This article is about U.S.-style cheerleading. For Japanese-style cheerleading, see Ōendan. "Cheerleaders" redirects here. For the 2005 pornographic film, see Cheerleaders (film).

College cheerleaders performing a liberty stunt

All-Star cheerleaders performing a prep double

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate in competitions. The athlete involved is called a cheerleader. Cheerleading originated in the United States, and remains a predominantly American activity, with an estimated 1.5 million participants in all-star cheerleading. The growing presentation of cheerleading as a sport to a global audience has been led by the 1997 start of broadcasts of cheerleading competition by ESPN International and the worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring it On. Due in part to this recent exposure, there are now an estimated 100,000 participants scattered around the rest of the world in countries including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan,^[1] the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.^[2]

History[link]

Minnesota Gopher cheerleader Johnny Campbell

Organized cheerleading started as an all-male activity.^[3]

As early as 1877, Princeton University was known to have a "Princeton Cheer", documented in the February 22, 1877, March 12, 1880, and November 4, 1881, issues of the Daily Princetonian.^[4][5][6] This cheer was yelled from the stands by students at games, as well as by the baseball and football athletes themselves. The cheer, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Tiger! S-s-s-t! Boom! A-h-h-h!" remains in use with slight modifications even today and is now referred to as the "Locomotive".^[7]

Princeton class of 1882 graduate Thomas Peebles moved to Minnesota in 1884, and transplanted the idea of organized crowds cheering at football games to the University of Minnesota.^[8][9] The term "Cheer Leader" had been used as early as 1897, with Princeton's football officials having named three students as Cheer Leaders: Thomas, Easton and Guerin from Princeton's classes of 1898, 1898 and 1899, respectively, on October 26, 1897; these students would cheer for the team also at football practices, and special cheering sections were designated in the stands for the games themselves for both the home and visiting teams.^[10][11]

However, it was not until 1898 that University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed a crowd in cheering "Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!", making Campbell the very first cheerleader and November 2, 1898 the official birth date of organized cheerleading. Soon after, the University of Minnesota organized a "yell leader" squad of six male students, who still use Campbell's original cheer.^[12] In 1903 the first cheerleading fraternity, Gamma Sigma, was founded.^[13]

Women joined cheerleading prior to 1907 and began to dominate the sport during World War II, when few men were involved in organized sports. At that time, there were no collegiate sports for women but women were allowed to participate in cheering squads. Gymnastics, tumbling, and megaphones were incorporated into popular cheers, and are still used.^[3]

Estimates show that 97% of modern cheerleading participants overall are female. However, at the collegiate level cheerleading is a co-ed sport with 50% of participants being male.^[14]

Cornell University cheerleader on a 1906 postcard

In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, of Dallas, Texas, a former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) as a way to hold cheerleading clinics. In 1949, The NCA held its first clinic in Huntsville, Texas, with 52 girls in attendance.^[14] Herkimer contributed many firsts to the sport: the founding of the Cheerleader & Danz Team cheerleading uniform supply company, inventing the herkie (where one leg is bent towards the ground and the other is out to the side as high as it will stretch in the toe-touch position),^[15] and creating the "Spirit Stick".^[13] By the 1960s, college cheerleaders began hosting workshops across the nation, teaching fundamental cheer skills to high-school-age girls. In 1965, Fred Gastoff invented the vinyl pom-pon, which was introduced into competitions by the International Cheerleading Foundation (now the World Cheerleading Association or WCA). Organized cheerleading competitions began to pop up with the first ranking of the "Top Ten College Cheerleading Squads" and "Cheerleader All America" awards given out by the International Cheerleading Foundation in 1967. In 1978, America was introduced to competitive cheerleading by the first broadcast of Collegiate Cheerleading Championships on CBS.^[12][13]

In the 1960s National Football League (NFL) teams began to organize professional cheerleading teams. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders soon gained the spotlight with their revealing outfits and sophisticated dance moves, which debuted in the 1972–1973 season, but were first seen widely in Super Bowl X (1976). This caused the image of cheerleaders to permanently change, with many other NFL teams emulating them. Most of the professional teams' cheerleading squads would more accurately be described as dance teams by contemporary standards; as they rarely, if ever, actively encourage crowd noise or perform modern cheerleading moves.

A cheerleader shares the cheer-up moment at Celebrity Cricket League, Vizag. India

The 1980s saw the onset of modern cheerleading with more difficult stunt sequences and gymnastics being incorporated into routines. All-star teams started to pop up, and with them the creation of the United States All-Star Federation (USASF). ESPN first broadcast the National High School Cheerleading Competition nationwide in 1983. Cheerleading organizations such as the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA), founded in 1987, started applying universal safety standards to decrease the number of injuries and prevent dangerous stunts, pyramids and tumbling passes from being included in routines.^[16] In 2003, the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE) was formed to offer safety training for youth, school, all star and college coaches. The NCAA requires college cheer coaches to successfully complete a nationally recognized safety-training program. The NCSSE or AACCA certification programs are both recognized by the NCAA.

Even with its athletic and competitive development, cheerleading at the school level has retained its ties to the spirit leading traditions started back in the 1890s. Cheerleaders are seen as ambassadors for their schools, and leaders among the student body. At the college level, cheerleaders are often invited to help at university fundraisers.

Cheerleading is currently most closely associated with American football and basketball. Sports such as association football (soccer), ice hockey, volleyball, baseball, and wrestling sometimes sponsor cheerleading squads. The ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2007 was the first international cricket event to have cheerleaders. The Florida Marlins were the first Major League Baseball team to have cheerleaders. Debuting in 2003, the "Marlin Mermaids" gained national exposure and have influenced other MLB teams to develop their own cheer/dance squads.^{[citation needed]}

Types of teams in the USA today[link]

Collegiate cheerleaders at a college basketball game

School-sponsored[link]

Most American middle schools, high schools, and colleges have organized cheerleading squads made up solely of students. Several colleges that compete at cheerleading competitions offer cheerleading scholarships. School-sponsored cheerleading promotes school spirit and motivate the players and fans. A cheerleading team may compete outside of sporting events (local, regional, and national competitions), and cheer for sporting events and encourage audience participation. Cheerleading is quickly becoming a year-round sport, starting with tryouts during the spring of the preceding school year, organized camp as a team, practices, attendance at various sporting events and ending with National competition season, typically from winter through spring.

School cheerleaders also compete with rec-style routines at many competitions year-round. They practice hard for them and come up with a 2 minute 30 second routine to show off at the competitions. Like other school-level athletes they compete to win their league title and move on to bigger competitions eventually reaching nationals the ultimate title for a school squad. The advantages to a school squad versus an all-star squad is cheering at various games. For some squads the level of competition on the weekends can equal that of an all-star squad.

The tryout process sometimes takes place over many days. The cheerleading coach usually arranges for a cheerleading clinic, during which basic materials are taught or reviewed before the final day of tryouts. The clinic gives returning cheerleaders and new cheerleaders an equal chance of becoming familiar with the material. Skills that coaches look for include jumps, tumbling, motions, and dance ability. Tryouts are usually in the spring, so that the coach has the team chosen in time to attend summer camp as a team.

Middle school cheerleading[link]

Middle school cheerleading evolved shortly after high school squads started. In middle school, the squads serve mostly the same functions as high school squads and follow the same rules and regulations. Depending on how advanced the squad is, they usually do similar stunts as a high school.^[17] The cheerleaders cheer at basketball, football, and other sports in their school. They also perform at pep rallies and compete against other schools from local competitions all the way to nationals.^[18] Cheerleading in middle school sometimes can be a two-season sport, fall and winter. However many middle school cheer squads will go all year round like high school squads. Middle school cheerleaders use the same cheerleading movements as their older counterparts, but perform less extreme stunts, ranging from simple elevators, knee stands, extensions to harder stunts such as the heel stretch and scorpion.^{[citation needed]}

High school cheerleading[link]

In high school, there are usually two squads per school, varsity team and a junior varsity team. Some schools also include a freshman level of the sport in order to develop skills as the athletes mature. High school cheerleading contains aspects of school spirit as well as competition. These squads have become a part of a year-round sport, starting with tryouts in the spring, to year-round practice, to sporting events to cheer at in the fall and winter, and to cheerleading competitions. Most teams practice at least three days a week for about two hours each practice during the summer. Many teams also attend separate tumbling sessions outside of practice. During the school year, cheerleading is usually a five- to six-days-a-week sport. During competition season it often becomes seven days with practice twice a day sometimes. The school spirit aspect of cheerleading involves cheering, supporting, and "pumping up" the crowd at football games, basketball games, and even wrestling meets. With this they also make posters, perform at pep rallies, and bring school spirit to the other students. In May 2009, the National Federation of State High School Associations released the results of their first true high school participation study. They estimated that the number of high school cheerleaders from public high schools is 394,694.^[19]

Collegiate cheerleaders perform a high splits pyramid during a college football game

Its competition aspect makes cheerleading its own sport. There is year-round practice, cheer camps, and competitions throughout the winter. There are different cheerleading organizations that put on these competitions, some of the major ones include state competitions and regional competitions. Many high schools host cheerleading competitions, bringing in IHSA judges. The regional competitions are the qualifiers for the national competitions, such as the UCA (Universal Cheerleaders Association) in Orlando, Florida every year.^[20] The competition aspect of cheerleading can be very enduring; styles and rules changing every year make it important and difficult to find the newest and hottest routines.^[21] Most teams have a professional choreograph their routine in order to ensure they are not breaking any rules and they will be up to par with the other teams. For a list of rules visit AACCA (American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators). All high school coaches are required to attend an IHSA rules meeting at the beginning of the season. This ensures their knowledge of rules changes and their compliance with these rules. Routines usually last around 2 minutes and 30 seconds and require cheer, dance, jumps, tumbling, and stunting portions.

Not all high school cheerleading squads compete in competitions, but all support their schools. Cheerleaders also dress in matching uniforms. They do this to look "together" and like a team when performing.^[22]

College cheerleading[link]

Most colleges and universities have a cheerleading squad. Most squads are coed, but the number of all-female college squads is rapidly increasing, in an effort to give female cheerleaders, especially bases, who have cheered on all-girl high school or all-star squads an opportunity to cheer at the collegiate level without making the transition to a coed squad. Unlike high school cheerleading, college squads may perform difficult stunts like rewinds, 2½ high pyramids, and flipping and twisting basket tosses. Most college squads compete at some level, and a handful of them compete nationally.^{[citation needed]}

Youth Cheerleaders during a football halftime show. Youth Cheer—high school ages and younger—make up the vast majority of cheerleaders and cheer teams.

Youth league/athletic association[link]

Many organizations that sponsor youth league football or basketball sponsor cheerleading squads as well. Pop Warner and PPAL [pasco police athletic league] organizations are an example of this. The YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) is also a popular sponsor for youth cheerleading leagues, as well as numerous other sports leagues. Many local communities are creating organizations to go along with their Youth Football leagues and Youth Basketball leagues.

All-Star cheerleading[link]

In the early 1980s, cheerleading squads not associated with a schools or sports leagues, whose main objective was competition, began to emerge. The first organization to call themselves all stars and go to competitions were the Q94 Rockers from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1982.^[23] All-star teams competing prior to 1987 were placed into the same divisions as teams that represented schools and sports leagues. In 1986, the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) addressed this situation by creating a separate division for teams lacking a sponsoring school or athletic association, calling it the All-Star Division and debuting it at their 1987 competitions. As the popularity of this type of team grew, more and more of them were formed, attending competitions sponsored by many different organizations and companies, each using its own set of rules, regulations and divisions. This situation became a concern to gym owners because the inconsistencies caused coaches to keep their routines in a constant state of flux, detracting from time that could be better utilized for developing skills and providing personal attention to their athletes. More importantly, because the various companies were constantly vying for a competitive edge, safety standards had become more and more lax. In some cases, unqualified coaches and inexperienced squads were attempting dangerous stunts as a result of these expanded sets of rules.^[24]

The USASF was formed in 2003 by the competition companies to act as the national governing body for all star cheerleading and to create a standard set of rules and judging standards to be followed by all competitions sanctioned by the Federation, ultimately leading to the Cheerleading Worlds. The USASF hosted the first Cheerleading Worlds on April 24, 2004.^[24] In 2009, the first All-Level Worlds was held. It included teams from all levels, with each winner continuing to the online championships, where teams from across the nation competed to win the Worlds Title. At the same time, cheerleading coaches from all over the country organized themselves for the same rule making purpose, calling themselves the National All Star Cheerleading Coaches Congress (NACCC). In 2005, the NACCC was absorbed by the USASF to become their rule making body.^[23] In late 2006, the USASF facilitated the creation of the International All-Star Federation (IASF).

Currently all-star cheerleading as sanctioned by the USASF involves a squad of 6–36 females and/or males. The squad prepares year-round for many different competition appearances, but they only actually perform for up to 2½ minutes during their routines. The numbers of competitions a team participates in varies from team to team, but generally, most teams tend to participate in eight-twelve competitions a year. These competitions include locals, which are normally taken place in school gymnasiums or local venues, nationals, hosted in big venues all around the U.S. with national champions, and the Cheerleading Worlds, taken place at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. During a competition routine, a squad performs carefully choreographed stunting, tumbling, jumping and dancing to their own custom music. Teams create their routines to an eight-count system and apply that to the music so the team members execute the elements with precise timing and synchronization.

Cheergirls from Australia's National Rugby League

There are many different organizations that host their own state and national competitions. Some major companies include: Universal Spirit, AmeriCheer, Cheersport, Planet Spirit, Eastern Cheer and Dance Association, and the JAM Brands. This means that many gyms within the same area could be state and national champions for the same year and never have competed against each other. Currently, there is no system in place that awards only one state or national title.

Judges at the competition watch for illegal moves from the group or any individual member. Here, an illegal move is something that is not allowed in that division due to difficulty and safety restrictions. They look out for deductions, or things that go wrong, such as a dropped stunt. They also look for touch downs in tumbling for deductions. More generally, judges look at the difficulty and execution of jumps, stunts and tumbling, synchronization, creativity, the sharpness of the motions, showmanship, and overall routine execution.

All-star cheerleaders are placed into divisions, which are grouped based upon age, size of the team, gender of participants, and ability level. The age levels vary from under 4 year of age to 18 years and over. The divisions used by the USASF/IASF are currently Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Junior International, Junior Coed, Senior, Senior Coed, Special Needs, and Open International. The sport originally began with "all girl" teams and later co-ed teams began to gain popularity. That being said, the all girl squad remains the most prevalent.^[25]

If a team places high enough at selected USASF/IASF sanctioned national competitions, they could be included in the Cheerleading Worlds and compete against teams from all over the world, as well as receive money for placing.^[2] Each team receives a bid from another cheerleading company and goes in the name of that company. You must get a bid from a company in order to compete at the Cheerleading Worlds. For example, a team could get a bid from Cheersport, and they compete as a team representing that company. Cheerleading companies give out three types of bids to go to Cheerleading Worlds, Full Paid Bid, Parital Bid, or an Un-paid bid. The Cheerleading Worlds are only for teams that are level 5 and up.

Professional spirit squads[link]

Professional cheerleaders and dancers cheer for sports such as football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, or hockey. There are only a few professional cheerleading leagues around the world; some professional leagues include the NBA Cheerleading League, the NFL Cheerleading League, the CFL Cheerleading League, the MLS Cheerleading League, the MLB Cheerleading League, and the NHL Ice Dancers. Although professional cheerleading leagues exist in multiple countries, there are no Olympic Teams.

In addition to cheering at games and competing, professional cheerleaders also, as teams, do a lot of philanthropy and charity work, modeling, motivational speaking, television performances, and advertising.^{[26][unreliable source?]}

Associations, Federations, Organisations[link]

Americheer:^[27] Americheer was founded in 1987 by Elizabeth Rossetti. It is the parent company to Ameridance and Eastern Cheer and Dance Association. In 2005, Americheer became one of the founding members of the NLCC. This means that Americheer events offer bids to The Us Finals: The Final Destination. AmeriCheer InterNational Championship competition is held every March at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC):^[28] Established on the 5th July 1998, the International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC) is a non-profit federation based in Tokyo, Japan and is the world governing body of cheerleading. The IFC objectives are to promote the sport of cheerleading worldwide, to spread knowledge of cheerleading and to develop friendly sporting relations among the member associations/federations.

National Cheerleaders Association:^[29] The NCA was founded in 1948 by Lawrence Herkimer. Every year the NCA hosts the NCA High School Cheerleading Nationals and the NCA All-Star Cheerleading Nationals in Dallas, Texas. They also host the NCA/NDA Collegiate Cheer & Dance Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Universal Cheerleaders Association: ^[30] Universal Cheerleaders Association was founded in 1974 by Jeff Webb. Since 1980, UCA has hosted the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Walt Disney World Resort. They also host the National All-Star Cheerleading Championship, and the College Cheerleading National Championship at Walt Disney World Resort. To qualify for these events all teams must submit a video. All of these events air on ESPN.

Competitions & Companies[link]

Asian Thailand Cheerleading Invitational (ATCI):^[31] Organised by the Cheerleading Association of Thailand (CAT) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC). The ATCI is held every year since 2009. At the ATCI many teams from all over Thailand compete, joining them are many invited neighbouring nations who also send cheer squads.

Cheerleading Asia International Open Championships (CAIOC): Hosted by the Foundation of Japan Cheerleading Association (FJCA) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the IFC. The CAIOC has been a yearly event since 2007. Every year many teams from all over Asia converge in Tokyo to compete.^[32]

Cheerleading World Championships (CWC):^[33] Organised by the IFC. The IFC is a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 and based in Tokyo, Japan. The CWC has been held every two years since 2001, and to date the competition has been held in Japan, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Hong Kong. The 6th CWC was held at the Hong Kong Coliseum on November 26–27, 2011.^[34]

ICU Worlds:^[35] The International Cheer Union currently encompasses 91 National Federations from countries across the globe. Every year the ICU host the ICU World Championship. Unlike the USASF Worlds, this competition uses Level 6/ Collegiate style rules. Countries assemble and send only one team to represent them.

National Cheerleading Championships (NCC):^[36] The NCC is the annual IFC-sanctioned national cheerleading competition in Indonesia organised by the Indonesian Cheerleading Community (ICC).^[37] Since the NCC2010 the event is now open to international competition, representing a significant step forward for the ICC. Teams from many countries such as Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, participated in the ground breaking event.

The competition floor at Final Destination

NLCC Final Destination:^[38] Nation's Leading Cheer Companies is a multi brand company, partnered with other companies such as: Americheer/Ameridance, American Cheer & Dance Academy, Eastern Cheer & Dance Association, and Spirit Unlimited. Every year, starting in 2006, the NLCC hosts The Us Finals: The Final Destination of Cheerleading and Dance. Every team that attends must qualify and receive a bid at a partner company's competition. In May 2008, the NLCC and The JAM Brands announced a partnership to produce The U.S. Finals - Final Destination. There are nine Final Destination locations across the country. After the regional events, videos of all the teams that competed are sent to a new panel of judges and rescored to rank teams against those against whom they may never have had a chance to compete.

Pan-American Cheerleading Championships (PCC):^[39] The PCC was held for the first time in 2009 in the city of Latacunga, Ecuador and is the continental championship organised by the Pan-American Federation of Cheerleading (PFC). The PFC, operating under the umbrella of the IFC, is the non-profit continental body of cheerleading whose aim it is to promote and develop cheerleading in the Americas. The PCC is a biennial event, and was held for the second time in Lima, Peru, in November 2010.

The JAM Brands:^[40] The JAM Brands, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, provides products and services for the cheerleading and dance industry. It is made up of approximately 12 different brands that produce everything from competitions to camps to uniforms to merchandise and apparel. JAMfest, the original brand of The JAM Brands, has been around since 1996 and was founded by Aaron Flaker and Emmitt Tyler. Dan Kessler has since become a co-owner of The JAM Brands along with Flaker and Tyler.

USASF/IASF Worlds:^[41][42] Many United States cheerleading organizations form and register the not-for-profit entity the United States All Star Federation (USASF) and also the International All Star Federation (IASF) to support international club cheerleading and the World Cheerleading Club Championships. The first World Cheerleading Championships, or Cheerleading Worlds, were hosted by the USASF/IASF at the Walt Disney World Resort and taped for an ESPN global broadcast in 2004. This competition is only for All-Star/Club cheer. Only levels Junior 5, Senior 5, Senior Open 5, International 5, International Open 5, International 6, and International Open 6 may attend. Teams must receive a bid from a partner company to attend.

Varsity:^[43] Partnered with the UCA, Varsity created the National High School Cheerleading Championship in 1980. Varsity All-Star owns or partners with many of the largest cheerleading events in the country.

Title IX sports status[link]

There has been debate on whether or not cheerleading can be considered a sport for Title IX purposes. Supporters consider cheerleading, as a whole, a sport, citing the heavy use of athletic talents^[44][45] while critics do not see it as deserving of that status since sport implies a competition among squads and not all squads compete, along with subjectivity of competitions where - as with gymnastics, diving, and figure skating - scores are assessed based on human judgment and not an objective goal or measurement of time.^[46][47][48]

On January 27, 2009, in a lawsuit involving an accidental injury sustained during a cheerleading practice, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that cheerleading is a full-contact sport in that state.^[49][50] In contrast, on July 21, 2010, in a lawsuit involving whether college cheerleading qualified as a sport for purposes of Title IX, a federal court, citing a current lack of program development and organization, ruled that it does not, but may in the future.^[51]

Dangers of cheerleading[link]

The risk of cheerleading was highlighted when Kristi Yamaoka, a cheerleader for Southern Illinois University, suffered from a fractured vertebra after she hit her head after falling from a human pyramid.^[52] She also suffered from a concussion, and a bruised lung.^[53] The fall occurred when Yamaoka lost her balance during a basketball game between Southern Illinois University and Bradley University at the Savvis Center in St. Louis on March 5, 2006.^[53] The fall gained "national attention",^[53] because Yamaoka continued to perform from a stretcher as she was moved away from the game.^[53] Yamaoka has since made a full recovery.

The accident caused the Missouri Valley Conference to ban its member schools from allowing cheerleaders to be "launched or tossed and from taking part in formations higher than two levels" for one week during a women's basketball conference tournament, and also resulted in a recommendation by the NCAA that conferences and tournaments do not allow pyramids two and one half levels high or higher, and a stunt known as basket tosses, during the rest of the men's and women's basketball season.^[54] On July 11, 2006, the bans were made permanent by the AACCA rules committee:

The committee unanimously voted for sweeping revisions to cheerleading safety rules, the most major of which restricts specific upper-level skills during basketball games. Basket tosses, 2½ high pyramids, one-arm stunts, stunts that involve twisting or flipping, and twisting tumbling skills may only be performed during halftime and post-game on a matted surface and are prohibited during game play or time-outs.^[54]

Out of the United States' 2.9 million female high school athletes, only 3% are cheerleaders, yet cheerleading accounts for 65% of all catastrophic injuries in girls' high school athletics. Since the NCAA has yet to recognize cheerleading as an official college sport, there are no solid numbers on college cheerleading, yet when it comes to injuries, 67% of female athlete injuries at the college level are due to cheerleading mishaps.^{[citation needed]} LiveScience.com recaps new evidence showing that the most dangerous sport for high school and college females is cheerleading: Another study found that between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading.^[55]

In the early 2000s, cheerleading was considered one of the most dangerous school activities. The main source of injuries comes from stunting, also known as pyramids. These stunts are performed at games and pep rallies, as well as competitions. Sometimes competition routines are focused solely around the use of difficult and risky stunts. These stunts usually include a flyer (the person on top), along with one or two bases (the people on the bottom) and, one or two spotters in the front and back on the bottom. The most common cheerleading related injuries are: sprained ankles, sprained wrists, back injuries, head injuries (sometimes concussions), broken arms, elbow injuries, knee injuries, broken noses, and broken collarbones.^[56][57]

The journal Pediatrics has reportedly said that the number of cheerleaders suffering from broken bones, concussions, and sprains has increased by over 100 percent between the years of 1990 and 2002, and that in 2001 there were 25,000 hospital visits reported for cheerleading injuries dealing with the shoulder, ankle, head, and neck.^[58] Meanwhile, in the USA, cheerleading accounted for 65.1% of all major sports injuries to high school females, and to 66.7% of major sports injuries to college students from 1982 to 2007, with 22,900 minors being admitted to hospital with cheerleading-related injuries in 2002.^[59][60]

In October 2009, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA), a subsidiary of Varsity Brands, released a study that analyzed the data from Emergency Room visits of all high school athletes. The study asserted that contrary to many perceptions, cheerleading injuries are in line with other female sports.^[61] Cheerleading has been added to the list of sports being studied by Dr. Dawn Comstock of Ohio State University through the high school Injury Surveillance System.^[62]

In popular culture[link]

Movies and television

The revamped and provocative Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders of the 1970s—and the many imitators that followed—firmly established the cheerleader as an American icon of wholesome sex appeal. In response, a new subgenre of exploitation films suddenly sprang up with titles such as The Cheerleaders (1972), The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974), Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1975), The Pom Pom Girls (1976), Satan's Cheerleaders (1977), and Cheerleaders's Wild Weekend (1979). In addition to R-rated sex comedies and horror films, cheerleaders became a staple of the adult film industry, starting with Debbie Does Dallas (1978) and its four sequels.

On television, the made-for-TV movie The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (which aired January 14, 1979) starring Jane Seymour was a highly-rated success, spawning the 1980 sequel The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders II.

The Dallas squad was in high demand during the late '70s with frequent appearances on network specials, awards shows, variety programs, commercials, the game show Family Feud and sitcoms such as The Love Boat. The sci-fi sitcom Mork & Mindy also based a 1979 episode around the Denver Broncos cheerleaders with Mork (Robin Williams) trying out for the squad.

Cheerleading's increasing popularity in recent decades has made it a prominent feature in high-school themed movies and television shows. The 2000 film Bring It On, about a San Diego high school cheerleading squad called "The Toros", starred real-life former cheerleader Kirsten Dunst. Bring It On was a surprise hit and earned nearly $70 million domestically. It spawned five direct-to-video sequels: Bring It On Again in 2003, Bring It On: All or Nothing in 2006, Bring It On: In It to Win It in 2007, and Bring It On: Fight to the Finish. Bring It On was followed in 2001 by another teen cheerleading comedy, Sugar & Spice. In 1993, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom was a TV movie which told the true story of Wanda Holloway, the Texas mother whose obsession with her daughter's cheerleading career made headline news.

In 2006, Hayden Panettiere, star of Bring It On: All or Nothing, took another cheerleading role as Claire Bennet, the cheerleader with an accelerated healing factor on NBC's hit sci-fi TV series Heroes, launching cheerleading back into the limelight of pop culture. Claire was the main focus of the show's first story arc, featuring the popular catchphrase, "Save the cheerleader, save the world". Her prominent, protagonist role in Heroes was supported by a strong fan-base and provided a positive image for high school cheerleading.

In 2009, Panettiere starred again as a cheerleader, this time as Beth Cooper in the film adaptation of the novel I Love You, Beth Cooper.

In 2006, the reality show Cheerleader Nation was featured on the Lifetime television channel. Cheerleader Nation is a 60 minute television series based on the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School cheerleading team's ups and downs on the way to nationals, of which they are the three time champions. The show also explains that cheerleading is a tough sport. The show takes place in Lexington, Kentucky.

The 2007 series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team shows the process of getting on the pro squad of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Everything from initial tryouts to workout routines and the difficulties involved is shown. The series was extended a year to show the process of getting the 2008 Cheerleaders ready.

In 2009, Universal Pictures signed music video and film director Billie Woodruff (Barbershop, Honey) to direct the fifth film in the Bring It On series titled Bring It On: Fight to the Finish. The film stars Christina Milian (who previously played cheerleaders in Love Don't Cost a Thing and Man of the House) and Rachelle Brook Smith, and was released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on September 1, 2009.

The series Glee, which began in 2009, features Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray, the captain of her high school cheerleading squad, the Cheerios. Quinn becomes pregnant, leading to her expulsion from the squad, but two of the other Cheerios, Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce also feature heavily in the show. In "The Power of Madonna" Kurt Hummel joins the Cheerios along with Mercedes Jones after being fed up with getting no solos from Mr. Will Schuester.

A new 2010 show, Hellcats was just released on the CW. It is about college cheerleading. It stars Ashley Tisdale and Alyson Michalka stars as Marty, a former gymnast who is forced to become a cheerleader after her academic scholarship is canceled. This show is about the ups and downs of being a cheerleader at Lancer University.

Video games

Nintendo has released a pair of video games in Japan for the Nintendo DS, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and its sequel Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii that star teams of male cheer squads, or Ouendan that practice a form of cheerleading. Each of the games' most difficult modes replaces the male characters with female cheer squads that dress in western cheerleading uniforms. The games task the cheer squads with assisting people in desperate need of help by cheering them on and giving them the motivation to succeed. There are also a All Star Cheerleader and We Cheer for the Wii in which you do routines at competitions with the Wiimote & Nunchuck. All Star Cheerleader is also available for Nintendo DS.

Notable former cheerleaders[link]

See also[link]

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cheerleaders

Look up cheerleading in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Cheerleading at the Open Directory Project