Cheerleaders: A Short Story

Since the birth of sports people have yelled, screamed, cried, and jumped for jubilance watching their teams rise to victory or fall to loss. In the past, encouragement and praise was left up to sporting spectators and fans, but thanks to one pep-club at Princeton University encouraging their football team the concept of cheerleading was born. (princeton.edu) Cheerleading was once dominated by male yell-leaders on sidelines, but over time transformed into a predominately female sport - and with it, a new culture was birthed. As a sport, cheerleading is young, and is still endeavoring to pave a way and establish credibility. The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of cheerleading into modern day cheer, while highlighting its’ founders.

I used to be a cheerleader. When I think of cheerleading I think of it as leading the students and players to win and try harder. Being a leader means to take responsibilities and lead the crowed in a positive way. When I was a cheerleader it meant so much to me to lead the crowd and other future cheerleaders and kids that look up to all of the current cheerleaders.

When most people think of cheerleading, they think of the spirit squads that attempt to pump up the local crowd at high school basketball and football games. People are not aware of what these athletes are doing when they are not in front of these crowds. Strangers to cheerleaders who do not follow the sport extensively do not know the exact involvement of the athletes in this sport, at all ages. Cheerleading requires athleticism like all other sports as you must be in shape and at a great fitness level to be involved in most circumstances. Cheerleaders have to know what they’re doing at all times; while knowing what everyone else on the team is doing as well, which involves a high level of mental preparation. Cheerleading, high school or

From an outsiders perspective one may see brainless and beautiful robots, which scream and perform neat tricks. This is not the case from the inside; cheerleading is so much more than that. Many people are under the impression that cheerleading is not a sport. I am the voice of reasoning that will let you in, and I will show you that cheerleading, in fact, is a sport. Cheerleading requires much physical demand from the body just as any other sport would. Cheerleading, in general, is a team effort. There are many sides to cheerleading, which make it a versatile sport. When it comes to cheerleading there’s more to it than what meets the eye.

Amidst cheerleaders of all ages cheering and screaming, I heard a meek voice to the right of me, asking is I was a senior. When I told the young girl I was, she awed about wanting to have my leadership skills when she got to be my age. In this moment of chaos at the UCA Cheer Camp, I realized how my leadership skills have grown over the years of being a cheerleader. Every summer, I went to this cheer camp, where cheerleaders are trained to be leaders not just in school spirit, but in our everyday lives. I, too, had the expectation that I was a leader, but never really thought what made me a leader, until the shy cheerleader talked to me. Over my time at the camp, I was learning what qualities make an outstanding leader. I thought that the only

The first good example of the cheerleader trope is Cheryl Blossom from the television show Riverdale, which began airing in 2017. In episode 1 of season 1, titled “The River’s Edge,” Cheryl is the “Queen Bee” of the cheerleading squad. She is seen as snarky, demanding, and deprecating throughout many of the episodes, particularly to Betty Cooper, another character of the popular TV show. It is mentioned in the episode that Cheryl won’t allow Betty to join the cheerleading squad because she is “too fat” when it is clearly seen that Betty is not overweight and Cheryl was just trying to be hurtful or deter her from joining the squad. In the show, Cheryl's “minions,” Ginger Lopez and Tina Patel, are always seen by her side while following her

Cheerleading isn't just a hobby, but a full time career for some, devoting their entire life wanting to make it big and cheer in front of millions. Taking their personal time and devoting it to constant practice, day and night, wanting to be the best. It's sounds like a similar career that many young athletes wish they had. The NFL, NBA, NHL, all big name sport associations where gifted, hard working, talented athletes can show everyone why they were given a chance to be in the big leagues. They work day in and day out, practicing to get better, just like any cheerleader on those teams. The only difference between those sport athletes and the cheerleaders is the wages they are earning. Why should cheerleaders who devoted their life, physically

Cheerleading competitions are hold all over the country. The essentials in order to compete are; uniforms, shoes, socks, hairpieces, makeup, and bow. There are also different competitions between All-Star, college, and sideline cheerleading. Sideline cheerleading is usually hosted at a high school in their gym, and consists of the high school cheerleaders. All-Star competitions are held all of America. Usually competitions are held at the convention center and the competitions are for two days. All-Star Cheerleaders perform on a huge stage with a lot of light shining down on them. College cheerleaders are a mix of both. They perform at high school to recruit and they also attend some All-Star competitions. College teams don’t always recruit,

Tennessee football fans may be interested to learn that a former New Orleans Saints cheerleader is suing the team over gender discrimination. The complaint was filed with the assistance of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The way the cheerleaders act towards each other as sisters. Everyone seems to get along and have good relationships with each other. If anyone needed help with a stunt or a jump, one of the cheerleaders who was advance with the technique would go and help the cheerleader. Even in the basketball game if a cheerleader forgot one of the lyrics to the chant there would be another cheerleader who would help them by giving them the lyrics. Although it seems like they treat each other like sister, they only did that because that is one of the rules of being a part of the cheerleading team. Noticing this at the basketball game there was some girls who would not talk to each other only because the coach was not there. When the coach is not there they

My objective is to get a reasonable explanation on why some people would consider cheerleading to not be a sport. I want to know how Cheerleading began and what the purpose of Cheerleading was when it was created. It is a fact that Cheerleading is evolving as years go by and it is getting a lot tougher. Strength plays a major role in Cheerleading, especially for male cheerleaders. Cheerleading started with cheers and chants in the 1800s but then it started to involve tumbling and acrobatics. "Cheerleading." World of Sports Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 139-141. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

Two, Four, Six, Eight who do we appreciate? I hope you were thinking the same thing I was, Cheerleaders! Cheerleading is a sport because they work out, they have to stay in shape, and they physically have to be strong just like any other normal athlete. Cheerleading takes just as much effort as any other sport, such as wrestling, football and/or basketball.It's not just jumping up and down in the air, doing back flips, and screaming as loud as they can at the top of their lungs. But the truth is, cheerleading is the most demanding sport out there. Hard work is key to any sport, even cheerleading.

It took decades for cheerleading to transform from an all-male “pep” squad into the highly renowned sport that it is today. As mentioned earlier cheerleading didn’t include women or even have organizations to connect squads throughout the country or promote safety until 20 or so years after it was created. As cheerleading branched out from crowd encouragement to performing complex and risky routines a barrier was built between the two.

Since 1898, chants have been heard at football games, and girls jumping and flying through the air have been seen by the speculators in the bleachers. Over the past years, cheerleading has not been defined as a sport, but in all reality, cheerleading is more than a sport.

Members of a squad work together to raise school spirit at meetings. These gatherings usually take place at school before important sporting events. Cheerleaders get the students and athletes excited for the game. Pep rallies are even more fun when squads get teachers and staff school involved. Cheerleading squads raise school spirit in other creative ways. squades often surprise athletes by decorating their lockers before big games. Decorations can include colorful ribbons, wrapping paper, and even candy. Adding banners that display encouraging phrase such as “You can do it” is a nice touch. Squads enjoy getting students involved in raising spirit. Many squads organize contests for the best original school flag. The winning flag is