2-8-1
The officials shall:
Penalize unsporting conduct by any player, coach, substitute, team attendant or follower.
NOTE: The home management or game committee is responsible for spectator behavior, insofar as it can reasonably be expected to control the spectators. The officials may call fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game. Discretion must be used in calling such fouls, however, lest a team be unjustly penalized.

Simply have the person moved.

The rule regarding cheerleaders is found in the NFHS COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE FOR SPIRIT COACHES. Our state association also publishes it in their handbook.

Cheerleaders must remain seated during all live balls, which includes after the free throw shooter is handed the ball. Cheerleaders may not come onto the floor during 30-second timeouts.

I will give you that had I called disconcertion last night I would have over stepped my authority. Stopping the cheerleaders in my opinion was stopping an unsporting act from happening. Of which I could quote the above rule in support of my actions. Read my original post I did not call disconcertion. I stopped what I felt was an unsportsmanlike act. Guess it depends on what you call sportsmanslike.

Steve, I might just do the same at a 5/6 grade game as well. It's really a different ball game, with different expectations, at that level. You asked, however, what we'd do in a jv level or above. Telling the cheer leaders to stop cheering during a free throw is inviting trouble, IMO, short of a directive from your assignor or state association.
Short of personally insulting cheers, I'm having a hard time coming up with a situation where I'm going to address the cheerleaders during a game. Okay, if they're in my way, that's another story.

Adam

You can't stop cheerleaders from cheering anymore than you can stop fans from cheering. If you choose to do so, then you do what less than 1% of officials would do. You're also going to get yourself in trobule eventually. So, you can be defensive about what you did or you can learn from the mistake, and move on. But either way, you have no standing to stop cheerleaders or fans from cheering, as long as they remain off the floor.

BBR what state are you from. Wish our cheerleaders had to sit during live balls. In my part of Illinois the cheerleaders are usually on the end line but not in the area from the lane lines extended. They are there all the time. Makes lead position fun at times.

Exactly on what planet is THIS rule followed? ;)

I agree. I do JV and Varsity contest more than elementary and would never stop the cheerleaders there from cheering. However it seems getting called out by BBR and then to me what seems like contradicting interpetations of what fans you can and can not tell to stop.

Well, it's followed here. We do not allow them to stand on the floor during FTs, or during normal play when the clock is running.

Not sure how I called you out. But if you feel challeneged by what I wrote, then that's a good thing. ;)

But I am curious what you feel are "contradicting interpetations."

As for our cheerleaders, they sit in the bleachers.

My question here is what are we calling the floor? Just inside the boundry lines? Given your post up above I believe our cheerleaders are what you would consider on the floor but want to confirm that before jumping to conclusions.

I suppose you have a situation where the cheerleaders are beyond the endline, as they are in college games. Is that were they stand? And if so, what's to prevent them from kneeling, instead of standing during live balls?

About not stopping a fan "on the floor" but allowing the cheerleaders to in a way disconcert. By the way our cheerleaders are on the floor and not in the bleachers. I agree that at a higher level I would have never made this call but do not feel I was out of my authority to do so if I deemed necessary even at a higher lever. Again it comes down to interpetation of unsporting behavior. Same reason you would ask the fan to move.

Well they are usually cheering during live balls. Part of the problem last night was a small gym and not alot of room beyond the endline so to kneel they would probably have to have some part on the inbounds part of the floor.

Is the fan supposed to be there? Would a fan normally be in this position if the clock was running? Is he in the bleachers behind the goal? If not, and he simply moves to this position to distract the shooter, then we have a fan that is interferring with the proper administration of the game. He's in a position where he has no business and where fans are not normally allowed. Now, if he's in the bleachers behind the goal and he's allowed to be there, then fine.

As for your cheerleaders, if on the baseline is where they normally are, then there's nothing wrong with them cheering during a FT. However, if they are standing, then you can certainly make them sit, as the rules allow for this. But the rules do not allow you to tell them to stop cheering.

Then quite honestly, if there's no more room than that, I would probably move them before the game even started. There's too much chance of injury to the players, the cheerleaders, and the officials.