Selective Attention In Competitive Cheerleading

Give me a C-H-E-E-R, “what does that spell?” cheer! High ponytails, loud chants, and miniskirts are what most people envision if they think of a cheerleader. W hen you’re at a high school or even a college football game, the girls on the sideline shaking their pompoms and shouting to the crowd, are one of the key aspects to making the game feel more alive and spirited. Without cheerleaders who else would lead the way of getting the crowd rowdy through chants and hand motions. While most people don’t see cheerleading as an “official sport” others disagree upon hearing the statement. This difference in opinions brings up the question, “are skills needed to be a cheerleading, or can anyone just do it”?

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.

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.

Attention is considered to be a core cognitive process, it refers to how people actively process specific information in the environment. Attention refers to how people select from information and stimuli in the environment, facilitating processing of some of the stimuli and inhibiting processing of others. "Everyone knows what attention is, it is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought...It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state. “This definition of attention was proposed by psychologist William James (1890). This review will focus on literature that gives explanation to selective attention. Selective attention refers to the process where a person is able to select out of many stimuli and focus on the one they want and ignore other stimuli.

The physical activity must have five elements, some include overcoming the resistance of a mass, competition against an opponent, and the rules must define time, space, the purpose of the activity, and the conditions under which a winner is declared. In addition to, acknowledgement that the competition is an evaluation of the skills of the participants and the key purpose of the activity is for competition. Competitive cheerleading fits into all five of these categories through stunts, tumbling, competitions, score sheets, time limits, and mat size. Cheerleading also fits into these categories through the Entertainment and Sports Programming Networks (ESPN) comparing cheerleading routines and a competitive cheerleader’s sole purpose is to compete. Most people in the world do not think cheerleading is a sport for several reasons. Some they think cheerleading does not have a strategy, while others think cheerleaders do not have enough physical ability. However, cheerleading fits into all of the categories of what must take place in order to deem it as a sport (Cheer

Cheerleading is just one of those activities, which cause many controversial upheavals. Whether it is the outfits they are wearing or the moves they are doing, there is always a problem it seems like. I mean just think about how many times you may have seen something you don’t like or agree with cheerleaders doing. Well I guess that’s just the wonderful world of cheerleading. Cheerleading can be a great sport to become involved in, but many things need to be changed, like their skimpy outfits and sexual moves.

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.

A cheerleader is a person who is a member of a group who shout out special songs or chants to encourage sports teams. (“Cheerleading”. World of SportsScience. Ed.K Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol 1. Detroit: Gale,2007.139-141 Gale Virtual Reference Library. 9 Nov. 2016). Cheerleading began in the late 1800s at the University of Princeton, in New Jersey. (“History of Cheerleading.” iSport Online.Cheerleading.iSport 9 Nov. 2016 cheerleading.isport.com/cheerleading-guides/history-of-cheerleading). Cheerleading was in fact created by men at this time. The men who started cheering were called “yell leaders.” Women did not start cheering until 1923, and since then women have dominated cheerleading. Cheerleading started to evolve

Some states have accepted competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, but some cheerleaders still have to fight for recognition as an athlete because their school refuses to recognize cheerleading as a sport. Other athletes that do not participate in competitive cheerleading do not see why it should be considered a sport, because “it is not as demanding as other sports” (Competitive Cheerleading Fights). The definition of an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina” (Omni Cheer Blog). Competitive cheerleaders meet all the requirements to be considered athletes, so why do they have to continue fighting for recognition as athletes?

“I always set my expectations high because it pushes the cheerleaders to reach goals they thought they couldn’t.” Lisa Quaresma, cheer coach.

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

I have been a cheerleader at Topsail High School for the past three years of my high school career. My team trains for our competitions and games for ten months out of the year. It has been time consuming, but very rewarding to be apart of the Topsail Cheerleading Program.

Some states have accepted competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, but cheerleaders still have to fight for recognition as an athlete because their school refuses to recognize cheerleading as a sport. Not to mention other athletes that do not participate in competitive cheerleading do not see why it should be considered a sport, because “it is not as demanding as other sports” (Competitive Cheerleading Fights). The definition of an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina” (Omni Cheer Blog). As a matter of fact competitive cheerleaders meet all the requirements to be considered athletes, so why do they have to continue fighting for recognition as athletes?

I come from a small town in Wisconsin population 556, which means that there never is a big controversy of ideas or beliefs. For some reason though, my senior year of high school was the year that a big controversy happened, over the Clayton Cheerleading Squad. I’m the captain of the Clayton Football Cheerleading Squad, which brings on a lot of responsibility but my last year of cheerleading started out different then normal. This year our football team lost approximately seven players due to a disliked coach. That didn’t affect the cheerleading squad at all; in fact we were having an amazing season. The new girls were catching onto the cheers really quickly and our mounts were going up safely and efficiently. But before we knew it everything

Cheerleading is a fascinating sport that is done all over the world. The sport has many interesting aspects and some cheerleaders have even been put in movies and T.V. shows. Some of the most important parts of cheerleading are:jumps,stunts,tumbling,outfits,and the all star and college divisions.