I was never a cheerleader. One can tell by looking at a person if they had “the cheerleader” in them. First and foremost, I imagine there are more extroverts than introverts in the cheerleading business. It takes a bit of exuberance to say “Sis boom bah” with authority. Big introvert here.
Instead, I played sports and a lot of them. Soccer, basketball, softball, track and field. That’s where I liked to be, on the field. Competing. Winning. I worked hard out it. And back in my high school days, the girls had to work a little harder than the boys to accommodate the logistics of our sports. Often, we’d have to “find” a way to get to “away” games, like some sort of carpooling. We had to walk to our home field during softball season, which was about a mile and a half away. The boys had the bus.
And here is the thing about the cheerleaders. They never — ever — showed up to one of the girls’ games, no matter the sport or the match.
I never understood this about cheerleading. Apparently, only the boys’ teams needed the school spirit. Maybe all that has changed by now, and the cheerleaders show up at all the team sports or at least cycle through them fairly.
I only bring this up because it was on this day, November 2, 1898, when cheerleading began in the United States. A young fellow named Johnny Campbell led the crowd in cheering on the football team at the University of Minnesota. The Badgers.
There are records of established cheers being used at colleges as early as the 1870s. If I am guessing, O-HI-O was probably shouted out in unison by then. But Johnny Campbell is recognized as the first cheerleader to direct a crowd — to get right down in front of everyone with his megaphone — and bring on the pom-poms.
In 1898 he organized the crowd at that Minnesota game using the cheer “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!” It is a cheer still used today. Woot.
I have nothing against cheerleaders. I’m just not sure we need them. Although, they aren’t hurting anything.
Or are they?
Typically, these days, cheerleaders are scantily clad. Take the NFL, for example. They are an ensemble of young women in team uniforms that cover next to nothing. Their outfits typically consist of a sequin bra and short, tight bottoms. Heavy makeup. Big smiles. The TV network usually takes the camera and show the skin.
Who’s it for? And what kind of message does this give to young girls who might be watching? I wonder.
Anyway, there’s more.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research started collecting data in 1982 and continued to collect it for more than 30 years. The 2017 report ranked cheerleading as the number one cause of catastrophic injuries in female athletes. Approximately 68% of all catastrophic injuries in either high school or college female athletes occur due to cheerleading accidents.
Cheerleading has resulted in one death per year, on average, from 1991 to 2015. The annual cheerleading injury rate almost doubled from 2001 to 2012. When a kid dies on the football field, the world hears about it. When a cheerleader dies from someone missing a catch? Not a peep.
I wonder about this too.
It goes on. Cheerleading at the college level “was associated with 70.5% of all catastrophic injuries in female sports for the entire 35 years of data collection. After cheerleading, sports with notably high numbers of serious injuries to female athletes include gymnastics, track, field hockey, and lacrosse.”
That’s something to think about. Something catastrophic.
As with everything else, cheerleaders on the sidelines with soon be automated. We’ll either have holographs, or robots, who will be capable of three-story leaps, and flips, and more. They will balance on one finger, and do the Twist, mid-air.
And no one will get hurt.
But old Johnny Campbell with probably be turning over in his grave. Or cheering. Who knows.
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“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.”
― Hellen Keller
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“We have a mission to others–to add to their cheer. This we cannot do unless we have first learned the lesson of cheerfulness ourselves.”
― J.R. Miller
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“Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.”
— Art Buchwald.
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Sis. Boom. Bah. Who neeeds it?
