Cheerleading

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders aboard an aircraft carrier

Cheerleading (from English cheer 'applause' and to lead '(to) lead') is a sport that consists of elements of gymnastics , acrobatics , dance and cheers.

The primary task of the cheerleaders was originally to cheer on their own sports team at events and competitions and to entertain the audience. Typical sports in which cheerleaders perform - even today - are basketball and American football . But also in handball , volleyball , football , ice hockey and many other sports, the number of cheerleading groups, also known as squads , is growing .

Today cheerleading is mainly practiced as an independent competitive sport. Cheerleading championships are held at national and international level for the organized squads throughout the year. According to a fixed set of rules, the squads must perform certain mandatory elements within a 2 to 3 minute routine (performance), which are then evaluated by judges according to degree of difficulty and execution. Most squads work consistently towards the championships and now see this as their main task.

history

The Alba Dancers from the ALBA Berlin basketball club

The first cheerleading teams came from the United States , where it began on November 2, 1898 at a final between the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University teams in American football with organized cheers from the audience. There were only men to be found as cheerleaders. Only over time were women admitted. Since the 1980s, cheerleading has also become more and more popular in Germany . The first known cheerleading team in Germany were the cheerleaders of the Düsseldorf Panthers . There are currently around 20,000 active cheerleaders in Germany who are organized at association level.

In Germany, cheerleading is currently represented by two organizations.

The Cheerleaders Association Germany (CVD) was founded in 2003 as a sub-body of the American Football Association Germany (AFVD). European competitions of this organization are carried out by the European Cheerleading Association (ECA), the associated world association is the International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC).

The Cheerleading and Cheerdance Association Germany (CCVD) was founded in 2007 as an independent and independent interest group for cheerleaders in Germany. This association now has over 17,500 members, which in turn are organized in 15 regional associations. The CCVD has been a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) since December 2017. European competitions of the CCVD are organized by the European Cheer Union (ECU). The associated world association is the International Cheer Union (ICU). The ICU is a provisionally recognized member of the IOC .

Age classification

New England Patriots cheerleaders with pompoms

There are three age groups within cheerleading:

Children / Peewees: CvD up to 12 years, CCVD up to 12 years
Youth / Juniors: CvD 12 to 17 years, CCVD 11 to 17 years
Adults / Seniors: CvD from 16 years, CCVD from 14 years

Cheerleading elements

2006 Pro Bowl , Hawaii

Motions

Motions are specific arm movements that are critical to cheerleaders' tension and strength. These are used in cheers, chants, stunts and dances.

Chants

A chant is understood as a spoken chant with appropriate facial and gestural underlining of the statements. Chants can be used spontaneously by the cheerleading team throughout the game as encouragement. They are mostly repeated three times.

Cheer

Cheers, like chants, are combinations of words and movements, but last longer. They are only presented during the official game interruption and after the game. They are not repeated. The cheer is a dance that is mainly performed at events.

Stunts

Hamburg Blue Angels 2006

A stunt is a lifting figure that involves at least two people. The number of people involved can increase to up to five. The group is then referred to as a stunt group. Such a stunt group consists of:

1 main base and 1 side base, which face each other and carry and lift the flyer on the palms of the hands, they catch the flyer on the back, buttocks and thighs. The main base has the majority of the weight in certain stunts, while the side base is responsible for the balance so that the flyer's foot does not tip in a certain direction.
1 back (-scoop / -spot), who supports the bases by helping the flyer into the stunt, coordinating everything by counting and, in the case of "seasoned figures", grasping the ankles of the flyer or grasping the wrists of the bases and pushing them up or down the flyer catches the upper body of a "throwing figure" in a high-V.
1 flyer / top . This person is carried by the others and performs various motions and figures on the stunt, which form the heart of the stunt.
1 front, which is responsible for the safety of the stunt and helps the sides (main and side base) to carry the load by supporting them at the wrists and catching the flyer's legs. This position can be left out as long as the stunt is safe.

If you put several stunts together to form a larger overall picture, this is called a pyramid . The number of people involved is unlimited here. Pyramids can be built up to four body lengths high. The “pillars” of the pyramid or stunt form the bases that the other people lift up. The upper people are called Top / Flyer or High-Flyer . If the pyramid is three or more body lengths, the “middle” people are called the middle layer .

Basket Toss

Wild Pearls cheerleaders preparing for a basket toss

Wild Pearls cheerleaders in the final position of a basket toss ("Toe Touch")

If a flyer is thrown high in the air and makes a certain movement there (comparable to jumps), this is called a basket toss or basket for short . The two bases of the basket group enclose your wrists in such a way that a kind of basket is formed. The flyer gets in with his feet and is thrown high into the air. There are four or five people involved in a basket toss; Movements are u. a. Screw, back tuck, toe touch, pike, kick twist / double, x-out, lay-out and much more.

Jumps

Jumps, in German jumps, can be built into cheers, tumbling, but also into dances. They are supposed to express joy and are therefore often carried out when, for example, the team scores. There are jumps like the toe touch, in which you bend and spread your legs at a right angle from your upper body and keep your arms parallel to them. Other jumps are Pike, Double Nine, Spread Eagle, Around the World (combination of Toe Touch and Pike), etc.

Jumps are special jumps that, depending on the level of difficulty, require a lot of practice and with which different scores can be achieved at championships.

Dance

The Magic Paws cheerleaders at the dance

Dance, in German dance, is an important part of cheerleading and is part of every performance or routine. The ladies are not the only ones to dance. The men also dance, but the men neither wear skirts nor do they have pompoms . In many cheerleading teams, special dance teams have already formed that are exclusively dedicated to dancing. At championships, these teams compete in their own category. Cheerdance is a dance style in itself, as the movements are clearer and harder than most other dance styles. After all, they also need to be recognized by a distant audience. You can also perform jumps in cheerdance.

Spotter

("Spot" = save person on top) Spotters are people who secure a stunt. You can come from the performing team (internal) or be additional people who otherwise do not participate in the program (external). In contrast to internal spotters, external spotters are not allowed to actively intervene or contribute to the performance. The main task of the spotter is to catch falling cheerleaders when a pyramid collapses or to weaken the fall in order to avoid injuries.

Tumbling

Tumbling under refers to all elements of the floor gymnastics , such as hand stand , Flickflack , (stretched) somersault, Radschlag , Radwende , Handspring, etc. These may also be shown throughout the choreography. Tumblers often do gymnastics while the rest of the team builds a pyramid.

Props

Props are the tools that cheerleaders can use during their performance. The best known are the so-called pompons , which are often referred to colloquially as " pompons ". Also, flags , signs, Pappmegaphone and many other props can be seen in a cheerleading performance.