Cheerleader facts for kids
Cheerleading is an exciting activity that combines elements from dance, gymnastics, and special lifts called stunts. Cheerleaders perform to support sports teams at games, or they compete against other cheerleading teams. A person who does cheerleading is called a cheerleader. This activity is most popular in North America.
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History of Cheerleading
Cheerleading began at Princeton University in the 1880s. Students would chant together to show school spirit at football games. A few years later, in 1884, Thomas Peebles brought this idea to the University of Minnesota.
The very first cheerleader was Johnny Campbell. In 1898, he stood in front of a crowd at the University of Minnesota and led them in a chant. Soon after, the university formed a "yell leader" group of four male students.
Cheerleading started as an activity only for males. But in the 1920s, females began to join. This was partly because there were not many sports for women in colleges yet. By the 1940s, cheerleading was mostly done by females. Today, about 90% of cheerleaders are female, but many males still participate, especially in college.
Cheerleading is most often seen at American football games. It is also common at basketball games. Other sports like soccer, ice hockey, or wrestling sometimes have cheerleaders. Some sports, like baseball, usually do not.
In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer created the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). This group started holding cheerleading workshops. The first workshop in 1949 had 52 girls. The next year, 350 cheerleaders attended. By the 1950s, most high schools in America had cheerleading teams.
By the 1960s, cheerleading was a big part of American high school and college sports. Organized cheerleading competitions began. In 1967, the International Cheerleading Foundation gave out awards for the "Top Ten College Cheerleading Squads." Competitive cheerleading was first shown on TV in 1978 on CBS.
In the 1960s, National Football League (NFL) teams started their own professional cheerleading teams. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders became very famous. They debuted a new style in the 1972-1973 season. This new look was widely seen at Super Bowl X in 1976. It changed how many people saw cheerleaders. Other NFL teams soon copied their style. Today, most professional teams' "cheerleading" squads are more like dance teams. They usually do not lead crowd cheers or perform modern cheerleading stunts.
The 1980s brought modern cheerleading. Routines started to include more difficult stunts and gymnastics. Cheerleading groups also began to create safety rules. They offered training courses for coaches. In 1984, Cheer Ltd. Inc. started the National Cheer Conference (NCC). This conference taught coaches cheerleading techniques. The AACCA is a well-known safety group that has offered safety courses since 1987.
Today, about 4 million people in the United States are involved in cheerleading. The movie Bring It On (2000) was a popular film about cheerleading. It had two sequels: Bring It On Again and Bring It On: All or Nothing.
Cheerleading Jumps
Jumps are exciting parts of cheerleading routines. Here are some common ones:
- Toe Touch: In this jump, a cheerleader spreads their legs wide and straight, parallel to the ground. Their toes point, and arms are in a "T" shape. Even though it's called a "toe touch," you don't actually touch your toes. This is the most common jump.
- Tuck: For this jump, the cheerleader pulls their legs up using their stomach muscles. Their thighs are parallel to the ground, and knees are together and pointing forward.
- Hurdler: One leg is straight, either forward (front hurdler) or to the side (side hurdler). The other leg is bent. Arms are usually in a "T" shape or a touchdown motion.
- Pike: This is one of the hardest jumps. Both legs are straight out in front, with knees locked. Arms reach forward to create a folded shape in the air.
- Around the World: Also called a pike-out. The cheerleader first performs a pike jump. Then, they quickly move their legs into a toe touch position while still in the air. This jump is very difficult because it requires two positions in a short time.
- Herkie: Named after Lawrence R. Herkimer, who founded the NCA. This jump is like a side hurdler. However, the arms are opposite to the legs. For example, the straight arm is on the side of the bent leg.
- Double Nine: Similar to a pike jump, but one leg and one arm are bent. This forms two shapes that look like the number "9."
- Double Hook: In this jump, both legs are bent into a "cheer sit" position.
- Double Jump: This means performing any jump twice in a row.
- Power Jump: For this jump, the cheerleader does not swing their arms to get power. All the power comes from their legs.
Cheerleading Stunting
A stunt involves one to four people lifting or tossing a cheerleader into the air. In all-girl cheerleading, stunts usually have two to four people on the ground. In co-ed (partner) stunts, there is usually one male base and one female flyer.
Pyramids or mounts are when several stunts are connected in the air. This can be simple, like flyers holding hands. Or it can be complex, with flyers already in the air acting as bases for other flyers on top of them.
Positions in Stunting
- Flyers are the cheerleaders who are held or tossed into the air.
- Bases are the cheerleaders who hold and toss the flyers.
- Backspots stand behind the flyer and bases. They have three main jobs:
# To help prevent the stunt from falling and to catch the flyer if it does. # To help the bases by lifting some of the flyer's weight, making the stunt more stable. # To help the flyer safely get down from the stunt. Backspots often call out the stunt's start and end.
- Frontspots have similar jobs to backspots. They are often used by younger or less experienced teams.
Tumbling in Cheerleading
Tumbling involves gymnastic moves. The most basic tumbling skills are a roll, a cartwheel, or a round-off. Other basic but harder skills include back-handsprings and round-off back-handsprings.
More advanced tumbling skills include:
- Back tucks
- Layouts
- Arabians
- Whipbacks
- Twisting layouts (fulls)
- Front tumbling, such as front handsprings and punch fronts.
Cheers, Chants and Sidelines
Every cheerleading team has its own special cheers and chants. Often, the cheerleaders and coaches create these themselves.
- Cheers are usually longer than chants. They often include jumps, tumbling, or stunting. Cheers focus on supporting a mascot or team and getting the crowd to join in. Each word often has a specific motion.
- Chants are short and repeated. They are usually said three times. Chants often have simple motions that can be done while standing in a line or just by clapping to a beat.
- Sidelines are also usually repeated three times. They typically include motions.
Images for kids
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Minnesota Gopher cheerleader Johnny Campbell
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Cheerleaders at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1948
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The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (1983) performing in the USO show "America and Her Music" on the deck of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser USS Bainbridge (CGN-25)
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Cheerleading is a mainstream activity in the U.S. Picture shows U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld posing with U.S. Army cheerleaders, 2004.
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Youth cheerleaders during a football halftime show. Youth cheer—high school ages and younger—make up the vast majority of cheerleaders and cheer teams.
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Competitive cheer - Paramount Cheerleaders doing a scale
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The competition floor at Final Destination
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High school cheerleaders in Montreal in 1943
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Mexican cheerleaders at a soccer game in Monterrey, Mexico.
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Cheerleader
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See also
In Spanish: Animación (deporte) para niños
