arrested on a simple battery charge Aug. 15 for allegedly hitting Nancy Cunningham, president of the Sharon Springs Cheerleading Association, on Aug. 1.

Rains’ attorney, John Valente of Alpharetta, said his client was upset that her daughter had been placed on a squad with girls she didn’t know, who were both “younger and less experienced.”

Rains had asked to have her daughter transferred to another squad, but went on vacation and missed an e-mail from the clinic organizers agreeing to the move, Valente said.

On Aug. 1, Rains was told it was too late to make a change in squad assignment, he said. The conversation went from “nice to not very nice very quickly,” Valente said.

He said Rains denies punching Cunningham but acknowledges that she hit her on the chin with two to three fingers.

Rains says Cunningham grabbed her first, Valente said. He said Rains will be in Forsyth County magistrate court next week, seeking a simple battery warrant against Cunningham.

Cunningham declined to comment Wednesday.

A sheriff’s deputy was called to the cheerleading clinic at West Forsyth High School. In an incident report, the deputy said Cunningham told him Rains punched her in the chin and began taunting her, saying, “Oh, does it hurt?”

The deputy said he did not see a red mark on Cunningham’s chin, but he talked to two witnesses who supported her account of what happened, according to the report.

Valente said he believes both women acted inappropriately, but neither are criminals.

“I’m hopeful both parties will get a finger wagged at them by a judge,” the attorney said. As for his client, Valente said, she’s “very embarrassed.”