Introdction to Cheer

When people think of cheerleading they think of fun, happy, preppy people. When in fact, competitive cheer is much more than that. I remember in my first years of high school I used to make fun of my friend who was a cheerleader by saying, "Oh cheer isn't a sport because all you do is yell." I was wrong. When I joined cheer my senior year I realized i was wrong. To this day I’m still a cheerleader and I cheer for California All Stars: Coed Level 5. We practice 2 times a week for 3-4 hours each day. But the amount of conditioning that we do in that time is immense. Practice usually starts with a half mile run, followed by stretching, then sets of 5 jumps to tuck (back flip). After that we usually tumble (gymnastics) for 30 min, and then practice starts. Cheer has a mix of everything: Stunting, Jumping, Flexibility, Dance, and gymnastics. All of our training is to show an intense 2:30 minute routine around the country. All to be placed and named among the top cheerleading teams in the world! As my coach says, “Whoever told you cheerleading is fun lied. It is only fun when you win!”