Cheerleading Overview
We all had them, the peppy, friendly, almost way too excited girls, in our classes in high school.
Their constant energy and cheerfulness made them unbearable at times, like when the rest of us failed a test and knew that a week of grounding was on the way after our parents saw our grades.
These girls, however, would make a cheer to help us feel better.
Did it ever make us feel better? No, but it was a nice gesture by the girls on the cheering squad.
Now that the very popular cheerleading movie series "Bring it on" have brought cheerleading into the spotlight again, more children want to join the cheering squads than ever.
There are three types of cheerleaders: high school, college, and professional.
Essentially, they all the same, except for the level of experience and fierceness of the competitions they attend.
For example, take the local high school cheer squad and compare them to the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, who have a television show on CMT.
The Dallas Cheerleaders will be cut from the squad if they gain even two pounds which make them look unhealthy and unfit in their uniforms.
That may seem extreme, but these women are held to the highest standard in cheerleading because the squad itself desires to represent perfection and extreme lady-like manners, along with compassion for charity and other causes, while representing the Dallas Cowboys team.
These ladies are expected to be the best because their coach used to be the best.
In high school, there is no pressure to have a charity lunch with Make a Wish Children, there is no pressure to maintain a kick line while walking down an entire football field, nor put themselves through a boot camp run by one of the toughest Army sergeants in the country.
High school cheerleading can get competitive, there is no doubt about that, but it is worlds away from the professional cheerleaders.
There are cheerleaders who cheer for football teams and basketball teams, because not all sports have cheerleaders.
There are several stunts which cheerleaders perform and many of them rely upon team work and the strength of each other.
For this team work, cheerleaders must have positions within the specific moves that fit their body types.
A girl who looks like Dakota Fanning would most likely be at the top of the pyramid, not at the bottom, holding all the other girls up.
She would collapse under that strain because her body is not made for that.
A girl who had a more muscular build, like Michelle Rodriguez could be a better base for the pyramid.
The safety of the cheerleaders must dictate who is a base cheerleader and who can be flying in the air, doing flips and such.
Cheerleading began in the 1880's, and interestingly enough, the squad was all male.
It was not until 1923 that women were allowed to join the cheer squad at the University of Minnesota.
25 years later, the first summer cheerleading clinic was held at Sam Houston State Teacher's College and was hosted by Mr.
Lawrence Herkimer.
The same Mr.
Herkimer began the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) in 1961.
The clinics have a main focus, and have since its inception, to keep the cheerleaders safe, teach new cheering skills, and promote spirit and enthusiasm not only in the participants of the camp, but also in the sport of cheering itself.
Their constant energy and cheerfulness made them unbearable at times, like when the rest of us failed a test and knew that a week of grounding was on the way after our parents saw our grades.
These girls, however, would make a cheer to help us feel better.
Did it ever make us feel better? No, but it was a nice gesture by the girls on the cheering squad.
Now that the very popular cheerleading movie series "Bring it on" have brought cheerleading into the spotlight again, more children want to join the cheering squads than ever.
There are three types of cheerleaders: high school, college, and professional.
Essentially, they all the same, except for the level of experience and fierceness of the competitions they attend.
For example, take the local high school cheer squad and compare them to the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, who have a television show on CMT.
The Dallas Cheerleaders will be cut from the squad if they gain even two pounds which make them look unhealthy and unfit in their uniforms.
That may seem extreme, but these women are held to the highest standard in cheerleading because the squad itself desires to represent perfection and extreme lady-like manners, along with compassion for charity and other causes, while representing the Dallas Cowboys team.
These ladies are expected to be the best because their coach used to be the best.
In high school, there is no pressure to have a charity lunch with Make a Wish Children, there is no pressure to maintain a kick line while walking down an entire football field, nor put themselves through a boot camp run by one of the toughest Army sergeants in the country.
High school cheerleading can get competitive, there is no doubt about that, but it is worlds away from the professional cheerleaders.
There are cheerleaders who cheer for football teams and basketball teams, because not all sports have cheerleaders.
There are several stunts which cheerleaders perform and many of them rely upon team work and the strength of each other.
For this team work, cheerleaders must have positions within the specific moves that fit their body types.
A girl who looks like Dakota Fanning would most likely be at the top of the pyramid, not at the bottom, holding all the other girls up.
She would collapse under that strain because her body is not made for that.
A girl who had a more muscular build, like Michelle Rodriguez could be a better base for the pyramid.
The safety of the cheerleaders must dictate who is a base cheerleader and who can be flying in the air, doing flips and such.
Cheerleading began in the 1880's, and interestingly enough, the squad was all male.
It was not until 1923 that women were allowed to join the cheer squad at the University of Minnesota.
25 years later, the first summer cheerleading clinic was held at Sam Houston State Teacher's College and was hosted by Mr.
Lawrence Herkimer.
The same Mr.
Herkimer began the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) in 1961.
The clinics have a main focus, and have since its inception, to keep the cheerleaders safe, teach new cheering skills, and promote spirit and enthusiasm not only in the participants of the camp, but also in the sport of cheering itself.
Source...