<p>
Yes. BUT…most of the gals who want to be taken seriously for this stuff take it to the gym or the pool–with gymnastics or diving.</p>
<p>Right, berurah. But nobody would be watching, and that’s the primary reason most cheerleaders take part.</p>
<p>
Yeppers…</p>
<p>And who says everybody wants to be taken seriously?</p>
<p>A lot of the girls who were on the college squad with me (and who were cheerleaders in high school, unlike me) picked cheerleading over competitive gymnastics just because it appealed to them more. </p>
<p>Personally, I found the stunting and competition part of cheerleading to be more fun than cheering at games (they’re long, and your feet hurt after standing there for a few hours), and I developed some pretty serious guns by being a base. But you still do need cheers in a competition routine – where else in the routine are you going to catch your breath for a few seconds?</p>
<p>My d was a varsity cheerleader and it has been district policy for years that varsity will cheer at all home varsity girls’ basketball and volleyball games…and JV will cheer the JV girls’ games. She loved it…her two best friends were on the varsity girls’ basketball team and she would have been there for them in the stands anyway. The only grief (minor) the cheerleaders ever got was from the parents (
curmudgeon), when they inadvertently obstructed the spectators’ view of the game. Cheering in a gymnasium is a little more restrictive than a football field, so they did their best to modify. They cut back on the pyramids, scorps and tumbling…and focused on getting the crowd to yell the appropriate things at the appropriate times.</p>
<p>They were always treated very well by the women athletes…but I have to say…our cheerleaders are phenomenal athletes themselves and I think there was a mutual respect thing going on there.</p>
<p>mollie - I laughed at your post. That’s what ldgirl used to say…‘look at my guns Mom!’ (For her competitive squad, she was a base (tiny flyers) and cross tumbler. For school, where everyone was a little bit bigger, she was a front spot. She hated front spot btw…felt useless there.)</p>
<p>re: the skill/being taken seriously comments. </p>
<p>I think the situation varies from location to location. Here in the suburbs of Houston, our high school is located near a serious gymnastics facility that has placed many a gymnast on the US National Teams over the years. (Look for one of ours coming up on the next men’s team…out of OU.) But sometimes these kids end up with chronic back and wrist injuries that put them out of the sport; and they turn to cheerleading (and to diving…serious diving up in The Woodlands ya know) as a way to continue using their skills, but not at such an intensive pace. So when I say our squads are serious athletes, I’m not exaggerating. In fact, it has gotten extremely difficult to make a high school squad in our district without at least a full and a standing back, in addition to dance and cheerleading skills…and that is because of the influx of gymnasts into the sport of cheerleading, not the other way around. (And now that competitive squads compete on spring floor, you will see combination tumbling passes with double fulls, punchfronts, arabians that rival anything you’ve seen in gymnastics competitions on TV.)</p>
<p>Our two senior cheerleaders last year were both top 10% and both are presently attending A+M. I don’t know about one but the other has a 4.0 after the first semester. Neither has a tattoo or a baby. I guess we are just so behind the times. It’s not fair. Y’all have all the good stories about cheerleaders. <em>sniff</em>;)</p>
<p>Our squads were always split between the ‘super human’ overachiever types and the ‘party girls’. But all were skilled and serious about cheerleading (for some this was ALL they were serious about). So far, knock wood, no unwed mothers on the cheer squads in our district.</p>
<p>
WE’RE the ones who are behind the times… :eek:</p>
<p>
Good point! ITA! :)</p>
<p>Berurah, I am sure she’s giving an accurate portrayal. Which is why it’s such a devestating argument against schools supporting and promoting that kind of activity. Good portrayal, poor defense.</p>
<p>“That they jump, tumble, and stand on the shoulders of others in micro-mini skirts? Would their ability to do their jobs (enthusiastically yell and tumble) be affected if they wore something less revealing? If not, then why DO they wear those outfits instead of sweats/shorts and a t-shirt?”</p>
<p>I’m going to agree in part with this and also disagree. As someone previous mentioned, in cheerleading, it is extremely difficult to do what needs to be done in a sweatshirt or loose t-shirt…and it’s actually unsafe. And as skimpy as those outfits may be, they are made of thick polyester and the girls are usually miserablely hot in them. But… I absolutely detest the competition uniforms that display bare midriffs and the teeny, TEENY skirts with the sequined bloomers (and the Cirque du Soleil hair and makeup). It is a distraction and imho, demeaning and unnecessary. The girls don’t like it either…they break land records getting tummies and legs covered up as soon as they get off the springfloor. It’s my pet peeve, because clearly ADULTS (coaches/judges) are the ones insisting on this nonsense. And parents are guilty of tolerating it…(myself included, though I was quite famous and persona non grata among coaches for griping about it.)</p>
<p>Thank goodness, our school district required covered midriffs and bike shorts under skirts at all events…but the competition uniforms at private gyms are ridiculous. </p>
<p>BTW… Our athletes DO appreciate their cheerleaders. Our school cheer squad goes to school nationals every year (usually in Atlanta) and always, at the last dress rehearsal (called a ‘show off’ in cheer lingo), it is tradition for the athletes (men and women), administration, teachers, etc… show up at the training facility to give them a proper send off by ‘cheering for the cheerleaders’.</p>
<p>
I’d rather see them wear fitted shorts than the little skirts that give the “peek-a-boo” effect. And a fitted tank instead of the midriff baring stuff…JMO. Like you said, some of the outfits <em>are</em> demeaning and contribute to cheerleading not being taken more seriously as a sport requiring talent and skill.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>
From my limited experience, I’d agree with this.</p>
<p>Our squad had several-years-old uniforms which showed midriffs (which we all hated), and my junior year we were looking to get new uniforms. Unfortunately, that was the year we decided to get a “real” cheerleading coach. Needless to say, he picked out an absurdly short skirt for the new uniforms – and after he left, we went back to wearing the midriff-baring uniforms with the slightly longer skirts. Devil and the deep blue sea…</p>
<p>ldmom, I dislike front spotting too. You just feel like window dressing! I always got to be a base, because at MIT we have plenty of tiny little girls to fly. ;)</p>
<p>And, mollie, frontspots have to worry about getting their teeth kicked in when the flyer fulldowns! I constantly told my d to protect our investment in that mouth full of beautiful teeth! Frontspotting is all danger and no glory since all anyone gets is a good look at your back during the stunts.</p>
<p>Berurah - To me, the best uniforms are fitted tops with long-sleeve and turtle necklines, covered midriff and straight skirts with bike shorts. Add some serious diagonal trim on the arms and you’ve got something that looks athletic …kind of like a downhill skier might wear…except for the bare legs which you can’t avoid. And forget the froufrou hair and makeup. That is just ridiculous.</p>
<p>But hey…does anyone ever listen to ME? lol! No! And as long as ldgirl stays away from those UNC cheer girls who were trying to recruit her at the beginning of the year, I’ll never have to worry about it again! (Thank goodness! )</p>
<p>^^^Yes, ld, those outfits sound a lot nicer to me…</p>
<p>I agree with something chedva touched on in an earlier post, re: tiny Pop Warner cheerleaders.
Was surprised (disturbed) last year to see how many of (then 7-yr-old) daughter’s 2nd grade friends had become cheerleaders for their tiny football player classmates.</p>
<p>The cheerleaders at my school are all rather good and nice. They do go to girls basketball games. However, I have to take pictures at most of the school sport events, and I get to stand RIGHT in the middle of the varsity cheer squad. They NEVER stop talking about boys, school, stunts, anything. It is like a talk show during the game. Insane. They forget their routines and discuss how badly they did the last move right after they’ve done it. They do random spins (which are actually somewhat interesting to watch, cause they are in unison), but TWO of them fell flat on their faces right in front of me. They cheer at the wrong moments (like during free throws) and obviously do not know how the game is played. </p>
<p>A couple of them I know and have good intentions, but it is all executed rather badly and they should show a little bit more respect for the team by actually learning about the point systems and basic rules of the games.</p>
<p>This just pertains to my school, though. I am sure that cheerleading reaches a higher tier than what is here.</p>
<p>I dont’ have time to read the entire thread, but my first thought on reading the article was that they should organize male cheerleaders to cheer female sports teams. That would be fair and still play to what high school cheerleading is all about…which is cheering for the opposite sex. Well, isn’t it? </p>
<p>I really don’t think you can impose “sisterhood” on it. MHO.</p>
<p>At our h.s. the cheerleaders cheer for both boys and girls basketball (jv also) and for football. They cheer for all home and away games. </p>
<p>I was a cheerleader in h.s.(same state) and we did the same.</p>
<p>I will agree with Christalena2 about cheerleaders being oblivious to what’s going on sometimes. I was very knowledgeable about football when I cheered. Couldn’t help it. My bother was QB for state championship team. I spent half my childhood watching football. The cheerleaders at S’s high school rarely even turn around to see what’s happeneing on the football field. S2 is a football player and says it drives the players nuts for the cheerleaders to be standing directly behid the team chanting about making a touchdown when the team is on defense. All cheerleaders should have to have a crash course on the sport they are cheering for so they can do it correctly.</p>