A Brief History of Cheerleading

Whenever you go to a sporting event, no matter what sport or level, fans love to cheer for their favorite teams. This has been so as long as sporting events have taken place, but organized cheering (or cheerleading) dates back to 1898. Thomas Peebles brought cheering to the University of Minnesota from Princeton University, but student Johnny Campbell took it on and led the crowd in the organized cheer of "Rah, Rah, Rah! Sku-u-mar! Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Minn-e-so-tah!" His leading of the cheers at the game merited a write up in the November 12, 1898 edition of the "Ariel" stating that Campbell and the others leading the crowd in cheers would "see to it that everybody leaves the park today breathless and voiceless." Shortly after this game, an organized squad was formed at the University of Minnesota that consisted of six male students.

At the turn of the century, cheerleading as an organized activity or sport began to expand. By 1903 the first cheerleading fraternity, Gamma Sigma, was formed. In the 1920's women began to become active in cheerleading, because until about 1923 cheerleaders were only males. When women joined the ranks of cheerleaders, items like megaphones and acrobatic or gymnastic moves were added to the routines. The pom-pom (what some might consider the ultimate symbol of a cheerleader) was invented by Fred Gastoff in 1965.

The National Cheerleaders Association (or NCA) was formed in 1948 by Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, a former cheerleader for Southern Methodist University. He formed this association to hold clinics for cheerleaders, and the first clinic (held in 1949) consisted of 52 female participants. He also formed the Cheerleading Supply Company in 1953, which retailed skirts and sweaters for cheerleading teams and groups.

During the 1970's cheerleading gained a boost - a very glamorous boost - when the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders became a recognized group with the trademark revealing blue and white uniforms and stylish dance moves. Professional football teams weren't the only ones with cheerleading squads - other sports such as basketball, baseball and hockey caught on to the popularity of cheering and created their own cheerleading squads for themselves.

In 1978 the first Collegiate Cheerleading Championship was aired on television on CBS, as competition among cheerleading squads began to grow. In the 1980's the cable sports network ESPN began to air the National High School Cheerleading Competition. As the popularity and love of the activity grew, so did the difficulty and complexity of the routines. Along with the increase in degree of difficulty of the routines came concerns for the safety of the participants. Most cheerleading organizations have adopted universal safety standards to help ensure the safety of the participants and decrease the number of injuries sustained.

In today's society, cheerleading is a big part of the American culture. There are movies that have made the sport of cheerleading popular (such as the Bring it On series of movies). Reality television programs have featured cheerleaders ("Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Making the Team" and the WE television reality program" Cheerleader Nation"). Serious fans can find video games about cheerleading for the Nintendo and Wii entertainment systems. Many of today's most popular figures were former cheerleaders - including President George W. Bush, Madonna, Paula Abdul and Vanna White.

Cheerleading remains very popular, with thousands of young men and women attending camps and clinics to learn the latest cheerleading routines and skills. There are estimates that 97% of the people involved in organized cheerleading today are female, but at the collegiate level the participation level for men and women is equal.

History of Cheerleading

The history of cheerleading originates from the United States in the late 1880's with your average crowd yelling and chanting to encourage their team. No one is quite sure how they documented that it was the first cheer ever but credit is given to Princeton University in 1884 for coming up with a Princeton cheer and marking there place in cheerleading history.

Then a few years later, the Princeton grad Tom Peebles brought cheering to the University of Minnesota. But it wasn't until 1898 that fellow University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed what was the very first cheer ever in November of 1898. The story is that Minnesota was having such a terrible football season that people felt the need to come up with positive chants and cheering was born. Minnesota went on to organize a male cheer squad in 1903 and organized the first cheerleading fraternity in the history of cheerleading, Gamma Sigma. Ironically enough cheerleading started out as an all male sport, it was felt there deep loud voices were more projecting than a woman's voice. It wasn't until the 1920's that women became much more involved in cheerleading and began to incorporate gymnastics, pyramids and throws. Today, youth cheerleading is predominantly made up of female cheerleaders however college cheerleading is still about fifty percent male.

Well, the students cheered all they could for Minnesota yet they still got beat. It was a student's scientific thesis that positive fan support would actually help send positive energy toward there team and assist them in winning. Well, the cheer wasn't enough to garner a win but it did create a new sport. University of Minnesota stuck with the idea and eventually began to have an organized group of cheers at every game

The evolution of cheerleading to a sport was again developed by The University of Minnesota as the women became known for there athletic ability by including gymnastics in their routines. Then in the 1930's the sport developed into much more of a display of showmanship as the athletes become much more entertaining and fun to watch. The megaphone would become the next big addition to cheerleading history in the early 1900's and the pom pom which was introduced by Lawrence Herkimer really gave cheerleading a symbol to hang its hat on.

Herkimer has to be seen as the grandfather of cheerleading. He has done so much for the history of cheerleading by founding the National Cheerleading Association at S M U and holding cheerleading schools way back in 1946 and '47. Herkimer's camps have now grown to over twenty thousand attendees.

Today the sport has evolved into a highly athletic and competitive field displaying males and females of incredible talent. Herkimer and University of Minnesota have carved out a unique history of cheerleading.

The History of Football

Tailgating, ice cold beer, hot dogs grilling, hamburgers cooking, Sunday afternoons at the stadium, friendly rivalry between friends, family, and co-workers, and hot cheerleaders only means one thing...football season is here. Football has emerged from a game that used to kill players which not many people watched to a game that has a following of millions of fans, millions of television sets turned in to various games specific to the favorite National Football League (NFL) team that is playing that weekend and hundreds of thousands of dollars spend on tickets, merchandise, and stadium foods every year. Not only that, but millions of children every year find a new role model to idolize in football players.

Not many fans know the history of the game of football, however short it is. The first game that was played by a college or university in America was on November 6, 1869 between the universities of Rutgers and Princeton. Each team had 20 players on the field at one time, which, as any modern day fan knows, are too many players. This sort of play resembled more of a Rugby game than what is known today as a football game. The rules for college football play were established in 1873 and limited the number of players on the field to 15 instead of 20. A major concern, and a big reason for the lowering of players on the field, was the safety of the players and this concern has not ended today.

Walter Camp, who was a big proponent of the game of football, only wanted to have 11 players on the field at one time. Eventually, he got his way and the players were slimmed down to 11. Camp was instrumental in changing many things about football, so that it looks like the game that we play today. He began a system of counting the number of tries it took a team to move the ball 5 yards. These, he called downs and limited the team's try to 3 downs per 5 yards. If they did not move the ball 5 yards within the allotted downs, the other team got the ball. This was called a turnover. This changed as well, over time. The yardage that had to be met was changed to 10 yards in 1906. The next change to happen was in 1912 when the 4th down was added to give the players a little more time to get those ten yards in somehow. This is still in play today.

This sport was extremely rough in its beginnings, unlike now, when a player or two may die in one year of professional play. In one year of college play, there were 180 injuries serious enough to warrant a doctor's visit and 18 dead players. Because of these injuries and deaths, the game was shortened to 60 minutes of play instead of the original 70. The rules were changes to eliminate purposeful rough play and a buffer zone was created between the teams to keep them separated.

A Brief History Of NFL Cheerleaders

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The history of NFL cheerleaders goes back to the 1960s when the Baltimore Colts (now the Indianapolis Colts) had formed their very own cheerleading squad. It was the first team to have an official cheerleading squad out of all the other NFL teams. A few other teams decided to have their own cheerleaders as well. NFL cheerleading was nothing like it is today but when the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders came around in their revealing outfits and dance routines, cheerleading became incredibly popular in sports entertainment.

The manager of the Dallas Cowboys knew that women could have an important role in promoting their team and their public image. He first tried to put some models out on the field for the audience. The models couldn't survive the heat during the games and turned out to be a failure in terms of entertaining the sports fans. Determined to make his idea work, the Dallas Cowboys manager thought of a brand new concept at the time. This concept was to bring athletic dancers to perform choreographed routines on the sidelines. He held auditions where women were selected for their dance skills, looks, and style. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were formed and the squad took to the field their custom-made uniforms and dance routines. The sports fans loved this and the NFL cheerleaders skyrocketed with popularity at Super Bowl X where America's millions of people sitting at home saw a glimpse of these newborn stars on television.

With their complex dance routines and pretty looks, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders created the new image of NFL cheerleaders. More NFL teams decided to take on a cheerleading squad of their own in order to increase their team's exposure to the public and media. The latest NFL cheerleading squad to be formed was the "New York Flight Crew" (formed in 2007) who cheer for the New York Jets. With this spurt in popularity, the cheerleaders made guest appearances on television shows, paid events, charity events, and also overseas performances for the US military troops. The NFL cheerleaders contributed greatly to the public image of the NFL greatly as the media began to recognize their presence.

NFL cheerleaders were no longer just dancers on the field but also participated off the field to heighten the public image of the NFL teams. Though the stereotype of cheerleaders is that of a simple-minded, dancing girl, bear in mind that they are actually contributors to the community as well as sophisticated entertainers in the field of sports entertainment.