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<p>More at <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/nyregion/14title.html?ei=5094&en=090f473f31a8e170&hp=&ex=1168837200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1168790531-sL6WthDeX1V3759EAD6JBg[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/nyregion/14title.html?ei=5094&en=090f473f31a8e170&hp=&ex=1168837200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1168790531-sL6WthDeX1V3759EAD6JBg</a></p>
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So much for a supportive “sisterhood.”</p>
<p>The kids in the stands need to step it up if the cheerleaders aren’t there. My kids go (went) to an all-boys’ HS. No cheerleaders at all. Those boys can out-cheer ANY other school and their cheerleadering squads. And their sport teams are excellent.</p>
<p>(OK, so many of their cheers are just synchronized grunts…but they work!!! One of their classic cheers is “We are gay but we got play.” That is the result of everyone constantly “accusing” the boys at all boys’ schools of being gay. I know - it’s completely inappropriate. 
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<p>I thought Junior Varsity usually cheered for girls.</p>
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<p>It’s hard to think of a more obvious way to signal that girls’ sports are second rate.</p>
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C’mon. The daughter of the woman who filed the complaint had <em>no</em> issue with cheerleaders not being at her games. What was the point of this?</p>
<p>When I won our state’s high school diving championship (and made All-America the same year), my feelings of accomplishment (and the amount of pride my school held for these accomplishments) were in no way related to whether or not there were scantily-clad girls yelling for me (they did make a “Good Luck” sign to hang on the 5-meter tower, though 
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<p>Those who take part in sports that are less “popular” or not as spectator heavy have always suffered “cheerleader discrimination.” So? </p>
<p>This ridiculous suit stretched the intent of Title IX.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
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weenie, I attended a nationally televised H.S. football game this fall played by two all-boy Catholic preps. The visiting team’s cheering section was incredibly loud & boisterous. Hundreds had come from out of state for the game. I wish I had brought earplugs. In fact, when the ESPN cameras filmed them, the boys all rushed to the bleacher guardrail, making the “#1” symbol. In a split second, the guard rail gave way and about 50 boys tumbled onto the track. Thank God nobody was injured! </p>
<p>The home team uses girls from a sister all-girl Catholic for cheering squads.</p>
<p>You were an All-American, berurah? Cool!</p>
<p>It’s true that the less heavily attended sports don’t get as much attention from cheerleaders. And even in the same sport, it is highly unusual for girls games to draw the crowds that the boys do. I watched an NCAA BIg East Conference Championship in women’s soccer. About 50 fans were in attendance.</p>
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And the question is this…how big a difference would the presence of cheerleaders have made in the size/enthusiasm of the crowd? You can’t force some equalities, try as you might. The truly excellent athletes I’ve known have pursued their sports for reasons more intrinsic than the cheering of the crowd.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Our girls basketball team out draws the boys. The women’s team at our local college outdraws their men’s team with regularity. </p>
<p>The cheerleaders do come to the high school home district games for the girls. Equal? No, but pretty good. Things are getting better. </p>
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Now come on b. No kid wants their parent publically meddling and drawing attention to what may be a politically unwelcome position. Most just want to “blend”. To have mom draw a target on your rear isn’t usually what a kid wants, no matter the validity of the position mom is taking .</p>
<p>I never realized that this was an issue. In my experience (high school level) varsity cheerleaders cheer for the varsity sports that utilize cheerleaders (basketball, both women’s and men’s and football) and JV cheerleaders cheer for the JV teams.</p>
<p>For me, the issue is not so much how the athletes feel but the signal it sends. Cute girls cheering for the big, strong boys who are actually doing the playing. If there is a reason to have cheerleaders at all, that reason should apply to all sports. School spirit is school spirit. At d’s high school, there are cheerleaders at the boys’ basketball games but not at the girls’. That’s plain sexist. (Now if there are no cheerleaders anywhere I don’t have a problem - like for swimming.)</p>
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Unless the cheerleading squads contain equal numbers of boys/girls, the squads themselves are sexist.</p>
<p>Personally, as a female h.s. athlete, I’d have preferred some gorgeous, hunky scantily clad males cheering for me. Just sayin’… ;)</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
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I guess that’s what these girls want, though. Some quit because they didn’t want to cheer for girls. </p>
<p>I do have to admit to an anti-cheerleader bias. I just think it is dumb to jump around with pompoms. I get a kick out of the USC Song girls, notorious for cheering as the opposing team scores on extra-point attempts. Several of my nieces cheer. They do the competitive kind & are amazing gymnasts. One cheered for an NFL team for a couple years, as well, and won scholarship $$$ for cheering. My d is an athlete who never wanted to cheer. (SHe’s a great dancer, though.) Neither she nor I could care less if any cheering squad is on the sidelines when she competes.</p>
<p>When I first saw this article, I rolled my eyes. But after reading it, my opinion changed. If there is a cheerleading squad, it should cheer at both girls and boys games. </p>
<p>And men can be cheerleaders, too.</p>
<p>Hmm, they just started doing this at my old high school, but in truth, it’s such a small school and community that most of the cheerleaders go to the girls’ games anyway when they have time, so the only difference is now they’re in uniform. They don’t go to boys’ away games, but since most of our opponents are about an hour away by bus, the girls and their parents like this arrangement better.</p>
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<p>I think D might have supported that idea,too. ;)</p>
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Maybe that’s an option for all the men’s wrestlers & swimmers who have lost their sports to Title IX.</p>
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Come to think of it, I <em>DID</em> have those…they just weren’t in cheerleading outfits. <em>lol</em> But, when your sport requires you to “play” in a swimsuit, that’s to be expected… ;)</p>
<p>~b.</p>
<p>As to an anti cheerleading bias - I’ve always liked them but D and her mom “robustly” high fived each other at the end of cheer season in the 7th grade and swore they would never consider it again. They both hated the whole scene. (Not to mention D wasn’t all that good at it. Forced “peppiness” was not exactly her style.)</p>