Cheerleading

Tyesha H.

5-18-12

Per. 5

Cheerleading

Everyone has their own opinion whether or not cheerleading is a sport. The stereo type about us NEVER crosses my mind; I love it and think it’s a sport no matter what anybody says.

      Most people do not know that Cheerleading actually began as an all male sport. According to Wikipedia, “Princeton class of 1882 graduate Thomas Peebles moved to Minnesota in 1884, and transplanted the idea of organized crowds cheering at football games to the University of Minnesota” (Wikipedia).  This shows that although cheerleading is popular among women nowadays, it was common for males to participate. It wasn’t until 1907, during World War II when women started joining and the men who weren’t at war were trying to make a living by starting businesses.  

     Although some middle schools offer cheerleading, it is not usually as big as All Star and college cheerleading.  All star cheerleading, which are cheerleaders that do not cheer for a city or school, usually have teams of about 6 to 36 people. All star cheerleaders prepare all year for competitions.  “The squad prepares year-round for many different competition appearances, but they only actually perform for up to 2½ minutes during their routines.”  Unlike high school cheerleading, college cheering has a lot more freedom in stunting and uniforms. There is actually a state law were we can’t do a number of things that college cheerleaders can. Some advantages of joining cheerleading in HS are getting scholarships and the opportunity to meet former All Star cheerleaders who can help high school students join the All Star team and possibly be in a movie.

      Girls and boys don’t have to wait until HS to join cheerleading they can start as young as the age of 4 years old. The divisions used by the USASF/IASF are currently Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Junior International, Junior Coed, Senior, Senior Coed, Special Needs, and Open International.”

       Cheerleading has been great experience for me. It has taught me how to humble myself and not to judge people based off their appearances and their actions.  I have learned to cope with people I dislike very much and their attitudes which will help me in my future career.  Cheerleading has really helped me become more of a young lady and has helped other girls to become stronger leaders and more confident.