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Add a comment December 16, 2009

Boys Cheerleading

OK… So you know how cheerleading is considered a “girls sport”? Well, today I am going to show all of you that thats not true. Instead of focusing on the “average” or “normal” aspects of cheerleading, today I am going to tell you guys about what cheerleading is like for a guy. I of course am not a guy, so I am just going by the research that I have done on this topic.

Cheerleading is a tough sport, that requires dedication and agility, and strength, so why can’t guys be cheerleaders? most guys possess all of these things, so wouldn’t they in a sense make the perfect cheerleader? For the first twenty years cheerleading was around, was a male only sport, it was even founded by guys. So how is it possible, that girls have completely taken over the sport, and guys have got it in their heads that it is a girl only sport, and that they would be considered  unmasculine if they tried out, or where on the team?

One of the all boys teams that I have discovered while doing my research on this topic, is the Stunners All-Boys. They were started by a high school student, whose teacher kept pushing him to join the cheer team, he eventually gave in, and said that it was one of the most positive experiences of his life. He later went on to create the Stunners All-Boys, an all boy cheer team with seventeen guys on it. They now compete in competitions, and have made a pretty big name for themselves.  (Their team can be seen at the top of this page.)

Many consider all male cheer teams to be better, stronger, and more daring than female teams. I guess that that would make sense, because usually male are naturally stronger, and more daring than females, which would make them better than all female team I suppose.

I have also found a peewee all boys cheerleading team, that is in Europe. A peewee team, is usually for little kids, who are into the sport, but are not yet at the age where they would be allowed to actually participate in the sport. Through my research, I have found that the all boys teams, except for the first team that i mentioned, usually are peewee teams, and are under the ages of twelve. But regardless, some of them have even beat the girls, in cheerleading competions. This should show boys that cheerleading is not a girls only sport, and if they have the desire to they should try out, and not care what other people say. Cheerleading, as I mentioned before is a highly athletic sport, so they should absolutely not be ashamed to try out. And if they are, just remind them that cheerleading was started my men, so technically it should be considered an all guy sport.

Thanks for reading!!

I hope that you guys will come back and visit my blog again!!

<3 Savannah

2 comments December 16, 2009

latest new in cheer!

Hey everybody!!

Today I am going to tell you some of the important things and events that are going on in the world of cheerleading today!!

One of the most important things, is that competition season is upon us!! There are many places that you can compete, and many different kinds of competitions that you can compete in, or to just go to watch and maybe get new ideas for you team. One of the competitions that I found when I was doing some research on the web was; the WCA  (The World Cheerleading Association) They are having competitions on December 27-30! It should be a lot of fun!  Not only are the WCA competitions fun, but they are well-organized, on time, affordable, have divisions for all sized teams, and they give trophies to every team that participates!

I personally have never been to a competition, my team chooses not to compete, but if I had a choice, this completion sounds absolutely amazing, I have included a link to their site if you guys want to take a look, and maybe consider talking to your team about it.

http://www.cheerwca.com/latest-news.htm

No matter where you are located, it should not be hard for you to find a cheerleading competition that will suite the needs of your team. If you live in th United States, which you probably do if you are reading my blog, then you could live in almost any state, and be able to find a cheer competition neer you.

I have visited, and watched one of my friends, who is on a different cheer team, compete. It is a really amazing experience, I hope that eventually the team that I am on will go to competitions, because just watching them is incredible, i couldn’t even imagine performing in one. It must be a truly intense experience, there are soooo many people watching you, you must get such a rush performing in front of all of them.

I hope that if you or your team is considering go to competitions, this blog post has helped you at least a little bit!!

Thanks for reading! come back and read my future posts if you have enjoyed this one!

<3 Savannah

Add a comment December 16, 2009

Other blogs about cheerleading :)

Hey Everybody!!

Today I’m going to show you guys some other blogs that you might want to take a look at.

This first one talks about the dangers of cheerleading, which although is scary, it is ab important part of cheerleading that needs to be considered.

http://drbenkim.com/blog/2006/01/dangers-of-cheerleading.html

This blog is very informative, and is written by a doctor, which makes me think that it would be a ceritable source. He starts off by stating statistics, that at first look would be very scary to anyone who knows a cheerleader, or is thinking of trying out for cheer. But, if you read further, you will see that actually only 8 in 1000 cheerleaders will get an injury that will require them to go to the hospital. Even though this is a very serious issue, i feel that some people over dramatise it.

http://onemansblog.com/2008/08/26/amazing-cheerleading-stunts-of-the-stingray-all-stars/

This blog, is more of a visual than a wordy blog, they show some amazing stunts, and if you have an advanced team (that is at the college level) then you might even get some new stunts for you team to try out. They all involve two people, except for the full downs, and double full downs (they require two).

http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/cheer/2009/09/10/cheerleading-camp/

This blog tells you all about a particular cheer camp that you can attend. Though the blogger is talking about a specific camp, the same ideas are true for almost any cheer camp you attend. They have great quotes, and ideas form coaches, cheerleaders, can counselors. If you keep reading, all the way through the comments, the even discuss the safety, and risks of cheerleading, and especially stunting.

Add a comment December 14, 2009

NCA cheer camp

I know that I have brushed around of the topic of cheer camp, and even wrote a whole blog post about it, but today I am going to focus on one specific cheer camp. NCA. Or National Cheerleaders Association. This is the cheer camp that my team decided to go to last year. Overall it was an awesome experience. Some of the aspects that I will talk to you guys about in this blog post will include; the staff, locations, the benefits, and the downsides.

First off I will tell you guys about the people and the staff at NCA. If you have never been to cheer camp before, just imagine the peppiest and energetic people you have ever met and times them by on hundred and that is what the staff of NCA is like. They are constantly smiling, and always have something peppy and happy and positive to say. Especially when it comes to learning new material, they are always super positive. Although, when it comes to learning new material, they also go very quickly, and if you are a new cheerleader, like the last time I went to camp, it can become very confusing and frustrating. But the staff is there to offer support, and encourage you. They never have a mean thing to say, which is really nice.

NCA cheer camps, can be found all over the country, and are mainly hosted in the summer, when cheerleaders have time off of school. This makes the camps almost unbearable, or the one that I went to at least. My team went to the NCA cheer camp in Davis California, and actually stayed in the dorms of UC Davis. We had our chant and dance classes inside, our assemblies, and stunt classes outside, and our meal times in the cafeteria. Basically, you could live anywhere in the country, and there would probably be a NCA cheer camp near you.

Some of the benefits of going to a NCA cheer camp, is that you learn lost of new skills, whether it is in the categories of dance, cheers, chants, dances, or stunts, you will probably double your skills by the time that you leave the camp, I know that I did. This is going to sound silly, but one of my favorite parts of cheer camp, was the food. NCA has some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. Sounds weird right? Excellent food at a cheer camp? I know but it is!! Also, you are never hungry at cheer camp, you eat three times a day, but you feel like you constantly eating… its really strange

There are only two negative things about NCA cheer camps if you ask me. One is the price. It costs almost four hundred dollars to go to camp there. But after going, I think that the price is completely worth the fun, bonding, learning, awesome food, and experiences that you have there. The other negative aspect that I experienced (it’s rather specific to where you attend camp) was the heat. Where I went to camp, it was at least 105 degrees every day. And after being out there for four days, stunting, and dancing, and learning new material, you are definitely ready to get into your nice air-conditioned dorm room!

Overall, I think that there are many more pros, than cons when it comes to NCA cheer camp!

If you are someone who is looking for an excellent cheer camp for you and your team to attend, I would most definitely recommend going to an NCA cheer camp!!! =)

Add a comment December 10, 2009

Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer

Some say that Lawrence (or better known as Herkie) Herkimer was one of the founders of cheerleading. He founded the NCA. Or national cheerleading association, so that he could host cheerleading competitions. I will talk about that more later. For now, I will tell you all a little bit about how Herkie Herkimer got started.  He was a cheerleader at Southern Methodist University.  He also contributed to many firsts of the sport. For example, creating the cheerleader and danz clothing and uniform company, inventing the herkie (cheerleading jump 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), and creating the spirit stick. Which is an award given out to teams at cheer camps with the most team spirit. All because of Herkie Herkimer by the 1960′s, there were national cheer clinics all over the country, that taught fundamental skills to high school age girls all over the country.

Back to telling you all about the NCA (national cheerleading association). The NCA hold many camps an clinics. If you have read my earlier post about cheer camps, you will know that that is where my cheerleading team went to camp this summer. Because of Herkie Herkimer, and the NCA girls (and guys) all over the country have had the opportunity to learn the fundamental skills that it takes to be a cheerleader. The first NCA cheer clinic was held in Huntsville Texas in 1949 and there were only 52 girls in attendance. Now when you go to a NCA cheer camp or clinic, you can expect to see between three and five hundred people in attendance, sometimes even more depending on where you are going to camp.

Herkie Herkimer also made inventions, and improvements to the cheerleading world, by inventing the spirit stick, pom-pons (also incorrectly called pom-poms), and the booster ribbon.

 Heres a little more information that i found on the internet about Herkie Herkimer; Herkimer first developed the Herkie jump at North Dallas High School in the early forties. Being the shortest kid in the class had led the young gymnast to a career on the sidelines, exhorting crowds to show their school spirit. He perfected the move at SMU, where he was head cheerleader during the Doak Walker era. “Actually, the Herkie was the natural way I jumped in college,” Herkimer says. “I used to jump real high. Whenever I did, I would swing my right arm up to help me get off the ground, and it would jerk my right leg up behind it. The right arm is the counterweight, the spark for the take-off. Before I knew it, people started imitating me.” One imitator dubbed the jump the Herkie in honor of the role model.

So thats basically a general idea of the things Herkie Herkimer accomplished in his cheerleading life. Herkie shows girls that they can do anything they want to and he shows guys that they can be cheerleaders if they want to.

Thanks for reading!!

<3 Savannah

Add a comment December 8, 2009

top 3 reasons to go to camp!!

Hey!!

Today I’m going to talk to you guys about camp. Camp is an awesome experience for a cheerleader to have, especially with his or her team. In this post, I’m going to tell you about the top three reasons that I think camp is amazing!! If you are a cheerleader, and your team doesn’t go to camp, or if you are a new cheerleader who has never been to camp before, you definitely need to read this post!!

Top three  reasons to go to cheer camp!:

1) Bonding with your team. Bonding with your team is one of the most important things that you can do at cheer camp. especially if you are new, or you have new girls just coming onto your team. Bonded teams will perform better, get along better, and most importantly, trust each other more. All of these things are very important if you want to be a successful cheerleading team. If you go to an overnight camp (one that you stay at for around a week) you are with your team almost twenty-four seven, so it becomes nessicary to bond, other wise you will wind up getting in fights, and it can also become awkward, if you don’t know anything about your team mates. Usually on the last night of over night of camp, the counselors will set up about an hour or so, where you go around and tell all of your team mates why you love them, and why they are important to you and the team. For most teams, this ends in tears, of joy of course. Usually after camp, teams have a sense of being more bonded from when they got their on the first day.

2) Learn new material. Camp is a great place to learn all kinds of new material. You can learn, cheers, chants, dances, and new stunts, which you can take with you back to your school, or competition. Everyday, you practice, cheers, chants, dances, and stunts, until you hear them, and say them every where you go. (it actually gets a little weird… Basically they get stuck in your brain. This is a good thing though, because you can then use the dances as half times, and the chants and cheers during game times. And of course the stunts to impress all of your fans. Last summer when my team went to camp, we added two of the dances, and multiple chants and cheers to our list of material.

3) Improve all of your skills. Camp can really help you to improve all of your skills. Especially if you are a new cheerleader which I was when we went to camp last summer. At camp, you get a chance to work on all the aspects of cheerleading everyday, from the time that you wake up in the morning, to the time that you go to bed at night. It is about 12 to 13 hours of practice everyday. You can become a better stunter, a better dancer, and just a better cheerleader in general by going to camp.

There are many different types of camps that you can go to. They include, overnight camps for about a week, shorter over night camps, day camps, and one day workshops. All of these will help your team to grow and develope, but personally I think that going to one of the longer overnight camps is the best option, and you will get the most out of it. There are also many different camps you can go to, NCA, USA, UCA, ect. You will get different things out of all of the different camps, but they have the same general idea.

Cheer camp, is definitely a lot of work, but it is soooooo much fun! I would most definitely recommend going.

<3 Savannah

Add a comment December 3, 2009

Stunting!

Hey everybody!

Today I’m going to tell you guys a little bit about what all those cool tricks you see cheerleaders do. Yeah… those cool tricks have a name. There called stunts. Almsot all cheerleading teams do them, so no matter where you are, you can usually find a cheer team near you, who does stunts.

Basically stunting involves; a flyer (the girl who is doing the trick in the air), two bases (the two girls who hold the flyer up in the air), and a back spot (the girl in the back of the stunt who helps push the flyer up, and give her extra suport), there is also a front spot (the girl in the front of the stunt, who holds either the wrists of the bases, or the ankles of the flyer) the front spot is optional, and usually more advanced teams, choose not to use a front spot.

Some of the stunts that cheerleaders do, include; thigh stands, sholder sits, preps, shoulder stands, extensions, libs, heal stretches, scorpians, pretty girls, bow and arrows, and basket tosses. (they go in order of difficulty)

Thigh stands are where the two bases get into a lunge position, and the flyer stands on their thighs (it is basically exactly what it sounds like). Then there is the shoulder sit, where the back helps to essentailly lift the flyer onto one of the bases shoulders, the flyer sits. (again also basically what it sounds like) Next is, a prep. A prep is where the two bases hold the flyers feet right bellow their chins, the back suports her ankles, and the front hold onto the bases wrists. The next stunt, is a shoulder stand. This stunt involves the flyer, the back, and a base. The base holds the flyers ankles, and lifts her up all the way to her shoulders, while the back has his/her arms extnded, pushing on the extended arms of the flyer, until she is safely sitchuated, and standing on the shoulders of the back. An extension, is where the two bases, are holding the flyers feet, while their arms are fully extended, above their heads. The back, again suports the flyers ankles, and the front spot supports the bases wrists. A lib, or a liberty, is where the flyer is standing on one of her legs, with her one foot in the bases fully extended arms, and she has one of her legs bent at her knee, the back supports the flyers extended leg with both of her hands, and the front spot supports the bases wrists. A heal stretch is exactly the same as a lib, for all of the stunters besides the flyer. The flyer instead of having her leg bent, has it extended up above her head, and she is holding it with one of her arms. Again a scorpian is the same for all of the participants, except for the flyer, she has her  leg almost touching the back of ther head. A pretty girl is almost exactly the same for all of the stunters, yes even the flyer. But instead of facing the crowd face on, she is turned slightly to the side. A bow and Arrow is the same for all the the cheerleaders, except the flyer. The flyer is almost in a heal stretch, but has her arm infront of her stretched leg. And lastly, a basket toss requires all of the stunters, it is where the front, back, and bases all throw the flyer as hard and high as they can. Then in the middle of the basket toss, the flyer can do many things, but the most common is a toe touch. There are many more stunts that cheerleaders do, but I think that this should give you a pretty good idea of the stunts that cheerleaders do.

Scorpian                                  Bow and Arrow                            Basket toss                                        Thiegh Stand

Heal Stretch                       Liberty                                              Prep                                                    Extension

Shoulder sit                              shoulder stand

Add a comment December 1, 2009

cheerleading in general!

Hey!

I’m Savannah. I am a high school student, and a current cheerleader. I love to hang out with my friends and family, and just have fun. I love to listen to music, and relax. This is the first time I have ever written a blog, so I am just starting to figure it out…

Basically in my blog, I am going to be talking to you guys about cheerlreading, and all of the aspects that it involves. But for now,  I am just going to give you kind of an over veiw, and history on the sport, and yes it is a sport!

Cheerleading is a sport, in which we incorperate tumbling, dance, cheers, stunts, jumps, and of course stunts. The routines that most cheerleading teams do, usually range between one and three minutes long. But they can really be any length that the team, or coach decides on. Cheerleading teams, can choose to either cheer at just football/basketball (or really any other sporting event), or they can choose to just compete in compitions, where they have a chance to win a national title, or they can do a little bit of both. For now, my team has chosen just to cheer at football, and basketball games, although we support all of the sporting teams, and hope to sometime soon compete in competions.

Cheerleading originated in the United States, in the early nineteen hundereds, and is for the most part an American sport. There is about 1.5 million cheerleaders, that compete, and probably even more that only preform at games. There are only about an estimated one hundered thousand particiapates around the world. The spread of cheerleading to other countries, probably has a little something to do with its newly born exposure in the media. Cheerleading compitions have just recently been brodcasted on ESPN, and of course as any cheerleading fan knows, the movie serries Bring it On focused mainly on the aspects of cheerleading compitions.

For the most part, cheerleading is considered, “a girls sport”, which I think is a complete sterotype. Although, the statistics do prove that about 97 percent of cheerleaders, around the United States are female. But, about 50 percent of the college teams, do have male cheerleaders on them.

Most middle schools, high schools, and colleges do have cheerleading teams that are soley made up of students from those particular schools. The main job of a cheerleading team, is to promote school spirit, and get the crowd involved in what ever game or event that they are cheering for.

Some of my next blog entries, will include topics like : Stunting, tumbling, game days, tryouts, camp, and pracices. If you are someone who is interested in trying out for cheerleading, are a current cheerleader, are a parent of a cheerleader and wants to know what goes on in the world of cheerleading, or maybe you just want something interesting to read, then come back, and read my future blogs!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

<3 Savannah Rose

1 comment December 1, 2009

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1 comment December 1, 2009