TAKKLE - High School Sports: Football, Cheerleading, Wrestling, Basketball - Videos & Photos

So since we all love controversy: What's the difference between school cheer and competition cheer. This is my argument, what's yours? School cheerleaders learn a few motions to apply to very repetitive cheers they have known since they were old enough to go to the high school football games, BUT this is not all they do. Depending on the area and people on the team there is much more a cheerleading squad can do. My school personally is a member of the OCC so we cannot stunt. We can however, compete. This is a nonmount level in which we show off our jumps, motions, dances and tumbling. While some schools may not have this many do. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of highschool cheerleading, but this shows me that they're not all the sluts just trying to show off. Those girls I tend to call crowdleaders, you know the ones that are just like the people in the stands, they just start the cheer. But it still takes a fair about of stage presence to be up there, jsut like an actor.(I should know I'm a drama person also) Competition Cheerleading is more for me. We spend countless hours in the gym. Personally I spend about 20 hours a week in the gym. I know others that spend much more than that, and of course some that spend only the required 6 hours.(this changes depends on where you are of course) Now in this cheerleader we can stunt. One person to 4 people throwing a person in the air and holding them there. Yes, it's kinda like weight lifting, but we hold them up there. Their full weight on our bodies while we stand up. This causes a lot of strain and is a lot of work. This and tumbling are very dangerous without the proper knowledge and safety percautions. Now again this can be done in SOME highschools. In competition cheer we also do the tumbling, dances, motions, cheers, and jumps they do in highschools, but we often do these to a more complicated level. Not because we're better, but simply because we have a spring floor(one similar to what a gymnast uses to enhance their performance) while highschools often use flat mats and grass. I guess I mise well go into what each aspect is also. But first I want to state my credentials. I am a cheerleader, a dancer, a thesbian, and a cheerleading coach. Two of my cheerleading gyms are gymnastic gyms also. My third gym is dance and cheer oriented. I also work at a dance studio. Cheerleading a combination of - flexability, strength, endurance, balance, and much more. Parts of a cheer include: Dancing, Stunting, Motions, Tumbling, Jumps and Stage Presence. Dancing- this part of the cheer often includes many parts of dance. Sharp motions are no longer the main focus. Creativity and show aspects are looked into. How together the dancers are and how good does it look. Much the same at an actual dance studio. Stunting- Weight lifting, with real people. The bases learn to balance a flyer in the air as they show off their flexability and once again creative combinations. Not only is each squad a team but for this particular part multiple stunts often go up. This means timing in each stunt group must be perfect. This could be compared to perfectly running a play in football, something you've practiced many times and only works if every team member does their job. Motions- how the body moves. This is while walking, standing, and moving in general. How tight each motion is and how well it fits. This is also a team effort. Just as in choir and band when a person must fit the rest of the group. they must remember their part, while moving and under pressure. /> Tumbling- "flips and that stuff" This is often in two parts of the routine. One is standing tumbling and the other is running. Standing tumbling is throwing a tumbling skill without moving from your spot. That means no extra help from the mat. This is often in groups. Running tumbling is more of an individual or small group section of the routine. Once again this shows off creativity, flexablity, and gymnast like abilities. Jumps- a combination of flexabilty and leg strength. How high can you jump? As in basketball where a high jump is appreciated the same goes for cheer. We however do not throw the ball. We instead move our bodies. Just like the flyers we now have our chance to show off our flexabilty. Once again this is all in time and on counts. Stage Presence- How someone looks on stage. This inlcudes facials, body language and many other aspects. Much as an actor needs to act a cheerleader needs to act too. You must look happy. (which is sometimes harder than it looks) You may be in a lot of pain or even had a rough breakup. Either way if you don't smile your team loses points. Skirts-Not always just for looking good. As a guy I know that pants aren't the best choice for cheering. They cause several restrictions. Not only is it harder to hold a flyers leg, but they also cut off flexability. skirts allow for full motion. As a close I just want to mention that this was in no way a bash on anyone. I'm simply stating what I know. I may be wrong, everyone has their mistakes. Most of this article was just to show the difference between stereotyped cheer ideas and the real thing. Not all highschool cheerleaders are lazy sluts. And Cheerleading is not exactly as easy as some may think. Just take a look at it before you bash it, and if you've done that just hold your opinion in instead of bashing the dreams and hopes of another. That is a life lesson, not just a comment on this forum.