Section
Pepperdine Links
Online Publications
Take a moment to recall kindergarten. Now think even harder. What was your favorite activity? It’s very likely that dancing and singing was involved. A favorite song and dance collaboration of many had to have been the “Hokey Pokey.” Most people have since grown out of that stage, but some haven’t been able to quite kick the habit.
Since grade school, peers have been seen entering the realm of cheerleading, but it’s hard not to notice the close relationship between these cheer routines and the “Hokey Pokey” of the formative years. Sure, the cheer routines may be a little more complex, and there may be a flip or cartwheel that the dances of our youth consisted of, but the concept remains the same. Just what is this concept? It is simply to follow a set of specific movements with your body, while screaming at the top of your lungs.
As the levels of cheerleading advance the amount of make-up worn seems to increase as well, while the fabric needed to produce a uniform for a cheerleader decreases.
And this is supposed to be considered a sport? Even Webster agrees on this one, as he says a cheerleader is “one who leads the cheering for a team.” It’s true that the part a cheerleader plays in the world of sports is an important one, but the role of the cheerleaders is on the sidelines. A fan does not go to a sporting event to see the cheerleaders (there are a few exceptions, but we won’t go there). A true fan goes to an event to see the game itself.
And cheer competitions? This is just a hyped-up entertainment show, something to watch on a Saturday morning when the cartoons are over and there’s no actual sport on just yet.
While cheerleaders are dancing and shouting on the floor, the true athletes are in the locker room devising a plan of attack on the opposing team. While the cheerleaders are moving their cute little pom poms strategically around, the true athletes are running the floor with sweat-drowned jerseys and wrapped ankles pushing to make it to the last second of the game.
Not everyone can master a change-up or the perfect fastball, shoot three-pointers at the drop of a hat or spike the ball flawlessly. To consider cheerleading as a sport is silly.
Sure, cheerleaders have mastered the clap, the pom-pom shaking and the stomps, but does this compare to the intensity of a perfect serve at match point? Do the loud shouts compare to the quickness and vigor it takes to pull off a back-handed pass to a teammate? It doesn’t compare in the least.
Really, it’s hard not to blame cheerleaders — everyone was once enthralled with song and dance. Most just grew out of it.
Submitted 09-28-2006
MALIBU, CA
