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Welcome!
This website is designed to help both coaches and current high or middle school cheerleaders find information to help build skills and the team. To the left are links to various pages that will be useful whether you are a novice to the sport or an expert.
Today cheerleaders are still faced with the stereotype that they are nothing but girls in short skirts doing a silly cheer and waving pom-pons (yes, that is the appropriate term). This may have been the case from the 1930's until about the 1990's but the sport has changed drastically from its creation in 1889. Cheerleaders are now expected to push the limits with regard to stunts and gymnastics, they are also held to a higher standard with regard to academics. Many schools require athletes to have a minimum GPA of 2.0 in order to tryout for the team. Cheerleaders are also expected to be well rounded individuals; this means they perform well in academics, in cheerleading and in the community.
History of Cheerleading
Johnny Campbell from the University of Minnesota, was the first cheerleader ever. Johnny and 5 friends created the first cheerleading team in 1889. The first cheer Johnny and his friends made was “Rah, rah rah! Ski-u-mah! Hoo-rah! Varsity! Minn-e-so-tah!” After a year Johnny had started to organize cheers, fight songs, and helped to raise school pride. The entire cheerleading team was all male. Nothing would change until 1923, when women were allowed to join cheerleading. With the addition of women came gymnastics. Along with the addition of women and gymnastics came the cheerleading icons the megaphone and pom-pons. The Colts in 1960 had the first professional cheerleading team in history.
With the creation of organizations such as the National Cheerleader Association (NCA), the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA), and the U.S. All Star Federation, the sport has become a lot safer and much more organized than it had been in previous years. These organizations have helped to standardize rules and safety guidelines nationwide allowing for fair competitions no matter what state a team may be from.
The NCA was founded in 1948 by Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer (the same guy who created the Herkie jump). His vision was to create an atmosphere to cultivate the whole cheerleader. This was the first cheerleading company and they continue to see Mr. Herkimer’s vision through, by having an innovative camp curriculum, industry-leading championships as well as special events to reward hard-working, well-rounded cheerleaders in America.
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators was founded in 1988. The company concentrates on educating coaches, athletes, parents and administrators on spirit safety and risk management. The AACCA offers a course to coaches and athletes in spirit safety and risk management; if the test is passed the coach will receive certification for four years, and will be provided with one million dollars of secondary liability insurance coverage for coaches who are employed full time by a school.
The U.S. All Star Federation was created to develop competition rules and all star gym training guidelines consistent with the best known safety, educational and ethical practices. By doing this, the USASF hopes to maximize the number of participants benefiting from positive life experiences of all star cheerleading.Types of Cheerleading
Since the beginning of cheerleading in 1889, things have changed and the sport has evolved. There are now many types of cheerleading. Sideline continues with the original purpose of cheerleading which is to cheer on the team. It has changed only slightly with the addition of harder stunts and gymnastics but the cheerleading team’s job is still to keep the fans excited and interested in the game. During football games there is no limit to the number of members allowed on the team. Basketball only allows twelve athletes cheering at a time. Sideline cheerleaders do often compete in competitions but follow different rules. For instance they only have two rounds. The first round is the same as in competitive cheerleading but the second round is performed to music and includes both gymnastics and stunts. Both men and women can participate in sideline cheerleading.
Competitive is completely different. Cheerleaders are not at games during basketball season they are only at cheerleading competitions. At competitions they aren’t cheering for other teams but are being cheered for. There are three rounds in competitive cheerleading. The first round is called the Leadership round; teams are not allowed to do any gymnastics or stunts. This round is to show the skills the team has as far as voice control, arm movements and the ability to get the crowd involved. Round two is the Compulsory round which allows the team to demonstrate skills as one. All arm motions, skills and gymnastics have to be performed at the same time in the same way. The first 8 movements of round two are the same for every team. Teams have to do the movements the exact same but can have different words. Also in round two teams can only do a combination of 5 different skills or gymnastics. Round three is the Creative round; teams are allowed to do gymnastics and stunts during this round to show off their abilities. Teams can only use sixteen members on the mat for each round. At this time only females can participate in competitive cheerleading. For rounds two and three each skill whether a kick or a cartwheel offers the team a different amount of points. In round three different types of stunts give teams different amounts of points. Coaches are required to turn in a round two sheet listing the five skills the team will perform throughout the routine. They also have to turn in a sheet that calculates what each stunt is worth in round three along with any gymnastics done as a team.
Besides sideline and competitive at the high school level there is also All-stars. This started in the 1980’s outside of schools. These teams are not affiliated with any school but are usually associated with a gym. The teams concentrate only on competitions. The team can be between six and thirty-six members. All-star teams allow both males and females to compete.
At competitions teams are judged by five to six different judges. There are three directly in front of the mat. These judges simply concentrate on the material being presented. The other one or two judges are the safety judges. They make sure team members don’t touch the mat before they are called and ensure the team’s safety by checking for metal in everyone’s hair and watch for anything falling on the mat, they are also responsible for many other violations to check on.
No matter which type of team or which round a team could lose points for hair ribbons falling out, if any metal is used to pin the hair back, if a team member steps off of the mat during any point of the routine or if the team is not wearing matching uniforms, this includes shoes having to match as a team as well. There are a variety of other violations that can range from a fraction of a point to 22 points from a team’s total score.
