Cheerobics, the fun alternative to aerobic fitness (with poms), has been around in Richmond and Covent Garden for some time, but for those who remain unconvinced of its true benefits, a handy little interview with its founder (the gorgeous Jess Rossi) has emerged, which I thought worth sharing:
Jess hasn’t convinced you? A little more on the programme:
Those of us who have cheered always knew it was a tough work-out, and now the sceptics can be initiated. Still don’t believe us? Well how about you put your £8 where your mouth is and get involved!
It is no secret to this blog that I’m a big advocate of cheerleading. As a former cheerleader myself – in support of our American football team at University, and competitively in London squads for the three years following – this is perhaps no surprise. I don’t pretend to offer an unbiased viewpoint, but I do hope to offer an informed one.
Long-standing has been the debate over whether cheerleading can be deemed a ‘sport’. Yesterday, in a strongly voiced opinion piece for The Guardian, Victoria Coren (daughter of Alan, brother of Giles, star poker-player and one-time porn star) made her position on the point crystal clear. She’s entitled to her opinion, but I wanted to respond – if only to expand on the rantings from many a disgruntled cheerleader who posted some of the 300+ comments in response to the original piece.
What provoked Coren’s opinions was a news story that ran two weeks ago, presenting the latest statistics that show cheerleading has become the fastest growing physical activity picked up by school P.E. departments across the UK. In a nation of growing obesity, where the inactivity of our children regularly hits the headlines, one would think the discovery of a discipline that engages children in this way would be celebrated. Apparently not.
(c) Ascension Eagles Cheerleaders
For me, focusing on the sport question tends to overlook the inherent values of the discipline, but more on that later. For now, let’s entertain the harshest critics for a moment and deal with the debate at hand, which requires two distinct definitions: firstly, which section of cheerleading is being referred to and secondly, the definition of sport being put forward.
Let’s talk about sport for a moment. The Olympics, generally considered the ultimate global representation of sporting excellence, makes a discernment between sports (a single or group of sports represented by an international federation) and disciplines (multiple events that can fall under the same sporting umbrella). Thus Aquatics is a sport, fielding activities in the disciplines, swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and water polo.
Now, don’t mistake me here, I am not for one moment purporting that cheerleading should be made an Olympic sport (or, for that matter, convinced that synchronized swimming should be classed as such either). But take a closer look at the IOC’s catalogue and you will find that not only is Gymnastics and its three disciplines (artistic, rhythmic and trampoline) on the official list of Olympic sports, but that ‘Dance Sport’, while not included in the Olympic program is fully recognized by the IOC and therefore could be added to the Olympic program at any given time if sufficiently supported by IOC membership vote.
What I am certain of is that competitive cheerleading represents the ultimate combination of Dance Sport and Gymnastics (artistic, rhythmic and, given the impact of a sprung floor on which all competitions are held, arguably trampoline). Just take a look at the most recent World Championship holders (for the fourth year in a row) and see if you disagree:
And this brings us to our second definition – what sector of cheerleading are we considering here? The competitive squads like the Stingray Allstars are a different kettle of fish entirely to the NFL dancer cheerleaders who bring glitz and sizzle to the football sidelines every Sunday and Monday night. But both have their value – on and off the field of performance. The point of the NFL girls on game day is to entertain the crowd – by their own admission they are first and foremost dancers – and do not enter into the gymnastic stunts of competitive cheer.
However, not even NFL cheerleaders should be cast aside with the aspersions so forthcoming from Ms. Coren in yesterday’s unfounded diatribe against cheerleaders the world over. NFL cheerleaders are a combined force of college students and professionals who give up their evenings, weekends and annual holidays to support their football team, fundraise for charity events, promote local businesses, teach cheer camps to local kids, entertain the forces abroad and promote their game around the world. Quite apart from the commitment to honed athleticism and the upkeep of physical excellence that is required to keep their appearance and performance up to the standard required.
NFL cheerleaders, New Orleans' Saintsations, visit Kandahar Airfield in 2009
Whether their activities combined could be deemed a sport? Even I find that hard to argue. But to focus solely on the ‘ass-shaking’ of their poms in scantily clad costumes and over-sexualised dance numbers, is an easy observation to make, but is also a crass devaluation of their role and responsibilities.
But when it comes to the competitive cheerleading that I know so well, it is an entirely different story. It is a form of cheerleading that, sadly, seems to have escaped the research of Ms. Coren. I have seen firsthand this incredible discipline inspire thousands of youngsters to dedicate years of their lives to routines that display such athletic excellence – in the quite astonishing synchronisation of gymnastics and dance – that arguing the case for it to be classed a sport is, frankly, a pretty easy task.
Of course, British sensationalist press, the narrow-minded opinions formed from limited exposure to American high-school movies and a British viewpoint partial to condescension of our American cousins for their brash lack of culture means it is all too easy to make the ‘boots and hot pants’ picture the prevailing image of the cheer world. There follows the outrage of parents who (rightly so) find the concept of their child being taught to shake their booty in hotpants and boots quite horrendous. As would I, were that what was being taught in schools. Obviously, it isn’t.
And therein lies the problem, wrought by stereotype and informed by press exposure of the most commonly portrayed ‘cheerleader’ – that we overlook the athletic, competitive form that can indeed be classed as a sport.
Were these folks to turn up to any one of the several weekly training sessions of a UK cheer squad – national champions AEC a primary case in point – they would see a rather different world. Children who happily sacrifice listless evenings in front of the TV, weekends at the local park with friends; not to mention their adult coaching staff who volunteer their own spare time to inspire them – all in the name of athletic excellence.
AEC were selected to perform at last year's NFL game at Wembley
Perhaps the solution is to take a lead from the IOC, deeming cheerleading as a whole to be a discipline, but discerning the divisions that fall within it – the sport, the competitive/gymnastic cheer (the likes of AEC and the Stingrays), and then the pom dance (the NFL variety) – a system of division that already effectively provides the structure for cheer competitions all over the country.
Cheerleading teaches them teamwork, trust and commitment and gives them a cause to focus on, learning that with enough dedication and practice, great outcomes can be achieved. And with this, combined with the tough athletic program that cheerleading requires, what more could we want to teach our kids?
To find out more about UK cheerleading – in schools, universities and beyond – visit BCA, UKCA and Future Cheer.
And head down to Trafalgar Square on 30th October to see the 49ers Gold Rush in action ahead of the NFL International Series at Wembley on 31st.
As part of the NFL Bucs cheer girls‘ UK tour this week, they dropped by three primary schools in three different cities to teach youngsters all about the sport.
As a former cheerleader, it was hugely rewarding to be able to set up these school camps, and show young kids first hand what cheerleading can bring. I was only given the opportunity at uni and I wished so much that squads had been active and available when I was little too.
But what was most heart-warming was Head Teacher of Newcastle’s Wingrove Primary, Denise Harland’s glowing endorsement of the girls when they came to visit the school – hopefully dispelling the renowned air-head myths surrounding the cheer community:
“It’s a great opportunity to have the cheerleaders come into the school and show the children a different side of sport. These girls are very fit, articulate and fun, and it’s gives our children an idea of what sport can offer. They need to see and experience as broad a range of activities as possible and are very fortunate to have been part of the Buccaneers tour.”
How I love it when the national UK press features cheerleading – believe me, it is a rare occurrence.
This weekend, my eye was caught by a double page photo spread no less in the Spectrum section of The Sunday Times Magazine, featuring the image above. Albeit that the image is not exactly recent – Ladefoged’s shot was originally taken for a New York Times feature on the Kentucky athletes in September of 2005- but it does showcase the colourful, fun vibrancy of the sport and, of course, the immense athletic prowess required to perfect the partner stunt (for cheer ignorami amongst you, the image above features 5 simultaneous partner stunts in mid-flight).
Interesting facts were included in the ST Mag caption too:
Members of the University of Kentucky team practise their high-flying routine before the national cheerleading championships. Although 97% of competitors are female, the physical demands of stunts mean that men are often recruited. Surprisingly, cheerleading began as an all-male pursuit, with the first females participating in the 1920s. The University of Kentucky team is seen as the best in the US, having won the championships 14 times in the past 17 years.
For those who aren’t regular readers of the ST Magazine, Spectrum is a section dedicated to the week’s news photographic highlights – so I was pretty proud to see the US Nationals (from April 5) selected to feature as one.
The Tsunami Wavettes sideline c.January 2005 (yes, we were as cold as we look)
I really have no idea what prompted me to post this today. I suppose recently I have been thinking about a return to the world of cheer performance, given how much I miss it, but mostly I just enjoy looking back at what was without a doubt the Best Year Ever.
Rather than ramble on endlessly about why, I wanted to bring back into circulation our unofficial song from that year, which quite frankly sums up all the best bits of the season. For guidance, it’s to be sung to the tune of Don McLean’s American Pie (in honour of Wavettes founder Kristina Hultman) – the short version, not the 5 hour one, though granted we probably could have found enough material to fill the long one too.
Anyway, as we bottled out of singing it at the 2005 Awards Dinner, here it is in it’s entirety. Enjoy – we certainly did…
The Greatest Year of Our Lives
A long, long time ago, we can still remember
How it felt to be the winning side.
The Stags and Kent were washed away
The yards were gained, the plays were made
A season full of promise, started well.
Then someone had the bright idea
Of bringing girls along to cheer,
But with this ‘good luck’ token
Their winning streak got broken.
But on they fought and on they played
Against Bullets, Stingers, Wolves and Blades.
They fought and lost, but still got laid
And so, the cheeries stayed..
My, My, Brighton Tsunami guys
Never weaken when they’re beaten and will always aim high
Win or lose we all still have a good time
And it’s been the greatest year of our lives
It’s been the greatest year of our lives
Did you learn the sacred ways
Of peaks and troughs in that book of plays
Cos Coach Chris told you so?
Or were you out all night again
At the Honey with Ali, Nick and Ben?
(Where they go to dance together real slow)
Cos Wednesday Nights are why we’re here
Forget the game, embrace the beer
The game is what we cheer for
But it’s the socials that we live for… and
Though the President is drunk by ten
And the Social Sec is late again
And there are fights and tears every now and then
Still, the cheeries stay
Because we know that: My, My, Brighton Tsunami guys
Never weaken when they’re beaten and will always aim high
Win or lose we all still have a good time
And it’s been the greatest year of our lives
It’s been the greatest year of our lives.
For the Warwick game we were up at 3
On the coach for hours, stopping just to pee,
Hawaiian was the game-day theme.
From the sideline we all cheered our best
But Warwick put us to the test
And soon, it looked like another defeat..
But as those Wolves were looking down
Potter waved his wand around
Tsunami took the lead
But the Wolves caught up with speed..
To the Superbowl we fled with glee
Where the boys all drank until they couldn’t see
And though the girls wound up in A&E
Still, the cheeries stayed.
And so we sing it: My, My, Brighton Tsunami guys
Never weaken when they’re beaten and will always aim high
Win or lose we all still have a good time
And it’s been the greatest year of our lives
It’s been the greatest year of our lives
Remember, now the season’s done
With battles lost but Little Victories won
You’re still the best team in the league.
It’s not about the final score,
Who won and lost on that field of war,
It’s all about the spirit of the team.
But there’s rumour of a cheerie curse:
That girls in skirts just make things worse;
That player interaction
Is just one big distraction..
But jinx and curses cast away
We know you’ll win the league someday
Tsunami can go all the way
That’s why we cheeries stay.
And we’re still singing: My, My, Brighton Tsunami guys
Never weaken when they’re beaten and will always aim high
Win or lose we all still have a good time
And it’s been the greatest year of our lives -
It’s been the greatest year of our lives.
