I recently saw the movie Fired Up and was less than impressed. I couldn’t believe that I had just spent ten dollars to see this dull movie. Fired Up was about star football players, Sean and Nick, who were trying to get with as many girls as possible by ditching dreaded football camp and attending cheerleading camp. Along the way, Shawn begins to actually enjoy cheerleading and falls in love with the captain, Carly. I disliked the movie Fired Up because it was inaccurate, unoriginal, and crude.
Fired up was very inaccurate and stereotypical in the way that it portrayed cheerleaders. The movie depicted cheerleaders as stupid, untalented, and desperate. There were countless jokes about cheerleaders and their dumb ways. I’m not saying that there aren’t any cheerleaders who are dumb, because that isn’t the case, but this movie makes it seem as though all cheerleaders are extremely unintelligent. From a cheerleader’s point of view, Fired Up starred untalented cheerleaders. There were a few stand-out girls, who were very good, but, besides that, everyone else performed basic skills, which makes cheerleading seem as though no athleticism is required. The cheerleaders are portrayed as extremely desperate, because even though they know that Shawn and Nick are not there because they love cheerleading, rather they love girls, they act as though they don’t have a clue. Each cheerleader that the boys hit on feels as though she is the only one that they are after, even though she knows differently. The ways that Fired Up described cheerleaders were very stereotypical.
The entire movie lacked originality. The plot itself was nothing out of the ordinary and very predictable. If you've seen Wedding Crashers, then you've seen this in terms of story structure and plot. It felt like the less-raunchy, PG-13 cousin of that film. Even the two leads, played by Eric Christian Olsen and Nicholas D'Agosto, have a chemistry and friendship in the film similar to the characters played by Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers. No aspects of Fired Up were memorable, and I thought of it as a “wanna-be” Bring it On. Fired Up was very unoriginal, contributing to my disliking it.
Besides being inaccurate and unoriginal, Fired Up was also somewhat vulgar. I recommend this movie for guys, rather than girls, for I think the jokes would be more humorous to guys. The comedy is very raunchy, which I did not enjoy. I don’t know if it was scripted, or if it just the actors, but Eric Christian Olsen and Nicholas D'Agosto were extremely annoying and immature throughout the movie, and they really got on my nerves. The humor used in Fired Up was very foul and I did not enjoy it.
I’ll admit that I did laugh once or twice while watching Fired Up, but that does not make up for the rest of the unsatisfying movie. I do not suggest that anyone see this movie, for the only thing it will get them fired up about is the ten dollars that they have just wasted seeing it. Fired Up was wrong, clichéd, and rude.
Word Count: 521
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Differing from popular belief, making a cheerleading squad involves a lot more then just a cute smile and having a split. New cheerleaders, hoping to try out for a team, need to prepare themselves for the tryout ahead of them. Before trying out, cheerleaders need to work on their tumbling skills, their stunting skills, and their dancing skills.
Tumbling is a key part of being on a cheerleading team. On most high school teams, cheerleaders are required to have at least a back handspring. In order to improve one’s tumbling, they must practice. Besides getting the technique down, a tumbler needs to put fears in the back of their mind and have confidence. I suggest going to tumbling classes at a local gym at least twice a week for three months before tryouts. In this amount of time, one should be able to get a back handspring, or at least progress towards getting it. At tryouts, many coaches will spot tumblers if they need to and the coach will be able to tell if the tumbler is close to getting their back handspring. If a coach feels that a tumbler is very close to getting their back handspring, he or she will often let the girl on the team. If one has never tried tumbling before going to tryouts, I suggest that one tell the coach this and he or she will offer to heavily spot the girl. Despite the cheerleader’s fears, she should still try to throw it with the coach spotting her to show the coach that she is willing to try new things. In order to make most cheerleading teams, a cheerleader must be able to do tumbling.
Stunting makes up a major part of a cheerleading. If a coach asks a cheerleader what position she is in a stunt, she should reply, “I usually ______ (base, backspot, or fly), but I am willing to try any position.” This shows the coach that one is open to trying anything that he or she asks her to do. If one is a base or a back, they are going to want to work on muscle strength in their arms and legs before tryouts. Flyers should be working on core and leg strength before tryouts. Stunting is hard work, but it is a necessary element for making a cheerleading squad.
Cheerleaders looking to tryout for a squad need to improve upon their dance skills. It is very noticeable when one is not a very good dancer. I suggest that cheerleaders sign themselves up for dance classes before tryouts. If this is too expensive, a friend, family member, or TV show can also help. Most tryouts are three days long, giving cheerleaders enough time to learn and perfect the dance that they learn. For those people who are just down-right bad at dancing should practice the dance that they learned at the first day of tryouts over and over again. All cheerleaders should practice performing the dance in front of friends and family, to receive constructive criticism and gain confidence. At tryouts, one should dance with confidence, even if they mess up. Although dancing seems easy, it can be very complicated and cheerleaders need to perfect their dance skills.
There are a few key components necessary for making a cheerleading team. They include tumbling, stunting, and dancing. If one is looking to tryout for their high school team in the fall, they should start preparing themselves now.
Word Count: 577
Tumbling is a key part of being on a cheerleading team. On most high school teams, cheerleaders are required to have at least a back handspring. In order to improve one’s tumbling, they must practice. Besides getting the technique down, a tumbler needs to put fears in the back of their mind and have confidence. I suggest going to tumbling classes at a local gym at least twice a week for three months before tryouts. In this amount of time, one should be able to get a back handspring, or at least progress towards getting it. At tryouts, many coaches will spot tumblers if they need to and the coach will be able to tell if the tumbler is close to getting their back handspring. If a coach feels that a tumbler is very close to getting their back handspring, he or she will often let the girl on the team. If one has never tried tumbling before going to tryouts, I suggest that one tell the coach this and he or she will offer to heavily spot the girl. Despite the cheerleader’s fears, she should still try to throw it with the coach spotting her to show the coach that she is willing to try new things. In order to make most cheerleading teams, a cheerleader must be able to do tumbling.
Stunting makes up a major part of a cheerleading. If a coach asks a cheerleader what position she is in a stunt, she should reply, “I usually ______ (base, backspot, or fly), but I am willing to try any position.” This shows the coach that one is open to trying anything that he or she asks her to do. If one is a base or a back, they are going to want to work on muscle strength in their arms and legs before tryouts. Flyers should be working on core and leg strength before tryouts. Stunting is hard work, but it is a necessary element for making a cheerleading squad.
Cheerleaders looking to tryout for a squad need to improve upon their dance skills. It is very noticeable when one is not a very good dancer. I suggest that cheerleaders sign themselves up for dance classes before tryouts. If this is too expensive, a friend, family member, or TV show can also help. Most tryouts are three days long, giving cheerleaders enough time to learn and perfect the dance that they learn. For those people who are just down-right bad at dancing should practice the dance that they learned at the first day of tryouts over and over again. All cheerleaders should practice performing the dance in front of friends and family, to receive constructive criticism and gain confidence. At tryouts, one should dance with confidence, even if they mess up. Although dancing seems easy, it can be very complicated and cheerleaders need to perfect their dance skills.
There are a few key components necessary for making a cheerleading team. They include tumbling, stunting, and dancing. If one is looking to tryout for their high school team in the fall, they should start preparing themselves now.
Word Count: 577
UCA 2009 College Nationals
This past weekend, on Sunday, February 22, ESPN 2 aired The 2009 UCA college nationals. Now, for those of you who have no idea what this is, it is the final competition of the Universal Cheerleading Association for college-level teams. I enjoyed watching this and was not very surprised, yet content, with the results. The top three teams in the Coed Division I Cheer were Morehead State University, University of Delaware, and Missouri State University.
Before Morehead State University took the floor, many spectators predicted a win for them, considering that they were 25-time UCA National Champions. They started their routine off with very strong tumbling, consisting of two full team standing back tucks, which are basically back flips, and eight tumblers perfectly executing double back handspring fulls, which are extremely advanced passes. In their first stunts, one of the five fliers wobbled and nearly fell but managed to stay up and dismount at the correct time. Their cheer was very peppy and invited the crowd to join in, adding spirit points to their score. Their dance was very fast, but they managed to hit every motion with perfection. The rest of their routine consisted of more death-defying stunts and clean tumbling passes. Morehead State University delivered an amazing routine and definitely deserved to be crowned UCA National Champions.
The University of Delaware also did a great job at nationals, but a few things held them back from winning first. In the first stunt sequence, there were a few minor timing issues that needed to be fixed. They completely redeemed themselves in the next stunt sequence, when the bases threw the fliers, who were flipping through the air, nearly twenty feet high! When the fliers landed in the bases arms, they threw the fliers, in a ripple effect, across their heads over to the next group of bases. I think that one thing that dented their score was their lack of extreme tumbling, like that of Morehead State. Even though they didn’t win, they still had an interesting and clean performance.
Missouri State University, placing third at nationals, did an alright job, but made some mistakes. The first thing that the squad did when their performance began was full-team standing back tucks. There were two errors: one of the girls on the team fell out of her tuck and landed a bit messily, and a couple of the men in the back were off on their timing. Again, in another tumbling pass later in the routine, synchronization was off. Even though the squad was not very good at synchronizing their tumbling, their cross tumbling (individual tumbling across mat) was very clean and extreme. The lack of creativity and difficulty in their stunts probably contributed to their third place finish. If they had worked more on the correct timing of their stunts and tumbling, I think that Missouri State University could have placed second.
Each year, the competition gets harder and harder as new, risky stunts and tumbling passes are invented. The top placing teams in the Coed Division I were Morehead State University, the University of Delaware, and Missouri State University, all of whom delivered amazing routines. I enjoyed watching these squads compete, but I hope that next year Morehead does not win, just to spice things up a little.
Word Count: 550
Before Morehead State University took the floor, many spectators predicted a win for them, considering that they were 25-time UCA National Champions. They started their routine off with very strong tumbling, consisting of two full team standing back tucks, which are basically back flips, and eight tumblers perfectly executing double back handspring fulls, which are extremely advanced passes. In their first stunts, one of the five fliers wobbled and nearly fell but managed to stay up and dismount at the correct time. Their cheer was very peppy and invited the crowd to join in, adding spirit points to their score. Their dance was very fast, but they managed to hit every motion with perfection. The rest of their routine consisted of more death-defying stunts and clean tumbling passes. Morehead State University delivered an amazing routine and definitely deserved to be crowned UCA National Champions.
The University of Delaware also did a great job at nationals, but a few things held them back from winning first. In the first stunt sequence, there were a few minor timing issues that needed to be fixed. They completely redeemed themselves in the next stunt sequence, when the bases threw the fliers, who were flipping through the air, nearly twenty feet high! When the fliers landed in the bases arms, they threw the fliers, in a ripple effect, across their heads over to the next group of bases. I think that one thing that dented their score was their lack of extreme tumbling, like that of Morehead State. Even though they didn’t win, they still had an interesting and clean performance.
Missouri State University, placing third at nationals, did an alright job, but made some mistakes. The first thing that the squad did when their performance began was full-team standing back tucks. There were two errors: one of the girls on the team fell out of her tuck and landed a bit messily, and a couple of the men in the back were off on their timing. Again, in another tumbling pass later in the routine, synchronization was off. Even though the squad was not very good at synchronizing their tumbling, their cross tumbling (individual tumbling across mat) was very clean and extreme. The lack of creativity and difficulty in their stunts probably contributed to their third place finish. If they had worked more on the correct timing of their stunts and tumbling, I think that Missouri State University could have placed second.
Each year, the competition gets harder and harder as new, risky stunts and tumbling passes are invented. The top placing teams in the Coed Division I were Morehead State University, the University of Delaware, and Missouri State University, all of whom delivered amazing routines. I enjoyed watching these squads compete, but I hope that next year Morehead does not win, just to spice things up a little.
Word Count: 550
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day Competition
I spent my Valentine’s Day with my high school cheerleading squad at the 2009 Winter Tri Valley League Cheerleading Championship. Our performance was okay, but I feel like we could have done a lot better. Some things that I think need improvement are our stunts, our tumbling, and our spirit.
In our first stunts, two out of three flyers fell. The falls were minor, but by now, we should really be able to hit them solidly. An explanation for our stunts could possibly be that we change them so often. For example, we have kept the same pyramid for nearly two months, and execute it perfectly each time that we perform. To improve our shaky stunts, I think that we need to add two more practices a week, in which we only work on our stunts. I also think that we should stop changing our stunts and polish the ones that we have. Although stunting is only twenty five percent of our score, it is very embarrassing when one falls and it tends makes the routine look sloppy.
Another thing that our squad needs to work on is our tumbling. Our tumbling is basic compared to that of the squads we compete against. Many people on my team have tumbling, but execute it messily, with their legs open or toes not pointed. A few people on my team have good tumbling but are afraid to throw it. To improve upon this, I think that everyone on the squad needs to start attending tumbling practices. Our scores would dramatically increase if our tumbling was cleaner and more advanced.
At the beginning of our routine everyone is smiling and high-spirited, but after throwing tumbling passes and hoisting girls into the air, many of my teammates’ spirit has dropped significantly. We need to work on smiling, even if we mess up. Our cheer is very quiet, partially because there are only twelve girls on the squad, and partially because some are too tired from tumbling and stunting to say the words. If we were loud, we would come off as being more confident, thus raising our scores. The spirit has to stay up, in order to improve our scores.
We didn’t do as well as we had hoped at our Valentine’s Day competition, but with a little more practice I think we can become a lot better. Together, stunting, tumbling, and spirit make up a large portion of our score. We have to practice extremely hard in order to progress, but I think that we are capable of it.
Word count: 426
In our first stunts, two out of three flyers fell. The falls were minor, but by now, we should really be able to hit them solidly. An explanation for our stunts could possibly be that we change them so often. For example, we have kept the same pyramid for nearly two months, and execute it perfectly each time that we perform. To improve our shaky stunts, I think that we need to add two more practices a week, in which we only work on our stunts. I also think that we should stop changing our stunts and polish the ones that we have. Although stunting is only twenty five percent of our score, it is very embarrassing when one falls and it tends makes the routine look sloppy.
Another thing that our squad needs to work on is our tumbling. Our tumbling is basic compared to that of the squads we compete against. Many people on my team have tumbling, but execute it messily, with their legs open or toes not pointed. A few people on my team have good tumbling but are afraid to throw it. To improve upon this, I think that everyone on the squad needs to start attending tumbling practices. Our scores would dramatically increase if our tumbling was cleaner and more advanced.
At the beginning of our routine everyone is smiling and high-spirited, but after throwing tumbling passes and hoisting girls into the air, many of my teammates’ spirit has dropped significantly. We need to work on smiling, even if we mess up. Our cheer is very quiet, partially because there are only twelve girls on the squad, and partially because some are too tired from tumbling and stunting to say the words. If we were loud, we would come off as being more confident, thus raising our scores. The spirit has to stay up, in order to improve our scores.
We didn’t do as well as we had hoped at our Valentine’s Day competition, but with a little more practice I think we can become a lot better. Together, stunting, tumbling, and spirit make up a large portion of our score. We have to practice extremely hard in order to progress, but I think that we are capable of it.
Word count: 426
All Star Cheerleading
All star cheerleading squads are becoming more and more popular in America. This division of cheerleading allows cheerleaders to compete at higher levels than they would at Pop Warner and High school levels. Although all star teams are a fun experience, some seem to be more about the glitz and the glam than about the actual competition. Many All Star teams are expensive, superficial, and time-consuming.
Last spring a friend and I joined an All Star squad at a gym that we had been going to for about five months. We were so excited to be part of the team there, but we were somewhat disappointed with the results. Forty dollars was the cost we had to pay just to try out. Once we made the team, we were smothered with hundreds of dollars in costs. The uniform alone cost 300 dollars. To be on the team for a year, it would cost nearly two thousand dollars, not including traveling. A big part of All Star cheerleading is the traveling and the team I had made was planning on going to Las Vegas for a competition. It seemed as though every other weekend, we were to be going on another plane ride and staying in another hotel. The team was not all that we hoped it would be and we ended up not continuing. Yet, the gym kept five hundred dollars of ours from our first payment, and we had only attended one practice! Basically, we attended one 500 dollar practice. All Star teams are not inexpensive and anyone looking to join one should first explore the unworldly costs before making a commitment.
Anyone who has ever been to an All Star cheerleading competition knows all about the flashy uniforms and showy makeup. Although it may be appealing to some, I am not a fan of it. Cheerleading is supposed to be about the routine, not the outfits and makeup. On many All Star squads, the cheerleaders must wear half-tops, which are basically belly shirts. This is unfair to some cheerleaders who are self-conscious about their bodies. They are also required to wear short, tight skirts. Walking around at an All Star cheerleading competition, it is interesting to look at all of the different squads’ crazy makeup. It is not unusual for squads to be wearing different color glitter eye shadow caked on up to their eye brows or bright red, sparkly lipstick. I feel that the outfits and makeup take away from the actual routine.
Another downfall of All Star cheerleading is that it is extremely time consuming. On the squad I joined, there were two-three hour practices a week, and on top of that, we were required to attend two mandatory hour-long tumbling practices a week and one mandatory three hour-long conditioning class. Added all together, that is eleven hours a week, but that’s not all. It is about a forty five minute drive to and from the gym, which consumes even more times. The drive is also challenging if there is bad weather or traffic. All of this does not include the time spent at competitions or that spent traveling to them. All Star cheerleading teams require a lot of commitment.
I recommend to anyone looking to join an All Star cheerleading team to do some research before joining. Although there are many positive aspects about All Star cheering, there are also some negative ones. The cost, makeup, and commitment can sometimes be overwhelming and are some of the negative features of All Star teams.
Word Count: 588
Last spring a friend and I joined an All Star squad at a gym that we had been going to for about five months. We were so excited to be part of the team there, but we were somewhat disappointed with the results. Forty dollars was the cost we had to pay just to try out. Once we made the team, we were smothered with hundreds of dollars in costs. The uniform alone cost 300 dollars. To be on the team for a year, it would cost nearly two thousand dollars, not including traveling. A big part of All Star cheerleading is the traveling and the team I had made was planning on going to Las Vegas for a competition. It seemed as though every other weekend, we were to be going on another plane ride and staying in another hotel. The team was not all that we hoped it would be and we ended up not continuing. Yet, the gym kept five hundred dollars of ours from our first payment, and we had only attended one practice! Basically, we attended one 500 dollar practice. All Star teams are not inexpensive and anyone looking to join one should first explore the unworldly costs before making a commitment.
Anyone who has ever been to an All Star cheerleading competition knows all about the flashy uniforms and showy makeup. Although it may be appealing to some, I am not a fan of it. Cheerleading is supposed to be about the routine, not the outfits and makeup. On many All Star squads, the cheerleaders must wear half-tops, which are basically belly shirts. This is unfair to some cheerleaders who are self-conscious about their bodies. They are also required to wear short, tight skirts. Walking around at an All Star cheerleading competition, it is interesting to look at all of the different squads’ crazy makeup. It is not unusual for squads to be wearing different color glitter eye shadow caked on up to their eye brows or bright red, sparkly lipstick. I feel that the outfits and makeup take away from the actual routine.
Another downfall of All Star cheerleading is that it is extremely time consuming. On the squad I joined, there were two-three hour practices a week, and on top of that, we were required to attend two mandatory hour-long tumbling practices a week and one mandatory three hour-long conditioning class. Added all together, that is eleven hours a week, but that’s not all. It is about a forty five minute drive to and from the gym, which consumes even more times. The drive is also challenging if there is bad weather or traffic. All of this does not include the time spent at competitions or that spent traveling to them. All Star cheerleading teams require a lot of commitment.
I recommend to anyone looking to join an All Star cheerleading team to do some research before joining. Although there are many positive aspects about All Star cheering, there are also some negative ones. The cost, makeup, and commitment can sometimes be overwhelming and are some of the negative features of All Star teams.
Word Count: 588
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Fundraising Ideas
A large part of being on a cheerleading team is going to sleep-away cheer camp in the summer. Here, cheerleaders learn new stunts and tumbling, make new friends, improve their skills, and just have fun! Because cheer camps can often be costly, many cheerleaders do not get to participate in such camps. This problem can be addressed by fundraising. There are countless ways for teams to fundraise.
One fundraiser, probably the most profitable, is the bake sale. In order to have a bake sale, a location must be reserved in advanced. A busy place, like outside of a supermarket, is a great place to have a bake sale because many people are constantly coming in and out of the store. Another great place to have a bake sale is outside of a children’s store because, from experience, I have learned that the majority of people who buy the baked goods are children or parents who have children. Another thing that a squad should think about before hosting a bake sale is what everyone will be baking and how much the baked goods will cost. Squads should try to bring a variety of different baked goods in order to offer an optimum selection for buyers. There are two different ways to price what is being sold. The most common way to price the items is to assign a certain price to each individual item. An original way is to ask customers for a donation, and in return let them choose whatever they want from the table. However it is done, a squad should make sure that the prices are reasonable. This past summer, the squad I’m on had a bake sale a couple of my teammates and I walked down to Dunkin’ Donuts and stood right near the exit of the drive-thru and, surprisingly, we made a lot of money! Bake sales are a great way to raise a ton of money.
Another effective fundraiser is the raffle. Squads can go door to door offering people a chance to enter a raffle, usually ten dollars a ticket. There are two different raffles that squads can choose from. One of the raffles, called the calendar raffle, requires a ticket to be randomly selected each day of the month. Each day, a different amount of money is awarded to the winner, ranging from 100 dollars to 500 dollars. The other raffle is called the 50-50 raffle, in which squads sell raffle tickets for a month and at the end of that month, randomly select a winner, who ins half of the money that the squad raised in the raffle. This encourages people to buy tickets because the more money that the cheerleaders raise, the more money the winner will be awarded. Although many people think that raffles are impossible to win, they aren’t. Take if from me; my grandmother and my dad have each won one of my squad’s raffles.
In order to be rewarded with fun camps, squads must work hard and brainstorm different fundraising ideas. Other fundraisers include car washes, yard sales, and home-made jewelry sales. Fundraising makes it possible for all squads to go to fun cheer camps.
One fundraiser, probably the most profitable, is the bake sale. In order to have a bake sale, a location must be reserved in advanced. A busy place, like outside of a supermarket, is a great place to have a bake sale because many people are constantly coming in and out of the store. Another great place to have a bake sale is outside of a children’s store because, from experience, I have learned that the majority of people who buy the baked goods are children or parents who have children. Another thing that a squad should think about before hosting a bake sale is what everyone will be baking and how much the baked goods will cost. Squads should try to bring a variety of different baked goods in order to offer an optimum selection for buyers. There are two different ways to price what is being sold. The most common way to price the items is to assign a certain price to each individual item. An original way is to ask customers for a donation, and in return let them choose whatever they want from the table. However it is done, a squad should make sure that the prices are reasonable. This past summer, the squad I’m on had a bake sale a couple of my teammates and I walked down to Dunkin’ Donuts and stood right near the exit of the drive-thru and, surprisingly, we made a lot of money! Bake sales are a great way to raise a ton of money.
Another effective fundraiser is the raffle. Squads can go door to door offering people a chance to enter a raffle, usually ten dollars a ticket. There are two different raffles that squads can choose from. One of the raffles, called the calendar raffle, requires a ticket to be randomly selected each day of the month. Each day, a different amount of money is awarded to the winner, ranging from 100 dollars to 500 dollars. The other raffle is called the 50-50 raffle, in which squads sell raffle tickets for a month and at the end of that month, randomly select a winner, who ins half of the money that the squad raised in the raffle. This encourages people to buy tickets because the more money that the cheerleaders raise, the more money the winner will be awarded. Although many people think that raffles are impossible to win, they aren’t. Take if from me; my grandmother and my dad have each won one of my squad’s raffles.
In order to be rewarded with fun camps, squads must work hard and brainstorm different fundraising ideas. Other fundraisers include car washes, yard sales, and home-made jewelry sales. Fundraising makes it possible for all squads to go to fun cheer camps.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The History of Cheerleading
Cheerleading has been around for many decades. It originated about twenty years after football. Believe it or not, men led the first cheers. It began as simply chanting words in order to encourage the team and has developed dramatically.
The history of cheerleading goes as far back as the late 1880's. The first organized, recorded yell was: "Rah, Rah, Rah! TIGER, TIGER, SIS, SIS, SIS! BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Aaaaah! PRINCETON, PRINCETON, PRINCETON!" This first cheer was performed at a pep rally at Princeton University. Although a good start, it did not carry over from the pep rally to the games for a few more years. One of Princeton's alumni, Thomas Peebles, moved to the University of Minnesota and in addition to taking along that first pep rally cheer, he also created a college “fight song.” However, it was Johnny Campbell, a first-year medical student, who led the initial organized cheer at a game in 1898. The inspiration to jump out in front of the bleachers came from two sources: a student letter and a professor's response. A student fan had written to the school newspaper to complain that their losing team would start winning if it had the backing of the fans. One of the university's professors took this statement one step further and declared that the combined stimuli of hundreds of students, focused on sending positive energy, would turn the tide of their losing streak. Johnny Campbell latched on to the theory and moved the cheers to the game. His example filtered to other campuses, paving the way for bigger changes, thus the history of cheerleading began.
Cheerleading was now a recognized force in schools. “Yell leaders” in the 1930's began to use megaphones, drums and noisemakers to heighten the excitement. Then World War II had come and men left to fight. Women took over cheerleading and began to dominate the sport. In fact, when Laurence “Herkie” Herkimer founded the Spirit Industry and organized the first cheerleader camp at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 1948, 52 girls attended. The camp taught fundamental cheerleading skills. Throughout the next two decades and into the 70's, the sport branched out to support wrestling, track and swimming, in addition to the well-established football and basketball. The expansion of cheerleading inevitably attracted the attention of television producers and, in1978, the International Cheerleading Foundation initiated the first nationwide broadcast of the Collegiate Cheerleading Championships.
By now, it was evident that the elevated skill levels being demonstrated in gymnastics, partner stunts, pyramids and advanced jumps needed uniformity to balance the competitive field. It's hard to imagine, but it was not until the 1980's that standards for cheerleading competitions were set. With these standards in place, the history of competitve cheerleading is relatively young compared to the history of cheerleading.
Cheerleading promotes community service projects and has been recognized by the media as an important way to promote enthusiastic, positive attitudes and school spirit. It's been quite a journey through the history of cheerleading; starting with Thomas Peebles' humble pep rally cheer to the competitive industry that exists today and make no mistake - cheerleading's popularity continues to roar.
Word Count- 525
The history of cheerleading goes as far back as the late 1880's. The first organized, recorded yell was: "Rah, Rah, Rah! TIGER, TIGER, SIS, SIS, SIS! BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Aaaaah! PRINCETON, PRINCETON, PRINCETON!" This first cheer was performed at a pep rally at Princeton University. Although a good start, it did not carry over from the pep rally to the games for a few more years. One of Princeton's alumni, Thomas Peebles, moved to the University of Minnesota and in addition to taking along that first pep rally cheer, he also created a college “fight song.” However, it was Johnny Campbell, a first-year medical student, who led the initial organized cheer at a game in 1898. The inspiration to jump out in front of the bleachers came from two sources: a student letter and a professor's response. A student fan had written to the school newspaper to complain that their losing team would start winning if it had the backing of the fans. One of the university's professors took this statement one step further and declared that the combined stimuli of hundreds of students, focused on sending positive energy, would turn the tide of their losing streak. Johnny Campbell latched on to the theory and moved the cheers to the game. His example filtered to other campuses, paving the way for bigger changes, thus the history of cheerleading began.
Cheerleading was now a recognized force in schools. “Yell leaders” in the 1930's began to use megaphones, drums and noisemakers to heighten the excitement. Then World War II had come and men left to fight. Women took over cheerleading and began to dominate the sport. In fact, when Laurence “Herkie” Herkimer founded the Spirit Industry and organized the first cheerleader camp at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 1948, 52 girls attended. The camp taught fundamental cheerleading skills. Throughout the next two decades and into the 70's, the sport branched out to support wrestling, track and swimming, in addition to the well-established football and basketball. The expansion of cheerleading inevitably attracted the attention of television producers and, in1978, the International Cheerleading Foundation initiated the first nationwide broadcast of the Collegiate Cheerleading Championships.
By now, it was evident that the elevated skill levels being demonstrated in gymnastics, partner stunts, pyramids and advanced jumps needed uniformity to balance the competitive field. It's hard to imagine, but it was not until the 1980's that standards for cheerleading competitions were set. With these standards in place, the history of competitve cheerleading is relatively young compared to the history of cheerleading.
Cheerleading promotes community service projects and has been recognized by the media as an important way to promote enthusiastic, positive attitudes and school spirit. It's been quite a journey through the history of cheerleading; starting with Thomas Peebles' humble pep rally cheer to the competitive industry that exists today and make no mistake - cheerleading's popularity continues to roar.
Word Count- 525
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