Cheerleading State Competition: Fill & Download for Free

My kids did not, and things were OK for them.They did get involved in robotics, band and mock trial, activities where the school excelled, almost always winning state competitions. The sports teams only occasionally rose to that level.Their school was not dominated by sports like my high school was.The homecoming king and queen were as likely to be members of the band as they were to being the quarterback and had cheerleader, unlike when I went to HS.I did choose where I lived and worked to be a place where education was important, and I believe this was helpful for my kids.

Yes and no.For some people and places, cheerleading does have the aspects you see: pretty girls, mean girls, popularity. I think this is an artifact of how cheerleading was back in my grandma’s day.(Quick note: No one does body pyramids like this anymore. Pyramid just means stunts that link up or have multiple girls in the air. See pictures under #8 for reference. No one forms weird, back breaking triangles.)When my grandma was a cheerleader in the mid-60s, tryouts were in front of the entire school. It was essentially a vote on who everyone thought was prettiest, most popular, and most peppy. I'm sure general dance/cheer skills helped you out, but if you weren't popular, you'd be easily outvoted. Hence, Hollywood has an idea of cheerleaders being the most popular and pretty.Here are some common myths from movies/tv shows I see a lot.UniformsGlee is notorious for this. The cheerleaders wear their uniforms DAILY. It's not like that anywhere I've seen. While a pep assembly or game day might call for this ensemble at school, most days you're wearing regular clothing.We usually wore our “shell” (the top piece to a uniform) about once a week for a big game, usually a Friday one. If there was an away game, we wore shirts that said our team name in our school colors or a sweater with our school name. Some schools won't let cheerleaders wear their uniforms during school hours because it's “distracting” (this happened my senior year).This uniform from Bring It On (a movie I love) is problematic. That midriff is highly unlikely at high school level. Some competitions won't allow you to compete in that when you're a HS team. This is more a college or competition team outfit.You also usually don't wear your hair up everyday at school. That's more for practice and games.And you generally own your uniform.In the 2nd BIO, when a girl quits, she gives up her uniform. This happens in Glee, too. It usually isn't that way in real life. You don't wear the uniform around if you quit or get kicked off, but you don't forfeit it because usually you bought it.2. BeautyMany cheerleaders are pretty, but a squad usually has some girls who are on the team for their talent but not considered extremely attractive. One of the best cheerleaders we had was more plain looking girl.3. Making the teamThis is a big Hollywood pet peeve of mine. Tryouts don't happen at the beginning of the year. And you can't just get on the squad in the middle of the year because you have an in with the “"head cheerleader” or because someone got injured. More likely than not, they'll have alternates OR will just pick from the girls who almost made it. Honestly, most just make it work without the one injured girl. Tryouts usually happen in the Spring so you have all Summer to prepare for Fall.Glee is notorious for this. Speaking of Glee…4. Cheer routines and cheersOh.My.Gosh.You can't bring in weird props and live singers and FIRE AND WIGS AND FREAKY DANCE MOVES, GLEE. A cheer competition has strict rules that limit the scope of what you can do. You aren't going to “win nationals” because you have a girl who belts out Madonna or because you dance to Ray of Light on stilts.You also don’t have weird, long cheers that are hard to say in unison or even understand.Case in point: There was this early Hannah Montana episode when I was in Jr. High where Miley and her pal Lily try out for the cheer squad.There was a cheer Lily did (you could Google the video) with a bunch of quirky rhymes and “"uh huh uh huh” riffs. Anyway, a girl on my squad was tasked with making a new cheer up, and she used that cheer. It was laughed off. Cheers should be easily heard and easily said. This one was not.5. AbilityIn movies and on TV, cheerleaders’ skill set gets underrated a lot. Stuff like kicking high and doing a “"big herkie” (a basic jump Lily brags about in Hannah Montana) are very basic and rather easy skills. In The Blind Side, Mrs. Tuohy says “Nice kick, Collins” during cheer practice. Yeah, unless Collins had been screwing up her kicks super bad before, you don't get praise for a good kick. Being a good dancer or super peppy are basic skills and don't guarantee you're a great cheerleader.6. AttitudeAh, the ubiquitous “mean girl” cheerleader. Movies and TV shows seem to think you sell your soul for a set of pom poms.(Side note: Why does her uniform have no letters, words, or symbols of the front? That never happens.)I was guilty of this thinking when I was younger and even when I was a cheerleader. But as I got older, I realized the issue; cheerleaders are usually popular yet fairly socially insular. They don't branch out super often because cheer often IS their friend group.One time we had a cheer meeting because our coach found out her cheerleader daughter and friends were perceived as “mean girls” and considered snobby by their peers (they were 2–3 years younger than I was). They were honestly shocked. They were certain they were just as nice as everyone else. I had frequently been told I was one of the “nice” cheerleaders, so I shared my insight. I told them the issue wasn't that they were particularly mean but that they only talked to a select group of people. By ignoring people in class or the halls, they were coming across as stuck up and rude.Honestly, I found the band kids who mocked cheerleaders as “airheads” and “b**ches” MUCH more insufferable. Many of us were top students (one was salutatorian of our high school, and I was salutatorian in college). Another girl graduated with her Associates with Honors.7. PopularityOne time, I was hanging out with a friend who went to another school. I said something about how I wasn't very popular, and she exclaimed, “But you're a cheerleader!”I honestly still got bullied a lot when I was a Jr. High and even High School cheerleader. And my friend group didn't radically change because I cheered. I dated mostly “band geeks” and cross country runners (my husband was both, and my first kiss was the drum major). I wasn't Homecoming or Prom royalty (though some cheerleaders were), and I usually had to date outside of my high school because guys there weren't interested (my husband is from a neighboring HS). My teachers would refer to me as “popular,” but I think they just thought I was cute, confident, and generally liked. Guys didn't really fetishize cheerleaders like happens in movies.8. “Nationals”“We have fun, we work hard, and we win national championships.”This is a line heard in the trailer for Bring It On AND a major plot point of the movie.The Cheerios of Glee fame are always winning Nationals, too.(That pyramid I talked about. Notice how no one breaks their spine.)Which Nationals? There are plenty of “nationwide” competitions, so winning could be a big deal (like UCA) or not (a smaller competition open to everyone “nationally”).E.g. There was a school near us who bragged about “going to nationals.” As it turns out, one cheerleader had a rich dad who sponsored them to ENTER into the contest in California; they just signed a paper and paid a fee to be in the competition. Most squads try to win State competitions or regional ones. And there are about 4 categories you can win in, so technically my squad was “state champion” of the Pom category (a cheer dance) my senior year and 2nd place champion of Show category my Freshman year but not overall.And finally…9. Pleated skirtsThese.Are.Not.Common.Yeah, some squads have them (my Jr. High squad did), but they're generally considered outdated. Squads with them generally stick out. It's a relic from the popular cheerleader of the 80s (kinda like saying “"Ready? Ok!” to start a cheer. NO ONE DOES THAT). But Hollywood would have you think pleated skirts are all the rage.My Jr. High squad with said pleated skirts (I'm furthest to the right, top row)Feel free to ask anymore questions. Cheer questions are always a fun bit of nostalgia for me.

Very, very Indian perspective here. Here’s something I find creepy.The cheer-leading culture: is not just legal, but celebrated in the United States.The idea that some people will play a sport, while some others (mostly girls) will do nothing but cheer them - seemed kind of unnecessary from my perspective. The fact that boys are competing while girls are merely cheering for them did not help- and it seemed quite sexist to me. (P.S. 97% of cheerleaders are girls)But, what really threw me off was the hyper-sexualization of the cheerleaders. Be it their uniform, their make-up or their moves.The definition of Cheerleading goes like -Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called "cheerleaders") cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition.But, what kind of encouragement/motivation are they advocating ? What is their uniqueness ? How is this alleged ‘motivation’ conveyed ?Is it their flexibility ?No ! We have Artistic Gymnastics for that -Is it the moves/choreography ?No ! We have dance competitions/performances for that.I think it won’t be unfair to call a spade a spade, and say that there is an undeniable sexual undertone in the act/practice of cheerleading.It did not come as a surprise to me that -‘Cheerleader’- was one of the most searched phrases in the pornographic websites through 2017.[1]No ! I’m not saying sexualization is bad. I believe, in certain contexts sexualization of oneself can even be empowering. It can be about taking control about one’s own body.But ….Sexualization - just to ‘motivate’ the team (boys) to perform well and compete better, is a little creepy.[2] [3]I guess … I might’ve pissed some of my American friends off. But, it was just my perspective, as an outsider.EDIT— Comment box has become an anti-India slur-fest. Thus closing it for good.Footnotes[1] Americans are very, very way into cheerleaders right now, says Pornhub data[2] NFL cheerleading is demeaning to women. It's time to end this nonsense.[3] I Was a High School Cheerleader — But Here's Why I’d Never Want My Daughter to Be One