cheerleading

Cheerleading is the organized use of song, dance and/or gymnastics to encourage crowds to wikt:cheercheer on sports teams at games and matches. It is also undertaken as a recreational activity and as a competitive sport involving organized routines; this form is most popular in the United States and Canada. A cheerleading performer is a cheerleader.

History - Cheerleading made its entrance at Princeton University in the 1880s with the chant, "Rah rah rah, tiger tiger tiger, sis sis sis, boom boom boom ahhhhhhh, Princeton Princeton Princeton!" This was an attempt to encourage the crowd at their sporting competitions to cheer. Although it is estimated that 90% of today's cheerleading participants are female, cheerleading started out as an all-male activity. It became largely a female activity as men were sent off to fight in World War II, and remained so after their return. Another significant factor was the limited availability of female collegiate sports. By the 1950s, most United StatesAmerican high schools had formed cheerleading squads.Cheerleading is most closely associated with American football, and to a lesser degree with basketball. Sports such as football (soccer)soccer (football), Ice hockey and baseball rarely have cheerleaders.In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer formed the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) as a way to hold cheerleading clinics. The National Cheerleading Association held its first clinic in 1949 with 52 girls in attendence. The next year, the clinic had grown to 350 cheerleaders.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 the world of competitive cheerleading by the first broadcast of Collegiate Cheerleading Championships on CBS. In the early 1970s, the Balitimore Colts were the first National Football League (NFL) team to organize a professional cheerleading team. However, 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 the 1976 Super Bowl. 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 skills 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 and NCSSE are the two safety certification nationally and internationally recognized in the industry.The spirit industry leaders were united with the unprecendented 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. The August 2005 death of Ashley Burns, a 14 year old cheerleader, when practicing a stunt drew attention to the risks in the development of cheerleading stunts. Today, cheerleading has grown to an estimated 4 million participants in the United States alone, and it is quickly growing in popularity in other countries.

Performance elements - routine before a football game.]]

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, and punches. The motions always need to be sharp and precise so that the cheerleaders do not look sloppy.

Toe touch is a jump with legs straddled, and straight, toes pointed, knees up or back, and the arms in a T motion. This is the most common cheerleader jump.

Hurdler The free leg is either forward (a front hurdler), or sideways (a side hurdler). The bent knee points downward.

Pike 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.

Around the World is a jump where you hit a pike and then whip your legs quickly back around into a toe touch. This jump is very difficult to accomplish, because you have a very short amount of time, while in the air, to hit two positions.

Herkie, named for Lawrence Herkimer, the founder of the National Cheerleader's Association, is similar to the hurdler, except that there are no front herkies and the bent knee is out sideways.

Double nine is a jump similar to a pike except one leg and one arm are bent in to form two "nines".

Double Hook is a jump where your legs are in the "cheer sit" position.

The most common approach to a jump is the "prep" jump. On counts 1-2 hands are clasped, knees are together and bent. On 3-4, stand up on toes and raise arms in high V. Swing arms around in front, without bending elbows, and jump on 5-6, stand stationary and stand up on 7-8. Other approaches include power, banana, star, and double whip (actually two or more jumps).

Quite a few moves are borrowed from dances (BreakdancingBreakdancing/Hip Hop) and acrobatics (e.g., Cartwheel). Others are made up by the cheerleading coach or the cheerleaders themselves.

Stunts/Tumbling -

a Mount is a cheerleading stunt that involves 2 or more persons to form a type of "stunt" holding the girl or guy (typically a girl) in the air on either one or two feet.

Flyers are cheerleaders held or thrown by others into the air. Bases or mounts hold and throw them. Backspots are cheerleaders who stand behind the flyer and the bases that have two duties: 1. To make sure that the stunt does not fall and to help catch the flyer if it does fall and 2. To help the bases by lifting some of the flyer's weight, making the stunt more stable and less heavy for the bases.

Modern Pyramids are actually connected mounts (the flyers hold each other's hands or feet while in the air).

Stunts that groups perform include bow-and-arrows, heel stretches, scales, liberties, scorpions, the Matrix, basket tosses, elevators, and cupies.

In competition and most collegiate level cheerleading tumbling is a requirement. The basic tumbling is a cartwheel or a round off. The more difficult skills are back handspring and round off back handsprings. There are also back tucks, layouts, and full twisting layouts (fulls), and front tumbling, such as front handsprings, and punch fronts.

Cheers/Chants - Every team has their "signature" cheers and chants. They tend to differ by sport cheered for, e.g., basketball or football. Most of the time the cheerleaders and coaches come up with these cheers/chants, although there are a few professional cheerleaders who specialize in this area, such as Krazy George Henderson.

All-Star Competitive Cheerleading - In the early 1990s, cheerleading teams not associated with schools, whose main objective is competition, started to emerge. All-star cheerleading involves a squad of anywhere between 2-40+ females and/or males. The squad prepares year-round, but they only actually perform for up to 2 1/2 minutes in their competitions. During those few minutes on the floor, a squad covers everything from stunting to tumbling to dancing. There is custom music for the entire routine and it is broken down into counts so the team members know how long stunts need to be held, when they are supposed to do their tumbling, the order the pyramid is assembled, and when specific dance moves are to be performed.Competitive cheerleaders are placed into divisions which are grouped based upon age and ability level. 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 dance and cheer, and overall routine execution. All-star cheerleading is a relatively young sport and the US All Star Federation (USASF) has emerged as the preeminent organization for all star teams and gyms. 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), US All Star Federation (USASF), JAMfest Cheer and Dance, FCC (Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders), Rosemount Invitational U.S. Spirit, and many more.Competitive cheerleading is a major time and financial commitment, yet it is a rapidly growing sport and industry. Experience in all-star cheerleading is also highly sought by high level college cheerleading teams such as the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky, the University of Houston, Hawaii Pacific University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Cheerleading movies - There have been several movies made with cheerleading as the central theme. These include:

''Man of the House'' (2005)

''Bring it On Again'' (2003)

''Sugar & Spice'' (2001)

''Bring It On (movie)Bring It On'' (2000)

''But I'm a Cheerleader'' (1999)

"The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993)

''Cheerleader Camp'' (1987)

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders appeared in a movie of the same name in 1979, and a sequel in 1980. Both were made-for-TV movies.

''Cheerleaders Wild Weekend'' (1979)

''Revenge of the Cheerleaders'' (1977)

''The Swinging Cheerleaders'' (1974)

''The Cheerleaders'' (1973)

United Kingdom - In the United Kingdom, the American style of cheerleading is traditionally 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. Nevertheless it is slowly becoming more popular. There is a British cheerleading association which holds national competitions every year. The majority of squads tend to focus on competing but there are several sports teams that have a cheerleading squad to support them. These are usually rugby league teams such as Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves, Bradford Bulls or St Helens RFCSt Helens. Cheerleaders in Britain can range from the age of six or seven, up to university students and they all mix together and compete in competitions consisting of cheer, dance and stunt categories. Mascots are often used in cheerleading troupes.

External links - Wikiquote

cheerleading.org.uk - British Cheerleading Association

geocities.com - Exercise and skills and drills program for cheerleaders Category:Cheerleading !ja:チアリ
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Washtenaw Junior Football
Youth football and cheerleading for youths 8-13 in the greater Ann Arbor, Michigan area.
http://www.washtenawjrfootball.org/

About Cheerleading
Articles, clip art, animated cheers and chants, chat room, forum and newsletter.
http://cheerleading.about.com/

British Cheerleading Association
The Governing Body for the athletic discipline of cheerleading in the UK, BCA is a non-profit, community based organization representing numerous clubs.
http://www.cheerleading.org.uk

Varsity .com
Cheerleading and dance camps, competitions, coaches corner, skills section, and events.
http://www.varsity.com