“Success has been, and continues to be defined as getting up one more time than you've been knocked down,” (Unknown). This quote never really meant anything to me until the day I discovered a sport that I came to love. Sometimes things come into your life that completely alter you as a person, whether they mean anything to others or not. Cheerleading is a life changing sport that teaches you a variety of skills, including hard work and determination.
When you first join cheer, it can be an extremely intimidating experience. No one could ever really explain to you what to expect when you walk into an all-star gym. My first day of practice with my very first team, Thunder from Mystic Allstars, we were automatically thrown into intense
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Learning to do a back handspring was not what scared me. I felt comfortable throwing the skill when my coach was there to ensure I would be safe. The fear came when I was told to do it on my own. I had the skill perfected with a spot, but when my coach moved away I would freak out. I did not trust myself.
I had been injured many times throughout the years I was in cheer, whether it be bruises, sprains, broken bones, or torn ligaments. During my season with Thunder, I had broken my thumb and competed with a cast on. By doing this, I proved to myself that I was strong enough to move on, even when it felt impossible. Each injury set me back slightly, but I was able to work through them and get myself back on track. Coaches would never easy on you, their words to each of the athletes would be “suck it up.” So no matter how afraid I was or how many times my body had been hurt, I always got up and tried again. There was never a moment where giving up would be considered okay. In fact, if you did give up you would just have it ten times harder later on. Through the fear of tumbling and the difficulty of dealing with an injury, I learned two very important qualities; courage and determination. The determination to better myself as an athlete helped me to overcome various obstacles. Without the courage I developed, I may have never been able to do that.
My favorite part of cheerleading has always been, and will always be, the stunting. In stunting, there is always a flyer and
You have been training all summer. You have been in the weight room almost every day and wake up so sore you can barely walk. You give encouraging words to your teammates and pump them up right before a game. You are tough and fearless when you take the field. You strive to do your best and want to win. How would you feel if every time you took that field your peers didn’t believe in you and did not respect your sport? Cheerleaders go to the gym and work just as hard as other athletes do, and are not receiving any credit. This makes us frustrated and let down. There are many aspects of cheer that people are unaware of. Being a cheerleader, you have to be able to tumble, stunt, be competitive, have teamwork, and most of all dedication. Cheerleading is a sport because it is physically demanding, requires teamwork, and is very competitive.
Cheerleading has also taught me never to give up. When I first joined rocket cheer in we were placing 10th at competitions. 10 years later down the road of hard work and determination we are placing top 3 every competition. So many people have wanted to give up but I've learned if you just give up on a goal or a dream then it will never be reached. So what if you have to work a little bit harder? The outcome is only better. I was proud to be a part of Rocket cheer when we were getting the tenth place and I'm proud to be a part of it when we get first. The journey only made me
The competitive sport of cheerleading is not all about jumping up and down and yelling “Go team, go!”. It’s about using your strength to perform a variety of skills that form together to make a routine. These routines are performed by many teams to be judged during competitions. Practice is required to do well at competitions. In order to become a cheerleader, you need to have tumbling skills, endurance, and flexibility.
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.
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
Cheer isn’t just a sport it’s like a second family. You learn many hardworking and problem-solving skills. You also learn how to fail and get back up from it. It’s not just mentally, it’s physically you condition and become stronger.
I bet many of you thought cheerleading was just about looking pretty and standing on the sidelines while yelling chants and performing stunts, but there is actually many different types of cheerleading.
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
Whether cheerleading is considered a sport has become a very controversial topic over the past few years. Due to lack of education of the sport, it is very frowned upon by other athletes. Other athletes seem to feel that cheerleading isn't difficult and requires minimum to no effort. These accusations can be very hurtful when coming from a cheerleader’s perspective. Based on their strength and skill, the amount of practicing and maintaining health, the number of injuries, and its competitive aspect, cheerleading should be considered a sport. The talent that these young men and women have is phenomenal. The performance of their skills looks extremely flawless but no one truly knows what goes on behind the pretty stunts and synchronized
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.
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!
We’ve all been told as children that it is ok for everyone to have their own point of view. However, this begs the question: are there such things as verifiable facts, or is everything open to interpretation? While I would like to believe that most people agree on a reality-based world, recent emergence of “fake news” and “alternative facts” has shaken this belief.
In competitive cheerleading stunting is one of the most important things in a cheer routine. Stunting is something every team wants to be the best at, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be the best. Throughout a majority of my cheerleading career I was a base. A base is the girl at the bottom of the partner stunt/pyramid who lifts up the flyer. I loved to base. I had lots of experience as a base and it became very easy to me. Coming on to the high school competition cheer team as a freshman, I knew there was a lot of new things I would have to learn as a base. I was very motivated and dedicated to be the best base I could be and that took lots of practice. The next year, coming onto the team as a sophomore my coaches had the idea for me to become a flyer. Flying is something I have never done. I was very nervous at first but I was
''Go, Fight, Win'' you might here that during cheerleading. Do you think cheerleading is a sport? Cheerleaders are actually very important and we do a lot more then you think. I am a cheerleader and I do believe it is a sport. When we are just standing on the sidelines and yelling you might not consider that a sport, but when we are tumbling or stunting it definitly is. Cheerleaders put a lot of hardwork and dedicaton into it. I think if all the boys quit football to cheer they would call it a sport then. I do think that it's true because they are always praising over boys. We do alot of tumbling as you know, the oympics decarled it a sport, it shows life values, and it might possibly be in the games in a few years.
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.