Sideline Cheers Vs 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”?

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.

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.

The sport of cheerleading has been around for a long time; since 1884 in fact! In the beginning, cheer was a sport dominated by college men. Since, women have taken over, and in 1967 the first ranked college cheer competition was held. Both school and competitive cheerleading offer many rewarding opportunities. Though they are a part of the same sport, the two types of squads are actually quite diverse. School cheer is undeniably a worthwhile and respectable sport, but competitive teams often provide a more challenging approach, and are more suited to experienced cheerleaders.

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

My other reason is in cheerleading we go to competition and compete with teams.A website that helps me in this situation that had many quotes was off of www.teenink.com/nonfliction/sports/article/15172/cheerleading-isasport. A quote from the web states "competitive cheerleading includes lots of physical activity and movement.This means cheerleaders compete against teams and people like any other sport.Physical

“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).

First of all let’s take a look at cheerleading as a whole and the basics of it. Well to start off there are two types of cheerleaders, competitive and noncompetitive.

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.

Many people are also not aware of the fact that there are two different types of cheerleading. One type is called sideline cheerleading. “According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, a primary purpose of sideline spirit groups (dance, pom, drill or cheer) is to serve as support groups for the interscholastic athletic programs within the school” (National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research). Another form of cheerleading is competitive cheer. This is when a mixture of school and All-Star squads compete against each other with a 2 and a half minute routine. In these routines, the cheerleaders do different tricks and stunting including tumbling, mounting, and tossing others for higher scores. The routines also include dancing and movements that helps the team stand out to a panel of judges that will score the routine. The team in each division that has the highest average score wins the competition. In competitive cheerleading, cheerleaders are not standing on the sideline cheering for others, but they are actually cheering for themselves. These athletic competitions are often viewed on ESPN and FOX sports. This also proves that the standards of cheerleading have changed from long ago.

Throughout America we have many different categories that cheerleading squad’s fall under. From all-girl, co-ed, all-star, to sideline cheer, there are a variety of squads out there. All girl squads consist of only girls. All girl squads incorporate all cheerleading elements such as cheer, dance, jumps, tumbling, and stunting. Typically, these squads perform stunts in groups of three or four cheerleaders. All girl squads are mainly at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels and they become less common at the college level. Co-ed cheerleading squads consist of both male and female cheerleaders. On co-ed squads, there are only a couple of differences in the elements that they perform. Female cheerleaders typically perform all elements of cheerleading such as cheer, dance, jumps, tumbling, and stunting.

Training for cheer is not just a one time or a once a week thing it is a constant practice to maintain those abilities (Selke). Abilities that are needed for cheerleading are stunting, tumbling, and dancing so cheerleaders need to weight lift and work out multiple times a week. They work just as hard as any other athletes. Cheerleaders must be able to work together to create pyramids, basket tosses, and stunts in a routine. All of these require timing, teamwork, balance, strength, and stamina which are all clear athlete standards needed to perform in sports(Selke). Most people do not see inside the practices and competitions they just see the cheerleaders on the sideline at a game who entertain the crowd (Bonesteel). Initially they think that it is not a sport because of how easy that looks. Sideline cheering is

This book explains a lot about cheerleading and where it started and how far it’s gotten. This book will help me talk about the difference between sideline and competitive cheerleading. The book will also help me to talk about how much of a business cheerleading has started for the United States. This book has a lot of great information for me to use to talk about how athletic cheerleading really is. The book goes in detail about male and female participation in cheerleading. This is going to be great for my research because of all the information I am being given.

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.

Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports in the game. Besides throwing people in the air and launching themselves into tumbling passes, cheerleaders take hits like a champ and fall down to jump right back up. Being a cheerleader myself, I attribute this perseverance to one of the many lessons learned from being involved in the sport. Cheerleading is not only a way to better oneself physically but also as a person. Through cheerleading, people learn the importance of teamwork, dedication, and responsibility.