The big game. Every sport has one. Cheerleaders are athletes who experience a unique journey to get to our national championship competition. Instead of battling opponents from other schools all year, we face our teammates. Teamwork is the backbone for success in cheerleading. We learn that it is essential to work together to defeat the biggest opponent—our routine.
Read MoreHey everyone! I’m Sydney Thibodeaux, a junior majoring in Pre-Pharmacy at the University of Kansas. This is my third year on the cheerleading squad and every minute has been an amazing experience! On Saturday we played 3rd-ranked Oklahoma, so here is gameday as a Jayhawk cheerleader.
Read MoreWhen I was a freshmen in high school, I pretty much lucked out when it came to cheerleading. I had no idea what 8 counts, punch motions, or baskets were, but I STILL made the JV squad at my school. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! Well, fortunately for me, I was a somewhat elite tumbler due to my gymnastics background... but I was definitely border-line clueless about cheering at games, let alone collegiate-style cheerleading.
Read MoreI’m from the great state of South Carolina, where cheerleading rules the land. Almost every girl I went to high school with was a cheerleader at some point in their lives, and if they weren’t, they knew our cheers and could do them along with us. One thing about South Carolina cheerleading is we were not allowed to travel out of state to compete. Our season actually ended with the state championship in November. You can imagine once I made Clemson and was given the opportunity to compete at the College National Championship in Florida, it was a huge adjustment.
Read MoreFor years, cheerleaders have been battling the age-old question, “Is cheerleading a sport?” Now, they have something new to cheer about! STUNT is a new sport for competitive college squads. It is intended to satisfy Title IX requirements and will leave no question whether or not it is a sport. In this new sport, there are four quarters – just like any other sport. Each quarter is dedicated to a specific element of cheerleading; partner stunts, team tumbling and jumps, pyramids and basket tosses, and finally the team performance. The winner of each quarter gets two points.
Read More
