In these modern times sporting events are often spectacular. The supporters are hyped and they wear the colours of their team. Souvenirs, food and drink are all available everywhere. And, of course, there are cheerleaders. Each team has its own squad of cheerleaders and the competition between these squads is often as fierce as the competition between the sports teams themselves. Cheerleading squads are found everywhere, from Morganville NJ to Buffalo NY.
In modern times cheer leading is almost synonymous with sporting events but the practice has an age old history. Descriptions of battles in the Bible include many references to special squads of men that blew their bugles, banged their drums and clashed their cymbals to instil fear in their enemies and to motivate their own armies. These special squads were nothing but cheerleaders. The tradition of employing special motivational squads during battle persisted throughout the ages.
Modern cheerleaders is said to originate from Princeton University in the UK. A special Princeton Cheer was documented as early as 1877. Only males were allowed to chant this cheer which has survived to this day. The idea of an organized cheer arrived in the USA when an erstwhile Princeton student introduced it at the University of Minnesota in 1884. Soon the university had a special cheerleader squad and the tradition of organized cheering quickly spread to other universities.
It was only in 1923, also at the University of Minnesota, that females entered the picture of cheerleaders. However, the idea of using females did not become popular until the nineteen forties. Being a cheerleader quickly became a popular ambition for girls of all ages and by the early nineteen sixties cheerleaders were almost exclusively a female activity. By the mid seventies there were more than half a million active cheerleaders in the USA.
Even after all this time the main objectives of cheer leading have not changed significantly. Cheerleaders are there to motivate the players, to rally them under a single banner and to get the supporters fully on their side. These days, however, cheerleaders also play an important role in the entertainment of the crowd. They offer special, often spectacular performances before and during games. These performances have become standard fare at matches.
From the early sixties onwards cheer leading showed a sharp increase in popularity. By 1975 there were more than 500 000 cheerleaders in the United States. Being chosen for a cheerleader squad remains a great honour and in some cases it is even possible to make a career out of cheer leading. Squads no longer perform at sports events only. They compete against each other at tournaments everywhere in the world.
Cheerleaders have many critics. They say its modern form is exploitative and sexist. They also point out that cheer leading has proved to produce the highest rate of serious injuries in any sport. Participants need to be extremely fit and fierce competition lead to the development of ever increasing dangerous stunts. Critics are calling for a review of the rules governing this activity in order to increase safety.
There can be no doubt that cheer leading is a demanding sport. Participants need to master complicated movements and they need to be very fit. Competition is fierce and only the very best can expect to be selected to the top squads.
In modern times cheer leading is almost synonymous with sporting events but the practice has an age old history. Descriptions of battles in the Bible include many references to special squads of men that blew their bugles, banged their drums and clashed their cymbals to instil fear in their enemies and to motivate their own armies. These special squads were nothing but cheerleaders. The tradition of employing special motivational squads during battle persisted throughout the ages.
Modern cheerleaders is said to originate from Princeton University in the UK. A special Princeton Cheer was documented as early as 1877. Only males were allowed to chant this cheer which has survived to this day. The idea of an organized cheer arrived in the USA when an erstwhile Princeton student introduced it at the University of Minnesota in 1884. Soon the university had a special cheerleader squad and the tradition of organized cheering quickly spread to other universities.
It was only in 1923, also at the University of Minnesota, that females entered the picture of cheerleaders. However, the idea of using females did not become popular until the nineteen forties. Being a cheerleader quickly became a popular ambition for girls of all ages and by the early nineteen sixties cheerleaders were almost exclusively a female activity. By the mid seventies there were more than half a million active cheerleaders in the USA.
Even after all this time the main objectives of cheer leading have not changed significantly. Cheerleaders are there to motivate the players, to rally them under a single banner and to get the supporters fully on their side. These days, however, cheerleaders also play an important role in the entertainment of the crowd. They offer special, often spectacular performances before and during games. These performances have become standard fare at matches.
From the early sixties onwards cheer leading showed a sharp increase in popularity. By 1975 there were more than 500 000 cheerleaders in the United States. Being chosen for a cheerleader squad remains a great honour and in some cases it is even possible to make a career out of cheer leading. Squads no longer perform at sports events only. They compete against each other at tournaments everywhere in the world.
Cheerleaders have many critics. They say its modern form is exploitative and sexist. They also point out that cheer leading has proved to produce the highest rate of serious injuries in any sport. Participants need to be extremely fit and fierce competition lead to the development of ever increasing dangerous stunts. Critics are calling for a review of the rules governing this activity in order to increase safety.
There can be no doubt that cheer leading is a demanding sport. Participants need to master complicated movements and they need to be very fit. Competition is fierce and only the very best can expect to be selected to the top squads.
About the Author:
The NJ premier gymnastics offers cheerleading classes to all the local girls. To take part today, visit this website now at http://NJPremierGymnastics.com.
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