History of Cheerleading

“All Star cheerleading is a competition sport that involves boys and girls performing a 2 minute and 30 second routine composed of tumbling, stunting, pyramids, dance, and

Cheerleading started as a male endeavor in 1898, when a University of Minnesota football fan led the crowd in verse in support of their team. It was not until World War II, when men shipped out to war, that women took over. Then cheerleaders came to represent the American ideal of femininity: wholesome apple pie with washboard stomachs, perfect teeth, and flawless complexions. Stereotypes cast them as blond, petite, and impossibly perky. “From its humble beginning cheerleading has blossomed into a competitive athletic activity with a serious image problem” (Forman 52). But today’s post-feminist youth have put a new, diverse face on cheerleading. Cheerleading in America is no longer a matter of waving pom-poms, a cute smile and being overly

Being a cheerleader to me isn’t just about cheering on the football or basketball team. Cheerleading is more than that. Cheerleading is a group of girls who have the passion and the trust with each other to catch them and trust that they will do their part. Cheerleading are being a family and not being able to have your own space. Priorities of cheerleading are; making your toes pointed, having a good attitude, making great facial expressions, and having those little girls that look up to you, have a great role model. These are just some reasons why I love to

Cheerleading is a sport that many people don’t support in a way that they support the popular sports in most schools, like football and basketball. Cheering can open many doors and create an ample amount of job opportunities. By cheering you can also receive full ride athletic scholarships from many schools. A cute skirt and pompoms is not the only thing you have to work for when it comes to cheering. Just as any other sport you have to have a certain grade point average to try out for your cheerleading team and also you are held accountable for maintaining your grade point average with also being held accountable for remembering cheers, games day dates and events that you will have to attend with your team. Cheer teaches you many things other than being able to tumble and shout! As a cheerleader, you learn to encourage anyone that needs that boost of encouragement, we learn how to work together with other people. Your cheer team members will become your family!

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

Cheerleading is simply entertainment for viewers and is a social club for its participants. “Sports Beat - The Sport of Cheerleading: It’s a lot More than Just Pompoms and Smiles,” points out that a main benefit of cheerleading is the ability to “easily transition into the entertainment industry” (Hatton C-04). This statement supports our belief that cheerleading should not be considered a sport. Cheer-leading, the leading of cheers at sporting events is not a sport. Entertainment, versus athleticism, is more of what cheerleading is. Team supporters are present at games/events to raise school spirit and encourage cheering. Cheerleading generally requires a competition to be in progress, so the cheerleading itself can occur. This is not an activity which can take place alone.

Sideline Cheer began around the same time American Football began. The “founder” of Sideline Cheerleading was Johnny Campbell who picked up

The summer Olympic sports have varied from year to year, yet continue to be variations of the same sports that have appealed to older generations without any consideration for that of the younger generation. Now, the International Olympic Committee is looking for sports to add, so that a wider audience is catered to during the Olympic season. One of these sports is competitive cheerleading. Competitive cheerleading is considered an athletic competition where girls and boys perform routines in order to receive a score from the judges. Competitive Cheerleading should be added to the Olympics because it not only fits within a working definition of what a sport

“Modern cheerleading has evolved into a sport that is more akin to mixed martial arts, where legs and arms are constantly flailing and at any moment a participant is risking a violent shot to the head” (Cheerleading- the Forgotten Sport).

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.

The first intercollegiate American Football game was played between Princeton university and Rutgers University in 1869, and cheerleading began in the 1880s with Princeton's all-male pep club. In 1923, women were allowed to become cheerleaders at the University of Minnesota, and during the 1920s, cheerleaders added acrobatics to the cheers (Being a Cheerleader). The first Cheerleading National Championship was held in 1982, hosted by the Universal Cheerleaders Association, and since then there have been many cheerleading competitions and events worldwide (History of Cheerleading). Cheerleading takes physical strength, coordination, and teamwork, and in 2009, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that it is legally classified as a contact sport (ESPN). Yet, despite these things, many people do not consider it to be a sport. They give many reasons it is not a sport, but despite these claims, cheerleading takes a lot of hard work, and should be considered a sport.

The Time magazine is a credible source for this article that aims right at people who are outside of the cheerleading community. This article is all about the athleticism in the sport and the technique of cheerleading. The article gives a lot of statistics about the growth of injuries in cheerleading. One of the famous cheerleading teams was mentioned in this article and they were the World Cup Shooting Stars, which is an organization in New Jersey. The article talks about high school cheerleading today and how many colleges accept cheer as a sport and how you can get a scholarship. In the article the author talks about hoe schools canceled their

Many have seen her. Many know her. But who is the American cheerleader? Is she a blond haired, blue eyed sex symbol? Is she a drug-addicted girl with no brains and even fewer moral values? Maybe she is just your average, pretty, girl-next-door with a loud voice and lots of spirit. What is clearly true is that cheerleading and cheerleaders have evolved greatly over a century-long history. What started as one bold college student has turned into an activity with over 3 million participants (Brady 1); one that is backed by a $150 million industry (Williams 2). Modern cheerleading has come a long way from its historic roots, but large differences still exist between the iconic cheerleader, the stereotypical cheerleader, and the truth.

Teamwork is an integral part of cheerleading. Cheerleading is a team sport therefore; it requires people to work together as one cohesive group. This is something people learn quickly in

When most people hear the word cheerleading or cheerleaders they automatically think of preppy, pretty, snotty girls cheering for their boyfriends on the football team. That is only in the movies and not what cheerleading is all about. Cheerleading was invented by Johnny Campbell in 1898 at the University of Minnesota. during a football Johnny Campbell and a few other students started roaring and cheering to energize the and the football team, from there cheerleading has grown a lot, now almost every school nationwide has a cheer team; there are even gyms just for competitive cheerleading. Because cheerleading has come a long way from 1898, All-star/competitive cheerleading should be