A Comprehensive Guide to Cheerleading

When you think of cheerleading, the first thing that comes to mind is likely some peppy high school girls with pom poms and colorful uniforms. While this might describe a somewhat general category of squads out there, cheerleading as a sport is so much bigger than this stereotypical image. Today, cheerleading has grown into something worthy of much more respect than most people give it. Cheer has become a nationally recognized sport, awarding national and state titles to worthy athletes. Just this past month our very own Valencia Viking cheer team won the southern section CIF Championship which was no easy feat.

To understand the world of cheer, one must first be able to discern each type of cheer. Cheerleading can be divided into three main categories: All-Star, Traditional, and Professional, which have various subcategories between and within them. For example, All-Star cheerleading consists of elite squads that compete nationally for a whole season, prep teams that also compete nationally but only for a portion of the season, and elite internationals which compete for a full season against international teams. These are only just a few of the All-Star categories that teams fall under, leaving so much for this sport to offer.

All-Star cheerleading is the furthest thing from the cheerleader stereotype most people have. Loud, fast-paced, energetic music, bright, skin-tight, and cropped uniforms, and no cheering. Most all-cheerleaders don’t say a single word throughout their whole routine, the attention instead being drawn to sharp motions, impossible stunts, and show-stopping tumbling skills. This cheerleading is what some would call, the most elite level of cheerleading. 

All-Star cheerleaders perform some of the hardest skills out of all types of cheer but this all depends on their level. Each division and level is set by skill, age, gender, size, and location. There are seven main levels with a few mixed divisons such as 4.2, which combines elements from both level two and level four, that are separated by the tumbling and stunting difficulty between them. Gender also divides team into sections, all-girl and coed, allowing different stunts to become legal in each division. 

While in the majority of All-Star, there is no actual cheering or chanting, the global division changed this. Only a few years ago, the global division was created, allowing countries from all over the world to compete with each other on the United State’s turf. A new requirement shocking the whole cheer community, was the addition of a rule where these teams had to incorporate a cheer chant into their elite, All-Star routine. Squads took the opportunity to incorporate signs, flags, poms, and creative chants that even their fans learned. 

The next and most well-known of the cheerleading categories is Traditional cheerleading. This type is characterized by pom poms and signs, full-length tops paired with less form-fitting skirts, and a mascot to support with cheers to shout. This is the stereotypical cheerleader pictured in every 2000s high school movie you can think of, usually cheering for football or other various sports while performing stunts and tumbling skills. 

Traditional cheer can be recreational or scholastic although, most cheerleaders have done both. Recreational traditional cheerleading is typically done in elementary years from ages three to as old as eighteen, through the Pop Warner Little Scholars organization. This organization sets up programs around the country with football and cheerleading teams to allow young athletes to participate in these sports. Traditional Scholastic cheerleading, on the other hand, are cheerleading teams sanctioned by a school or educational institution ranging from elementary, which is rare, all the way up through middle school and most widely recognized in high school and college.

While All-Star cheerleading is known for its competitions because that is that section of the sport’s main focus, Traditional cheer also provides competition on the recreational, high school, and collegiate scales. Traditional cheerleading teams from all over the country have the opportunity to compete on the national level through two leading competitive tracks: UCA(Universal Cheerleaders Association) and NCA(National Cheerleaders Association). The qualifications and characteristics of each differ but ultimately, each allows athletes the chance to win a national title. 

The final main type of cheerleading is Professional, these are your Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and Los Angeles Laker Girls. Cheerleaders at the stage get paid for what they do and always look good doing it. Although it is still considered cheer, these cheerleaders are somewhat of a step back from the previous categories and are better off being considered simply professional dancers. While they do still carry pom poms and cheer for football, basketball, and even hockey teams, these athletes perform no tumbling, cheer jumps, or stunts and do not compete with other teams. Their main focus is dance, performing at halftime or quarter to quarter to keep the crowd engaged.

While every cheer team, division, and type have their differences they all share one thing in common, dedication to an amazing sport. The talent and persistence needed to thrive in this sport should award the athletes more respect than they currently have. Deep rooted misogyny and sexual prejudice have led this primarily female oriented sport to be looked down upon and treated as simple entertainment.