Cheerleaders are athletes

Mention cheerleading and the Hollywood image of dim-witted beautiful blonde girls in short skirts comes to mind. Other common beliefs are that cheerleaders are not real athletes and the sport is only for girls. Ovi magazine wanted to know how true these stereotypes are and what is the deal with cheerleading, so we met Marie Jenkinson, a 'cheer grandma', who is ready to set the record straight.

"Ultimately, there can be truth in any stereotype, but overwhelmingly the stereotype is inaccurate," begins Marie, 26, "However, it can be quite harmful, people never consider that most cheerleaders are children, who go to school, participate in other sports or activities, and are fearless athletes. Don't believe those 1980's movies."

In high school, Marie hung out with skateboarders, played football and wore baggy trousers, "I didn't sleep around and I went to university to study architecture; cheerleading came second - that's not to say I don't have my ditsy girl moments though." Marie has been cheerleading competitively since the age of ten and she cheered for the UIC Flames during university.

Today, Marie is working with Cheer Ltd. in the USA as an instructor and competitions judge, and she is a judge's instructor. In addition to that, she is a head instructor for Future Cheer in the UK and coaches the King's College Cheer Society in London. Proper training is essential in cheerleading, especially during 'stunting', which involves one or more persons holding or tossing another cheerleader in the air and is one of the most dangerous aspects of the sport.

"Many sports physicians rate cheerleading more dangerous than American Football and cheerleaders suffer from wear and tear injuries similar to those of gymnasts and runners, explains Marie, "The most common injuries are bruises from colliding with another person, but sometimes there are sprains, broken bones and sometimes there are fatalities.

In August 2005, Ashley Burns, a 14-year-old cheerleader, died after her spleen was damaged after she was caught across her stomach, instead of her back, when she did not complete a rotation during a dismount. "Ashley's death was tragic but was accepted as a "complete fluke" by both cheerleading safety experts and medical experts. The response to this tragedy was handled well by acknowledging safety statistics of the sport and industry expert opinions. Banning stunts or stunting altogether (like the state of Nebraska) would have been a damaging blow to the sport."

The physical costs are evident, but what are the financial costs of becoming a cheerleader? "Brand new uniforms may cost around $100 each, but they are usually owned by the team and are used for as long as possible. Cheer shoes will cost about $50, bodysuit (worn under the uniform) $15 each, bloomers (these cover your underwear) $10 each," lists Marie. "There are entrance fees for competitions and camps, about $25 per person per event, and there are other costs, such as private gymnastic instruction and competitive programmes are more costly because they involve more competitions and intensive training."

Developing the sport would allow the athletes to develop their physical talents safely and more creatively than ever before, but to do this the sport needs coaches who are actually trained in cheerleading, "This will make the biggest impact on the sport because people will learn the right techniques from the start. Over the past two years the major players in the cheerleading industry came together to standardise the rule systems and also set a standard for coaches' training that is recognised by insurance companies."

"It would be great if cheerleading could be an Olympic sport, but, because there are so many age groups that participate, it would be difficult to decide who could qualify and who couldn't. Olympic cheerleading is still many years away as it is still developing around the world. The closest thing right now is the Cheerleading Worlds in Orlando where you'll find teams from all over.

All over includes the UK and even Finland, who seem to really have it together when it comes to cheerleading, in Marie's opinion. "Most Finnish teams cheer in English and their style is very similar to All-Star cheerleading in the US, which allows more difficulty in stunting than scholastic teams. The UK is developing this style very quickly but was using the US's scholastic rules up until last year."

"The Finnish squads have a sense of team unity and discipline that I haven't really seen in the UK, but it is prominent in the US. Culturally, the northern states in the U.S. (cheerleading was born in Minnesota) are very Scandinavian, so the concepts of cheerleading may lend themselves more to Finland than the U.K. However, like the UK, the teams are not affiliated with schools, like most in the US, but as it gains momentum and the demand grows, you'll see cheerleading squads in the schools very soon."

Cheerleading began at Princeton University in the 1880s with a crowd chant, but it was not until 1898 that somebody actually led a crowd in a chant. The sport used to be an all-male activity and it was not until the 1920s that females began participating, "Cheerleading at the university level is almost half male, especially in the USA. All-Star teams and high school teams are much less, but are catching up. Some of the best cheerleaders I have ever seen are guys," notes Marie putting an end to another of the stereotypes.

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