All-Star Article On Espnw Says Cheer Not A Sport

[vannahlexis]

Would making sideline teams ground bound affect the success of the high school/college's competitive team?

I know my high school got most of out stunting/tumbling skills during the sideline season and then put them into the competition routine when that time came around.

If there's no reason to practice during the spring/fall will that hinder the success of the competitive program?

Or would teams still be motivated to stunt/tumble during practice even though they have nowhere to show there skills?


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[Official OWECheer]

If you can learn your sideline material in and out of practice, you can spend more time skillbuilding. Maybe it can be used as a prep season for competition season.

 

[Aussiekat]

If we're considering the money aspect, what does grounding sideline cheer do for NCA and UCA summer camps? How much money is made on these camps, as well as practicewear etc. Would attendance dramatically drop if it was only poms and chants? I actually don't know much about sideline cheer; I'm genuinely curious.


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[cheernerd5678]

If we're considering the money aspect, what does grounding sideline cheer do for NCA and UCA summer camps? How much money is made on these camps, as well as practicewear etc. Would attendance dramatically drop if it was only poms and chants? I actually don't know much about sideline cheer; I'm genuinely curious.


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The traditional camps teach a lot of cheers, dances, jumps, but it does include stunts. Based on the schedule - 2 hour long stunt sessions, 2 hour long pyramid classes, and 1 hour of baskets over the 4 days ("standard camp" - there is lots of team time and custom coaching where It's not necessarily focused on stunts but it's very likely that you're doing them and incorporating them into your routine). There are also "speed camps" (and probably a UCA equivalent) where it's all stunting and tumbling. We learned 1 cheer and it was just for the all American tryout. Those camps would be hurt a lot by grounding sideline. I think the traditional camps could probably survive with some restructuring, and maybe shortening them by a day, but the skills focused camps couldn't. Not sure if attendance would drop... I wouldn't be surprised if it did. They'd survive, just probably smaller...


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[cupieqt]

The traditional camps teach a lot of cheers, dances, jumps, but it does include stunts. Based on the schedule - 2 hour long stunt sessions, 2 hour long pyramid classes, and 1 hour of baskets over the 4 days ("standard camp" - there is lots of team time and custom coaching where It's not necessarily focused on stunts but it's very likely that you're doing them and incorporating them into your routine). There are also "speed camps" (and probably a UCA equivalent) where it's all stunting and tumbling. We learned 1 cheer and it was just for the all American tryout. Those camps would be hurt a lot by grounding sideline. I think the traditional camps could probably survive with some restructuring, and maybe shortening them by a day, but the skills focused camps couldn't. Not sure if attendance would drop... I wouldn't be surprised if it did. They'd survive, just probably smaller...


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Which is why Jeff Webb says heck no it ain't a sport. Camps are the bread and butter of the sideline cheer business.

*If they make it a sport then comes with it the regulations and money gets funneled to other necessary things.

 

[SL&AM]

Which is why Jeff Webb says heck no it ain't a sport. Camps is the bread and butter of the sideline cheer business.

*If they make it a sport then comes with it the regulations and money gets funneled to other necessary things.

Well that makes his position even clearer.

 

[kristenthegreat]

Which is why Jeff Webb says heck no it ain't a sport. Camps are the bread and butter of the sideline cheer business.

*If they make it a sport then comes with it the regulations and money gets funneled to other necessary things.

Wait, but wouldn't he LOSE money if people aren't going to camps (because they don't need those skills)? Or is it a toss-up: lose money on camps but if it IS a sport camps would go away because you couldn't have them?

I'm missing something.

 

[gymcatmomx2]

I am trying to put my thoughts together on this, and frankly I don't know what to think. These thoughts are on sideline cheer only, not all-star cheer. If they ground sideline cheer at our schools, then they would be no different then a drill team and none of the truly talented cheerleaders would tryout. In addition, folks are only talking about cheering on the sidelines at games, whether that be football or basketball, but they forget about the pep rallies. Our schools choreograph full competition routines at every pep rally, which is usually around 5-7 per year. The routines include cheers, chants, tumbling, including standing back tucks and running fulls, stunts and baskets plus pyramids that consist of approximately 50 cheerleaders.

If "they" ground school cheerleaders then there goes one of the best traditions in high school and college football games. I really don't care whether school cheer is considered a sport or not. If declaring sideline cheer as a sport, hurts the competitiveness or the "showmanship" then that would make me angry. If they take away the higher level skills then that would make sideline cheer nothing but a joke and you may as well have the drill team on the sidelines instead.

 

[cupieqt]

Wait, but wouldn't he LOSE money if people aren't going to camps (because they don't need those skills)? Or is it a toss-up: lose money on camps but if it IS a sport camps would go away because you couldn't have them?

I'm missing something.

He would definitely lose money if they don't need those skills/don't go to camps. Which is why he testified that it's not a sport. But this AMA thing just came out making people talk about it again and this is where it gets hairy. What would make it an athletic activity/a danger to the participants? Stunts. So if they're saying YES it's a sport, fund it and schools are like "Hahahaha. No that costs too much. We will just eliminate it or the aspect that makes it a sport" and now Jeff is sweatin it bc he told them a few years ago "nah it's not a sport don't worry about these kids they're just havin fun on the sidelines". But now people are worried about it. So something's gonna give.
IF they deem it a sport and fund it the camps will still suffer because now there will be NCAA regulations to deal with.
IF it's deemed not a sport but they have to change something so it's not a dangerous activity taking place on the sidelines then you're looking at stunts being eliminated and camps will suffer for that too.

Nothing is better for Varsity, or any other brand that offers sideline cheer camps, than status quo. Not a sport, not a dangerous activity. Nothing to see here.

 

[cupieqt]

I certainly think they are less effective. My coach has taught that higher skills always have a more effective way of capturing the crowds attention so they will yell along with us.

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For LSU the crowd is involved with the cheerleaders twice. Once at the beginning of the game when the captain gets on a mic connected to the loudspeaker and they lead the crow in "GEAUX" on one side of the stadium and "TIGERS" on the other. No stunts done during this. It's all signs and poms and motions.
The second time the crowd pays attention to them is when the girls are riding around the field on top of Mikes cage. No stunts there either. They're just sitting on top of a Bengal Tigers cage so it's kind of eye catching.

The only people that pay attention to them at any other point are little girls and former cheerleaders. They're great publicity. They're amazing for school spirit. But the stunts have almost zero role in their crowd leading abilities. T

 

[kristenthegreat]

He would definitely lose money if they don't need those skills/don't go to camps. Which is why he testified that it's not a sport. But this AMA thing just came out making people talk about it again and this is where it gets hairy. What would make it an athletic activity/a danger to the participants? Stunts. So if they're saying YES it's a sport, fund it and schools are like "Hahahaha. No that costs too much. We will just eliminate it or the aspect that makes it a sport" and now Jeff is sweatin it bc he told them a few years ago "nah it's not a sport don't worry about these kids they're just havin fun on the sidelines". But now people are worried about it. So something's gonna give.
IF they deem it a sport and fund it the camps will still suffer because now there will be NCAA regulations to deal with.
IF it's deemed not a sport but they have to change something so it's not a dangerous activity taking place on the sidelines then you're looking at stunts being eliminated and camps will suffer for that too.

Nothing is better for Varsity, or any other brand that offers sideline cheer camps, than status quo. Not a sport, not a dangerous activity. Nothing to see here.

OK, that's the part I was looking for, thanks. I was like, 'But wait- neither situation is good, what's his angle?' Never underestimate the secret 3rd: neutral. Status quo reigns supreme.

ETA: At CT HS it's considered a sport. Now, in terms of a facilities offered, that's where things get dicey. We have to worry about basketball practices and floor space because we only have one gym, and sometimes we got stuck in the auditorium with floor mats. No dice.

 

[TealShades]

when I was younger I would go to my older brothers basketball games. I would watch the cheerleaders not the game. But now I watch the game. I'm only a fan of cheer never cheered either. So now that I've seen some cool stunts and tumbling I can see the difference at a game and what would go on with same cheerleaders but at a comp. Would my family see the difference or even care? Probably not. One thing I noticed is that not many people care what the cheerleaders do while the game is in play. Because usually they are just yelling chants/cheers. The times that I see stunts or tumbling is during halftime or timeouts. So I can't see them being a distraction if they only do these skills while the game is not in play.

I understand a lot more after reading this thread and others similar. What it comes down to is 1.Money 2. people wanting it to be CALLED a sport but not wanting to do the work. As in, put in the money, time and effort to make it a better and safer sport.

 

[SarahS]

Wait, but wouldn't he LOSE money if people aren't going to camps (because they don't need those skills)? Or is it a toss-up: lose money on camps but if it IS a sport camps would go away because you couldn't have them?

I'm missing something.

Remember that there is a high school version of STUNT. If sideline is not considered a sport and pushed ground-bound, Varsity may be hoping that there is enough of a push for *some* type of cheerleading to be considered a sport and swoop in with the "hey-look-we-have-this-prepackaged-Title-IX-ready-version-of-the-sport-right-here" sales pitch. I wouldn't doubt that there would be schools willing to buy what he's selling. Then Varsity gets all the funds from camps to prepare cheerleaders for this new sport.

 

[King]

I certainly think they are less effective. My coach has taught that higher skills always have a more effective way of capturing the crowds attention so they will yell along with us.

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In 2004 when I last cheered I did rewind cupies, double ups, stretch tick tocks, and one arm double downs on the sideline. (all coed). The crowd only got excited when I did pop overs.

 

[Official OWECheer]

In 2004 when I last cheered I did rewind cupies, double ups, stretch tick tocks, and one arm double downs on the sideline. (all coed). The crowd only got excited when I did pop overs.

This kind of reminds me of that Vine with Matej basing 2 UK girls. The cheerleaders seemed to be cheering the loudest.