...involved parents; and a huge national title at stake describes the weekly scenario for a competitive cheerleader. Many people like to say that cheerleading could never be a sport because all they do is cheer on other male-dominated sports right? Yet, this is not...
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...Cheerleading Is A Sport She is tumbling down the court finishing her roundoff back handspring as she lands on her ankle. We all hear a crack as she starts to cry out in pain. Risks are involved in this activity and pushing yourself to become the best that you can be. Sports do that with every player or teammate. Cheerleading drives you to go above and beyond;therefore, it is indeed a sport. Camaraderie and teamwork are essential to sports all over the world, including cheer. A comment from m.mic.com says, “Whether your talking about high school or college cheerleading, there needs to be this level of trust, especially when you’re doing stunts.” Every sport, such as baseball or basketball, needs energetic cohesion, which top cheer teams have. Cohesion plays an important role in sports because once your team has strong cohesion or bond, the team will advance in skill level. With sports teams there needs to be a superior level of bonding to increase accomplishment and there is more camaraderie in cheer than what meets the eye, which is why cheerleading is a sport. With every sport, including cheerleading, you’re constantly at risk of getting hurt. Renee R said, “Emergency room visits for cheerleading are five times the number, then for any other sport, partially because they do not wear protective gear.”...
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...My high school career has been centralized around cheerleading for teams at my high school and competition squads. Cheerleading has allowed me opportunities to support my school, community, and peers and encourage others to do the same. Being a member and captain of my high school cheer squad and competition team has had a profound impact on my attitudes and how I present myself in different situations in my life. Cheerleading has taught me different leadership strategies which have enabled me to be a successful leader. I have learned how to identify the talents and strengths of others and use them to help team members feel valued and good about themselves which leads to a strong, united squad. I have gained an understanding of the importance...
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...Oblong Cheerleaders…More Than Just Standing on the Sidelines By: Brooke Goodwin The Oblong High School cheerleaders have been competing for eight years in the small varsity division. We compete at about four competitions a year, depending on how well we are doing that year; we could go to more competitions. The competitions are usually about two to two and a half hours away. Oblong cheerleaders have qualified for the IHSA state competition during the last four years and for the ICCA championship two years in a row. To qualify for the IHSA state meet the squad must make it in the top five at their respective sectional, this year ours was in Highland, Illinois. For the ICCA championship, a squad must make seventy-five percent of their overall score. This year OHS cheerleaders went to six competitions. Oblong went to three ICCA competitions and qualified at all three. OHS also placed fourth at the IHSA competition and was lucky enough to get to go to state. We also qualified to move onto the ICCA championship. Oblong is in the small varsity division due to our enrollment of under 660 students in our high school. There are also other divisions such as medium, large, and co-ed. The small varsity division consists of twelve or less girls or eleven girls and one guy. The medium division can have thirteen to sixteen girls or less. The large varsity can have seventeen or more on the floor, but also like the other divisions, they can have less. The co-ed division may...
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...Is Cheerleading a Sport? While cheerleading conjures images of pompoms and skirts, it has relied on athletic accomplishments of agility and strength in recent years. As participants have perfected their basket tosses and pyramid routines, a complicated question has appeared: has cheerleading become a true sport? For many women, the answer for a long time was no. They feared that calling it a sport sent the wrong message to women- that cheerleading was a time when girls in tight-fitting outfits were expected to yell support for boys. But other women fumed at what felt like an insult. Why should cheerleading not be considered a sport when it requires a complex set of skills, physical fitness and real guts? Every cheerleader gets fired up when someone tries to argue with...
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...She knew that her parents were struggling with money and that her family was lucky to have dinner on the table every night. Stringer has always been a very determined, athletic person since she was very little. She played sports with the boys in the neighborhood. She couldn't play sports in high school because there were no girls' teams. She decided to try out for the cheerleading squad. She was cut from the team because of her race. She sued the school for denying her a position because she was black, and she won the case. She was given a spot on the cheerleading squad and became the first African American cheerleader in her town. She showed her desire to excel and succeed and was the best member on the squad. This was the first of many accomplishments to come. Vivian has been National Coach of the Year and has taken many teams into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Her husband died in 1992, and since then she has been a single parent working full time. She has two sons and her daughter is in a wheelchair. Stringer survived breast cancer. However, in her opinion her biggest accomplishment is touching the lives of young women and helping them become the best they can be. For her, winning is second to enriching the lives of her student athletes. Vivian makes them work together as a team. If two players don't like each other, nobody is able to tell. On the floor, during practice, and games they work together with no problems. It lets them know that even if...
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...feeling activity." To me, cheerleading equals inspiration! During my freshman year, I went to one of our high school rallies. I watch the cheerleaders, admired how well they danced and got the crowd involved. I figured with a little practice and a lot of dedication, I could be an inspirational leader, or cheerleader! I enrolled in cheerleading classes with Gym Stars, in order to prepare myself for trying out to be a high school cheerleader. There are two types of cheerleading. The first type is "game" or "on the field" cheering. The second type is "club," "competitive," or "all-star (Murray, Sardo, Keeton15)." Cheerleading is an important sport because of the history, the certain requirements, and the vital information to minimize risk and serious injury. The history of cheerleading dates back to 1870. The first recorded cheer was developed at Princeton University. The group was all male, and performed at the first intercollegiate football game with Rutgers( Murray, Sardo, Keeton 18). The roaring 20's saw mostly all men donning school colors and using megaphones to lead cheers. In 1950, the majority of cheerleaders were females. The men went away, and the women cheered at halftime shows, and different activities at colleges and universities throughout the world (Murray, Sardo, Keeton 18). George W. Bush, our 43rd president, was a yell leader in the 1960's. He performed during his college years at Yale. During the 70's, the NCA, or National cheerleading Association, trained over...
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...Appearance The way we dress, walk, and talk says a lot about us. Physical appearance has to do with how a person grooms himself or herself. This narrows down the clothing and accessories one wears. Although appearance should not be how we judge a person, most of us get that habit from our family. Unfortunately, the reality is that people judge others by outer appearance. As Brent Staples describes in his story, “Youngish black man-a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket-seemed menacingly close.” (Staples 241) The woman walking by him was terrified of him. She was judging him by his appearance; by what he was wearing. Among other things, which form an individual’s appearance besides clothing is how one grooms. We have the tendency of assuming a person is a certain way because of their appearance. In comparison, how a person shaves, does their hair gives them a certain personality. Also the way they talk, move, and smile, says a lot about a person. I have worked in the banking industry for five years and have learned a few things about people. As a result, working in the banking industry you get to see and meet different type of people. There was this one older lady that every morning would stop at the bank and have a cup of our complimentary coffee. She was never groomed her outfit was not up to date with todays fashion; It was like she has just gotten out of bed. First thing that came...
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...Captain Essay There are many reasons why I would like to be a captain for the Cedar Shoals Cheerleading team. Like many other girls out here, cheerleading is more than just a sport. I see it as a time to show leadership, friendship, bonding with peers, etc. Cheering is more than just shaking pom-poms and having school spirit, it’s a sport that shows you’re commitment to your team. I remember as a little girl, I would go to my brother’s basketball games and my attention would automatically be drawn to the cheerleaders. As a child, I was always inspired by the cheerleaders due to the fact that they wore their school colors with pride and had so much confidence. I knew from then on out I wanted to be a cheerleader. The first time I tried out for cheerleading was the end of my 6th grade year. Cheering all throughout middle school really showed me what commitment, dedication, confidence, and school spirit was all about. Being a cheerleading not only supports the school, but it sets you as a role model to others. I never knew how much people really looked up to us as cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are not only working as a whole to represent the school, we are being judged as whole. It’s taught me that people are looking up to us as role models, so we have to be cautious of what we say or do. At the end of the day, we are representing the school as a whole. Being a part of the varsity squad for 2 years has opened my eyes dramatically. I now look at cheering in a whole different...
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...English Comp. 2 March 15 2015 Is cheerleading a sport? Somehow everyone is still talking about is cheerleading a sport, I guess they aren’t convinced yet. Cheerleading is something that is active and just about any and everybody can participate in, others think it is not a sport because it is not as active as track, football, and basketball. This sport can give people courage and can bring out the best in you and it can make you feel great inside and make you want to work together with people and as a team just like any other sport. Teamwork is the dream work. Cheerleaders are commonly seen on the sidelines at football and basketball games supporting their teams. Fans just see them as other people supporting their team. However, the cheerleaders have to go through rigorous training and practice all the time to perfect the routines displayed at games. Along with cheering on the sidelines at games, most cheerleading squads participate in heated competitions to show their athleticism. Although it is not officially defined as a sport by the NCAA, it obviously should be for many different reasons. Dictionary.com defines a sport as "an athletic activity that requires physical prowess or skill and often a competitive nature. Cheerleading is defined as” the action and skill of a cheerleader.” So what is a cheerleader? A cheerleader is’ a person who leads spectators in traditional or formal cheering at a pep rally and athletic events. Cheerleading definitely fulfills this criteria...
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...Cheerleading 101 Cheerleading began for me at the age of twelve. In the past I had played soccer, basketball, softball, did ballet. Basically every activity my mom could possibly put me in. All of those activities were okay, but cheerleading became something that was special to me. I first began cheering in middle school for the Hazelwood West Junior Wildcats. I cheered on the team throughout middle school literally dedicating all of my free time to cheerleading. I lived, ate, and dreamed cheer. I went on to continue cheering throughout my high school career, cheering for all Hazelwood West athletics, including: soccer, football, basketball, and wrestling. I was a hardcore dedicated athlete, and I had spirit like no other. From traditional sideline cheerleading to competition cheerleading I have really done it all. Being a top- notch cheerleader did not come easy at all though. It took dedication, practice, and determination. In cheerleading the most important thing is motion placement. As noted by the National Cheerleading Association, motions must be sharp, strong, and neat. (National) These motions come into play in more than just cheers and sidelines you perform. They are in the dance move that you will execute and the stunts you intend on hitting. Proper arm placement is also a must. You want to avoid things like cocked wrists, bent arms, and overextension of the arms. The basic motion of a cheerleader is the ready position, which is hand behind your back with your feet...
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...Is Cheerleading a Sport? Cheerleading is like the planet Pluto. Many people believe that Pluto is no longer a planet, but others disagree. Just like cheerleading, many people think it is a sport, but others also disagree. When someone sees pluto as a dwarf planet, they don’t consider it to be an actual planet. Cheerleading is often mistaken as not a sport because it is not an olympic sport. Just because an object is missing an element, doesn’t mean it should be considered something different. Cheerleading is a sport; cheer teams compete in national competitions, cheer training is long and hard, and cheer has been considered a olympic sport. When someone brings up cheerleading, many people picture in their minds girls cheering at a basketball,...
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...Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas is best known as the first African American to win the individual all-around event. She also won gold medals for the U.S. in the team competitions at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. Gabrielle Douglas was born on December 31, 1995, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She began formal gymnastics training at 6 years old and won a state championship by the time she was 8. She moved away from her hometown and family in 2010 to pursue training with a world-renowned Olympic trainer, and was selected to compete with the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. There, Douglas became the first African American to win gold in the individual all-around event. She also won team gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games. American gymnast Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas, better known as Gabby Douglas, was born on December 31, 1995, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Timothy Douglas and Natalie Hawkins. Her first experience with gymnastics came at the age of 3, when she perfected a straight cartwheel using a technique that she learned from her older sister, Arielle, a former gymnast. By age 4, Douglas had taught herself how to do a one-handed cartwheel. With encouragement from Gabby's sister, Douglas's mother allowed Gabby to begin taking formal gymnastics classes at the age of 6. Only two years later, in 2004, she was named a Virginia State Gymnastics Champion. When Douglas turned 14, she left her hometown and family, and moved...
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...Cheerleading has changed a lot over the years and is no longer what people think it is. It isn’t shaking pompoms around and yelling to the crowd anymore. What do you think of when you think of a sport? Many people begin to think of rigorous competition between two teams. As for cheerleading, it doesn’t often get considered a sport because a lot of people think just because they’re not scoring against other cheer teams, it can’t be considered a sport. Some people may be asking their selves, “What’s the big deal with cheerleading not being a sport?” Well since some schools don’t consider cheerleading being a sport, they don’t require a lot of equipment. More recognized sports get safer equipment, medical care, certified coaches, and longer practice times. At some schools, just because they think cheerleading doesn’t require physical activity, cheerleading doesn’t get much safety equipment, but cheerleading should be considered a sport because it’s physically demanding, requires teamwork, and involves rough competition. The main reason people think cheerleading isn’t a sport is because...
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...One could view cheerleading, specifically the process of stunting, as a continuum of collaborative projects. As three people work together to lift another in the air, people’s physical well-being depends on the success of those collaborations. Even if one member does not contribute their full part, something is bound to go wrong, whether it be the stunt falls or is unstable. When this occurs, we always jump into the conversation about why that happened and how to fix it. Over the years, through many trials and errors, I have learned optimal ways to approach these conversations so as to alleviate frustrations and minimize tensions. Focusing on just the things I can control, I first claim responsibility for anything I may have done wrong and...
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