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Cheerleading is an activity that uses organized routines made up of elements from dance, gymnastics, and stunting to cheer on sports teams at games and matches, and/or as a competitive sport. A cheerleading performer is a cheerleader.
History
Cheerleading first started at Princeton University in the 1880s with the crowd chant, "Rah rah rah, tiger tiger tiger, sis sis sis, boom boom boom ahhhhhhh, Princeton Princeton Princeton!" as a way to encourage school spirit at football games. A few years later, Princeton graduate Thomas Peebles introduced the idea of organized crowd chanting to the University of Minnesota in 1884, but it was not until 1898 that University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell stood in front of the crowd, and directed them in a chant, making Campbell the very first cheerleader. Soon after that, the University of Minnesota organized a "yell leader" squad of 4 male students. Although it is estimated that 90% of today's cheerleading participants are female(50% of collegiate level cheerleaders male), cheerleading started out as an all-male activity. Females started to participate in cheerleading in the 1920s, due to limited availability of female collegiate sports. By the 1940s, it was a largely female activity. Cheerleading is most closely associated with American football, and to a lesser degree basketball. Sports such as soccer, ice hockey, and wrestling, baseball rarely have cheerleaders.
In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) as a way to hold cheerleading clinics. The National Cheerleaders Association held its first clinic in 1949 with 52 girls in attendance. The next year, the clinic had grown to 350 cheerleaders. By the 1950s, most American high schools had formed cheerleading squads. By the 1960s, cheerleading had grown to be a staple in American high school and collegiate sports. Organized cheerleading competitions began to crop up with the first ranking of the "Top Ten College Cheerleading Squads" and "Cheerleader All America" awards given out by the International Cheerleading Foundation (now the World Cheerleading Association or WCA) in 1967. In 1978, America was introduced to competitive cheerleading by the first broadcast of Collegiate Cheerleading Championships on CBS. In the 1960s National Football League (NFL) teams began to organize professional cheerleading teams. It was the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who gained the spotlight with their revealing outfits and sophisticated dance moves, which debuted in the 1972-1973 season, but were first seen widely in Super Bowl X (1976). This caused the image of cheerleaders to permanently change, with many other NFL teams emulating them. The 1980s saw the onset of modern cheerleading with more difficult stunts and gymnastics being incorporated into routines. Cheerleading organizations started applying safety guidelines and offering courses on safety training for coaches and sponsors. In 1984, Cheer Ltd. Inc. (sic) established the National Cheer Conference (NCC) for cheer coaches to receive instruction and hands-on course work in cheerleading techniques. AACCA is the nationally recognized safety organization, conducting safety courses since 1987. A more recent organization to conduct safety courses is the NCSSE. The spirit industry leaders were united with the unprecedented 2004 establishment of SITA, the Spirit Industry Trade Association. Founded by leaders of nine major cheerleading companies including American Championships, America's Best, AmeriCheer, Athletic Championships, Atlantic Cheer & Dance, Cheer Ltd. Inc, COA, ECA, and UPA, the industry trade association includes both cheerleading companies, affiliate companies, and safety organizations. Another trade organization, OSIP, the Organization of Spirit Industry Providers, consists of over 33 member organizations including Universal Cheerleaders Association, National Spirit Association, USASF, Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders, Ross Athletic, CheerSPORT, and others. Today, cheerleading has grown to an estimated 4 million participants in the United States alone.
The 2000 major motion picture Bring It On was a movie based on cheerleading.
Safety
The August 2005 death of Ashley Burns, a 14 year old cheerleader, from an injury sustained while practicing a stuntdrew attention to the risks in the development of cheerleading stunts. Although serious injuries are relatively rare in cheerleading (1.95 direct catastrophic injuries per year or 0.6 injuries per 100,000 participants from 1982-2002)"Catastrophic Cheerleading Injuries," The American Journal of Sports Medicine 31:881-888 (2003).* The National Federation of High Schools, Universal Cheerleaders Association, and the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA) joined together to develop and promote the NF Coaches Education Program. On the college level, the NCAA has required all college cheerleading coaches are AACCA safety certified by August 1, 2006.
Motions/jumps
- Common cheerleading motions are high V, low V, half-high and half-low Vs, diagonals, K's, L's, T's, broken T's, touchdowns, low touchdowns, tabletops, daggers, candlesticks, and punches. Hands are either in a tight fist or in blades, all fingers out but together. The motions always need to be sharp and precise so that the cheerleader does not look sloppy.
- Toe Touch In this jump, the legs are straddled and straight, toes pointed, knees up or back, and the arms in a T motion. Despite its name, you do not touch your toes during a toe touch. This is the most common jump.
- Tuck A jump in which the cheerleader uses stomach muscles to pull the legs up with the thighs parallel to the ground, and the knees pointed, together, and facing forward.
- Hurdler The straight leg is either forward (a front hurdler) with arms in a touchdown, or out to the side (a side hurdler) with arms in a T. The bent knee faces the crowd.
- Pike This jump is among the most difficult of jumps. Both legs are straight out, knees locked. Arms are in a touchdown motion out in front to create a folded position in the air. This is often performed at a ninety-degree angle to the audience in order to show off the air position.
- The Around the World , or the pike-out, is a jump where the performer hits a pike and then whips his or her legs quickly back around into a toe touch. This jump is regarded as difficult to accomplish, because two positions must be reached in the very short time while the jumper is in the air.
- Herkie Named for Lawrence R. Herkimer, the founder of the National Cheerleader's Association, this jump is similar to a side-hurdler, except that instead of both arms being in a "T" motion, both arms are opposite of what the leg beneath them is doing. Example of this would be the straight arm would be on the side of the bent leg, and the bent arm is on the side of the straight leg. One other variation of this includes the bent leg is pointing straight down, instead of out like the side-hurdler. The jump is speculated to have been invented because Herkie wasn't able to do an actual side-hurdler.
- Double Nine A jump similar to a pike except one leg and one arm are bent in to form two "nines".
- Double Hook A jump where the legs are in the "cheer sit" position.
- Doubles This is the name for when one performs any jump twice in a row.
Stunting
- A stunt involves one to 4 other bases holding or tossing a cheerleader in the air. In general, all-girl cheerleading stunts usually involve two to four other bases while co-ed ("partner") stunts are comprised of only one base (the male) and his partner (the flyer, usually female).
Positions in stunting
- Flyers are cheerleaders held or tossed in the air.
- Bases are the cheerleaders who hold and toss the flyers.
- Backspots are cheerleaders who stand behind the flyer and the bases that have three duties: 1. To make sure that the stunt does not fall and to help catch the flyer if it does fall. 2. To help the bases by lifting some of the flyer's weight, making the stunt more stable and less heavy for the bases (in all-girl stunting). 3. To help ensure the safe dismount of the flyer from the stunt. Typically, backspots are the in charge of calling the stunt with the beginning and ending dismount.
- Frontspots have similar duties to backspots, but are generally used by younger teams or more inexperienced squads.
Types of Stunts
For clarity of description, references will be made to the right or left foot. The stunts, however, can be performed on either. For descriptions of how these stunts are achieved, see Stunting Methods.
- Shoulder Sit: A stunt in which the flyer sits on the shoulders of her base, with the shins secured around the back of the base. The base holds the knees or legs of the flyer, and a backspot may also secure the stunt from behind.
- Shoulder Stand: In the Shoulder Stand, the flyer stands on the shoulders of the base. The base holds the calves of the flyer and the backspot also secures the calves of the flyer.
- Extension: The Extension is the most basic of the next level of stunting. It can serve as an end in itself, or as the transition point between other, more complicated, stunts. Extensions involve 4 or 5 people. The two bases, facing each other, hold the feet of the upright flyer at collar-bone level, about shoulder-width apart. The backspot holds the calves of the flyer. A front spot may be used to secure the stunt by the shins of the flyer.
- Full Extension: The Full Extension, or Full, is similar in form to the Extension except that the bases arms are now fully extended upright and locked. The backspot can either hold the ankles of the flyer, or support the wrists of the bases.
- Cupie: The Cupie is an advanced stunt almost identical to the Full Extension except that the flyers feet are together.
- Liberty: In the Liberty, the flyers right foot is in the hands of the bases, and her left foot is bent, with the inner part of the foot nestled alongside the right knee. The Left knee is pointed forward, and the thigh parallel to the floor.
- Heel Stretch : The Heel stretch is very similar to the liberty except that instead of merely pulling her leg up until her thigh is parallel to the floor, the flyer whips her leg upward and grabs it with her hand lever to or above her head. Proper execution is again characterized by the base's straight arms and the flyer's "tight" body position.
- Bow 'N Arrow: In the Bow 'N Arrow, the flyer pulls the left foot vertical with the right hand. The torso twists to the right with just enough room for the left arm either to point an "arrow" towards the crown, or to extend the left arm into a T motion, pointing to the left.
- Chin-chin: The Chin-chin is an advanced stunt in which the flyer stands on the right foot and rests the chin (though not leaning the head forward) on the tip of the left foot, with the knee of left foot rointing to the right.
- Side Facing Stunts : These are a group of stunts that are characterized by part or all of the flyer's body being turned sideways to the audience. The base's grip, instead of the standard liberty grip, can be understood by thinking of it as the way he might hold a bar over his head if his hands were together.
- A High Torch is essentially a sideways liberty except that the flyer's torso is turned to face the audience.
- An Arabesque is a side stunt in which the flyer leans over, extending her left leg as close to horizontal as possible while lowering her torso as much as is needed.
- A Scale is similar to an Arabesque, except that the flyers left arm grabs the left leg at the mid-calf, producing a V-shape with the body and left leg. The right arm is alomst always held in a high-V.
- In a Scorpion, the flyer's arms reach over and behind her head to grab the toe or middle of the left foot. The left knee points backwards.
- Pyramids or mounts are multiple groups of stunts connected aerially by their flyers. This connection may be made in a variety of ways, from a simple linking of hands to having a multi-level pyramid, with the flyers already in the air acting as primary bases for another flyer or flyers on top of them.
- A Basket Toss is an advanced stunt in which the bases propel the flyer straight upwards (10-30+ feet) from the loading position. The flyer remains vertical during the upward motion of the stunt, usually with hands in a goalpost position, until begins to descend. Upon her descent, she can either just come down, or engage in a dismount, or series of dismounts (noted below).
- Cradle : When cradling out of a stunt with 4 people including the flyer and on some predetermined count, the flyer or top girl is thrown into the air and comes down soft into her bases arms she should be tight with her toes pointed. The bases arms should catch the flyer or top girl on her back and behind her knees as if in a just married position. The back spot should have his or her arms in the flyer's or top girl's armpits.
- Full-down: In a Full-down, or Full-Twisting Cradle, the flyer spins 360 degrees on her way down into the bases arms. (Advanced variations will include numerous spins, then being called by the degrees the flyer spins, for example, a 720).
- Basket Toss Dismounts: While the following dismounts can be employed in a dismount from a Full Extension, they are usually used in a Basket Toss, where there is more room/time to execute it.
- Toe-Touch: The flyer treats the upward propulsion of the bases as the lift of a jump, and performs a Toe-Touch at the climax of the Toss. While the Toe-Touch is the most common, any other jump can be, and has been, used instead. In such cases the dismount would be called by the name of that jump.
- Tuck-Arch: At the height of the Toss, the flyer tucks her thighs close to her chest and pushes them out with her arms to become horizontal, or slightly arched in the air. This is usually performed sideways, for a better visual effect.
- Scissor Kick: The flyer whips her straightened legs up and down once in a scissor-like motion.
- X-Out: The flyer scrunches into a ball and "explodes" into a spread eagle with arms in a high-V.
- Presidents of the United States:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt- (Harvard University)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower- (West Point Academy)
- Ronald Reagan- (Eureka College)
- George W. Bush- (Phillips Academy)
- A-List Actors & Actresses
- American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA)
- National Cheerleading Association and National Spirit Group (NCA and NSG)
- United States All-Star Federation (USASF)
- British Cheerleading Association (BCA)
- Organization of Spirit Industry Providers (OSIP)
- UK Cheerleading Association (UKCA)
- International Cheerleading Federation (ICF)
- Future Cheer UK
- Pro X - advanced stunting and tumbling
- Bring It On Safety Alliance (BIOSA)
- Video clips of cheerleaders in action
- Cheer Athletics - USASF World Champions
- Ontario Cheerleading Federation
- The Cheer Barn Houston, Ohio
Pyramids and Basket Tosses
Types of Dismounts
Tumbling
The most basic tumbling skills are a roll, cartwheel or a round-off. Other basic, yet increasingly difficult, skills include back-handsprings and round-off back-handsprings. More advanced skills include: back tucks, layouts, Arabians, whipbacks, twisting layouts (fulls), double twisting layouts (double fulls), and front tumbling, such as front handsprings, and punch fronts.
Cheers/chants
Every sideline cheerleading team has their "signature" cheers and chants. Most of the time the cheerleaders and coaches come up with these cheers/chants, although there are a few professional specialists, such as Krazy George Henderson. Cheers are often longer than chants and usually incorporate jumps, tumbling, or stunting. Chants are short and repetitive and usually involve crowd participation.
All Star Competitive Cheerleading
In the early 1990s, cheerleading teams not associated with schools or sports leagues, whose main objective is competition, began to emerge. All-star cheerleading involves a squad of anywhere between 5-35+ females and/or males. The squad prepares almost year-round for many different competition appearances, but they only actually perform for up to 2 1/2 minutes during their routines. The numbers of competitions a team participates in varies from team to team, but generally, most teams tend to participate in six or seven competitions a year. During a competition routine, a squad covers everything from stunting to tumbling to dancing. There is custom music for the entire routine. Teams create their routines to an eight-count system and apply that to the music so the team members execute the elements being preformed with precise timing and synchronization. All-star teams are often operated out of gymnastics facilities, or cheer gyms, which are entire gyms built to facilitate the needs of competitive cheerleaders. All-star competitive cheerleaders are placed into divisions which are grouped based upon age and ability level (non-tumble (level 1), novice (level 2), intermediate (level 3), excel (level 4), advanced (level 5)). Judges at the competition watch for illegal moves from the group or any of its members. Here, an illegal move is something that is not allowed in that division, due to difficulty and safety restrictions. More generally, judges look at the difficulty and execution of stunts and tumbling, synchronization, the sharpness of the motions in the dance, as well as the cheer (if applicable), and overall routine execution. All-star cheerleading is a relatively young sport, but is gaining popularity at a rapid pace. The United States All Star Federation (USASF) has recently emerged as the preeminent organization for all-star competitions, gyms, and teams. Companies that run competitions include AmeriCheer, U.S. Spirit, Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA), National Cheerleading Association (NCA, the very first), Cheer Ltd. Inc, American Cheer Power, Cheerleaders of America (COA), World Spirit Federation (WSF), JAMfest Cheer and Dance, FCC (Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders), CHEERSPORT, and many more.
USASF World Cheerleading Championships
The foremost competition for all-star cheerleading is the annual USASF World Championships held at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. Since its inception in 2004, teams must qualify for the event by finishing at or near the top at one of several qualifying competitions. US teams have won the vast majority of the medals, but an increasing number of strong teams from around the globe have come to compete in the event in recent years. This competition has grown in popularity and prestige since its beginning as a small competition in 2004. In 2006, over 100 teams from 11 different countries competed in the event.
2004
| Division | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
2005
| Division | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
2006
| Division | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
Worlds Medal Count by Program
| Program | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheer Athletics | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Georgia | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Spirit of Texas | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Maryland Twisters | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Gym Tyme | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Miami Elite | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Stingrays | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Star Athletics | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| American Cheer | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the American style of cheerleading at sports matches is seen by many as alien to British sporting culture, and some attempts to introduce it, for example in the early days of Premiership football (soccer), have been abandoned after receiving widespread derision. There are however several sports teams that use their support: these are usually rugby league teams, and include the Leeds Rhinos, the Warrington Wolves, the Bradford Bulls, the Castleford Tigers and St Helens. The teams that play in BCAFL, the UK College American Football League also follow the American tradition of having cheerleaders support them at games, as do the GB Bulldogs, the UK national American Football team.
Recently all-star competitive cheerleading has increased in popularity in the UK and several organisations such as the British Cheerleading Association (BCA) hold national competitions every year. There is also a competing group, more recently formed than the BCA, called Future Cheer, which conforms to the relatively recent USASF coaching and safety regulations. Cheerleaders in Britain can range from the age of six or seven, up to university students, all of whom mix together and compete in competitions consisting of cheer, dance and stunt categories. Co-ed cheerleading is also a relatively popular form of cheerleading in the UK.
In the UK cheerleading is also common amongst university clubs and societies, see Oxford Sirens. A number of universities have their own American Football teams and also have a cheerleading team supporting them at game days (at home and away) in much the same way as American culture does.
The BCA also holds University competitions every year.
Canada
Competitive cheerleading has been established in Canada for about 30 years. Several provinces have non-government volunteer organizations that set out safety guidelines and host competitions, of particular note is the Ontario Cheerleading Federation, and the British Columbia Cheerleading Council. Provincial Championships are held by these organizations and they are well attended by both School cheerleading teams and the exploding population of all-star cheerleading teams.
All-star cheerleading is a relatively new phenomenon in Canada with limited cheer-only clubs in existence, though a multitude of city-run recreational program and gymnastic-club run teams exist.
Collegiate cheerleading in Canada is very popular, with virtually every University in Canada having a team that both competes for the National championship - held yearly since 1986 - and cheers CIS Football and Basketball. Programs of particular note are the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, who have won 21 consecutive National titles and have won at the NCA championships in the International Division, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, the University of Waterloo Warriors and the McMaster University teams.
Cheerleading in Canada has participants as young as 4 years old. However, the majority of participants remain high school aged at 14-18 years old.
Famous Cheerleaders
With millions of past and present cheerleaders in the world, it is not surprising that some have gone on to achieve international fame in one way or another. The following is a list of famous cheerleaders:
See also
References
External links
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"Cheerleading"
