Competitive Cheerleading

Competitive Cheerleading

According to Title IX regulations a sport is required to have practices, coaches, and

competitions during a season. It also states that every sport should have a main goal to compete.

Competitive cheerleading contains all of these requirements. It requires time, skill, and strength. The throwing, flipping, twisting, lifting, and jumping skills involved in cheerleading leave

no doubt that competitive cheerleading is a sport.

Competitive cheerleading contains five levels; level one being the lowest and level five being the highest. The divisions are divided by ages and skill level. As the levels go up, the more difficult the skills are performed and practiced. The foremost goal of competition cheerleading is to perform a two and a half minute routine without making mistakes and to win first place. Each team is scored based off of how well the performance is executed. The team with the highest score and the least amount of deductions wins their division. Not only are judges looking for a routine with no mistakes, they are looking to be entertained. Judges watch teams and expect to see everyone smiling and for everyone to perform to their best ability. Every

movement and motion a cheerleader performs is on a number between one and eight which they call "counts". If anyone on the team is not on the same "count" as the other cheerleaders during the performance, then the execution score will go down.

Within a short two and a half minute routine, cheerleaders implement five different sequences during routine. They carry out tumbling, stunting, motions, jumps and dance. Tumbling is comparable to gymnastics and acrobatics which requires running, flipping, and twisting. Mental and physical strength is a significant quality to have when tumbling. Without these strengths, it would be tremendously complicated for a cheerleader to execute such difficult movements. Another section teams perform is called stunting. A stunt is when one person is being held in the air by one or more people. The two types of stunting are Partner Stunts and One Man Stunts. A Partner Stunt requires four people. Without having four people in a Partner Stunt, the team is deducted points from their final score. The flyer, which is typically one of the smallest people on the team, is held in the air by three people underneath. Two of the four people holding the flyer's foot are called the bases. There is a main base and secondary base. Typically the main base is shorter and stronger than the secondary base. The fourth position in a stunt is the back-spot. The back-spots are commonly the tallest on the team and are capable of reaching the flyer's ankle to keep them balanced while being held in the air. Leg and arm strength is very important when it comes to stunting. When the flyer is in the air, he or she hits a series of positions on certain counts. Flyers are expected to stretch their legs and backs to perform their positions in the air. If a flyer falls out of the air during competition, the team is also deducted points from the final score. A One Man Stunt is performed with two people. One base and a flyer. The base in a One Man Stunt has to be physically powerful and strong in order to lift another person by themselves.

A difficult category in cheerleading is jumping. It requires leg strength and flexibility. The goal of jumps is getting one's legs and feet as high as possible near the head without bending their legs or chest. Cheerleaders are also expected to point their toes and not to reach the chest forward