Cheerleading is a wonderful sport. Yes, sport don’t let idiots fool you, cheerleading is a very physical an active sport that requires a great deal of skill and energy. I was recently a varsity cheerleader at Goodrich High School from 2006-2010. We were a competitive cheerleading team like most nowadays. Being a competitive cheerleading team means that you compete in competitions, the competitions consist of each team performing a series of three routines. These routines are referred to as rounds. Competitive season lasts from November to March http://nca.varsity.com/. In the fall is football season cheer in which we do simple chants for football games and pep assemblies. It is kind of viewed as training season for competition.
Recently I ventured back to my hometown of Goodrich, Michigan for the school’s homecoming. At homecoming, the alumni cheerleaders are welcome to cheer the third quarter of the game out on the track with the other cheerleaders. It felt great to be back out there. I did a couple of back- handsprings with some old friends, even got put up in the stunt. Man, do I miss stunting. I loved being out there cheery and happy having the fans watch me again. It gives me a little rush of excitement. Cheerleaders are also very vital to football season. Half of the homecoming experience is having the cheerleaders there, what would high school football be without spirit? It would be lacking the happiness that cheerleaders bring to the community.
Also on homecoming I came up to the school early to watch my old team (minus the seniors, plus a few) perform their pep assembly routine. Pep assembly is a routine we could get really excited about. It is almost like all rounds of competition smushed into one, but without all the thousands of rules constricting/ limiting us. Pep assembly also is put to a mix of music, which recently (my freshman year of high school 2006-2007) was removed for the competitive cheerleading world in Michigan as well as many other states. Routines most be spoken, and loudly with inflection. Voices are judged and scored very strongly. Most people are hoping to have music be restored because it brings more of a fun an entertainment factor to it all, especially for spectators that don’t really know the cheerleading world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7gF5HHHxjI
couldnt figure out how to get this video up but it is Rochester, one of my all time favorite teams that we competed against. They always impress me.
Great read! My sister was on an all star cheer team and has been on the team sense a very young age. Cheer leading is most definitely a sport in my eyes, the effort and work put into it is sometimes unbelievable. My sister has come home with more black eyes as being a spotter than I ever did from all my other sports i played combined. Her all star team does 1, three minute routine though, rather than the three different routines. They are a little more complex than high school though and the passes they make on the mat are unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, my daughter has been cheering now for the past three years both regular and competitive. I have experienced the bruising and everything else from spotting and flying while participating in stunts when she has came from practices and games. I know that she is definently determind to be a great cheerleader and is quite passionate about what they do. The sad part is just that some dont quite take it as serious as they should but I hope that no one lets that stop them if in fact that is there sport of choice.
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