At the top of the pyramid - 1st stop -- GONZAGA
By Mary Buckheit

I come from this school of thought: If you can ring a doorbell, you can be a cheerleader.

But then again, I'm a jock. You won't find my picture next to the 'best legs' category in the yearbook. But if you flip to the back, there I am, winner of the 'most likely to have scraped knees' superlative. I'm more Sue Bird than Jessica Simpson ... more Sporty Spice than Slinky Sandy. I'm an athlete, not a cheerleader.

Naturally, then, when talk in a recent meeting here at "The Worldwide Leader" turned to the Cheerleader Challenge, I was skeptical -- bang-my-head-on-the-desk skeptical. We're not Maxim; we're a sports site -- and cheerleading is certainly not a sport. I mean, God bless it, but c'mon: They're nothing more than busty bi-products of on-field competition.

Brimming with the arrogance all jocks conveniently store in the chip on their shoulder, I threw on my flip-flops, packed up my pool attire and headed west ... to cover cheerleading. Oh well, at least I'd come back with a tan.

I never dreamed that I'd also return with a suitcase full of appreciation for cheer squads everywhere.

"I don't really think of cheerleaders as athletes, but I think they do a good job. They're always practicing and getting to the arena two hours before our games. I don't know what they do for so long. Practice, I guess," said sophomore forward Monica Uhrig.

Yes, practice. And let me tell you something, these sessions are no cakewalk. Picture this. As the female partner stands stiff as a board, clenching every muscle in her body, her male partner stands behind her holding her hips. On the count of "two," the tandem squat simultaneously and in one swift motion, the girl miraculously ends up standing on the guy's shoulders.

This little ditty is the most basic you'll find in a cheerleader's bag of tricks; they do ten of these just to warm-up ... but it was the only stunt I had mastered by the last night of my field trip.

Landing on a set of sturdy shoulders is child's play, I'd have to step it up if I wanted to make the squad. They up the ante with a "chair," when the guy flicks the girl up and catches her butt on the palm of a hand now extended above his head. Do it right and she lands as if nothing just happened, looking as if she is relaxing on a comfy love seat. Got that? I didn't. But they kept going without me.

This sure looks pretty athletic to us.
Next up, the toss-to-hands. It's a cheerleader's equivalent to the layup, but a stunt that amazed me every time. The guy launches the girl up to his shoulder level and with his elbows bent, catches her heels in his hands. Then both can then straighten their arms up all the way above their heads if they want to show off.

Are you picking up what I'm putting down? These cheer bunnies are for real.

I guarantee the guys could squat, clean and military press you under the table. The ladies? Well, the ones I met were all sheets of muscle. Their triceps and abs are forces to be reckoned with and their willingness to stay fit of their own free will is unwavering. Freshman Jessica Hertz walked by as I sat in the lobby one afternoon. Asked what she was up to, Hertz replied, "We're gonna go run again." For those keeping score at home, this was their second trip of the day to the fitness center, and this jog was sandwiched between the day's two scheduled practices. Double sessions. Who knew?

Now, if it's starting to sound like I'm endorsing their candidacy for acceptance as athletes ... trust me, it isn't easy to type. I must be getting soft.

But gush, I must. These girls are dedicated to keeping their very visible bods in top shape. They are flexible and strong, with an incredible sense of balance. You can take the most athletic girl you know, dress her up in a little skirt and halter top and stick her out there, but there's just no way she is going to be able to do the stuff that cheerleaders can. Just as there's no way a cheerleader could stroll onto a field hockey, basketball or softball team and blend in with the starters.

So what is it that keeps us from taking cheerleaders as seriously as we should?

Call it semantics, but I say, first, get rid of that "squad" nonsense. Cheerleaders are disciplined, strong and coordinated. They function with the fluidity, respect and cohesion of a team. They have a coach who they depend on, leaders who they look up to and a goal that they work towards. They train hard and focus fast. They hone their craft to accomplish things that most of their peers can't -- not even the "Most Athletic" stud in your yearbook.

I learned so much from those zippy Zags. On the flight home, I dissected my change-of-cheer heart while I desperately tried to shake that dare, "Go! Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!" chant out of my head.

It reminds me of a catchy softball shout from back in my pixie league days.

"We don't wear no miniskirt.
We wear our jersey shirt.
And we don't sip no lemonade.
We drink that Gatorade.
And we don't dance with Barbie dolls.
We play with bats and balls."

It didn't strike me until then -- but we athletes sure seem a lot like cheerleaders.
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Could YOU make the cut??
Here are the bare minimum tryout requirements of the Gonzaga Cheer Squad. Think you could hack it?
For the Fellas:


2-mile run
20 bar dips
24" vertical
Bench 100% body weight 10x
Proper spotting technique. Stunting ability including partner flicks, chairs and toss-to-hands.
For the Ladies:


2-mile run
10 bar dips
19" vertical
Bench 75% body weight 10x
The day of the tryout, girls will be taught a moderate degree of difficultly dance routine which they will have one hour to learn and then perform in front of the judges in small groups.


And it didn't strike me until now, but those cheerleaders sure seem a lot like athletes

TOUCHE'

Cheerleaders are very athletic...you have to do a lot of hard work to be good at cheerleading and it takes a lot of time to make sure you do everything right...

Like u would know anything about that...

but im jk...

a 19in vertical for a girl is pretty good

u should keep ur mouth shut bigdaddy....

BiGrEd20 is an excellent cheerleader and is the most beautiful girl i have ever seen...ALC, i love ya and goodluck in your cheerleading....

i can see tumbling beeing hard and perhaps competetions but simply showing up and saying phrases at a sporting event doesnt require much skill but talking

a lot of people dont see the part of cheerleading beyond cheering at football games,so they just assume thats all they do but they're wrong, they work really hard and compete against other skilled squads at competitions and it probably takes a great amount of skill and athleticism

Thank you...

Anytime and Always...

I was saying thank you to idaho

:whistle::whistle::whistle:....yeah I knew that...all along...

I was talkin to my dog...yeah thats it, my dog

Cheerleading is hard work...seriously trying to make sure however many girls may be on a squad know each and every cheer that may be called during the football game, being prepared for the peprallies... having all the signs painted....and the many hard working hours that go into trying to be a great ChEeRlEaDeR! All the lifting while working with stunts... how could they not be athletes...you know the flyers way -around- 100+ or sometimes smaller...just depending... but stunt after stunt trying to perfect them...thats a lot of lifting haha! So, GO CHEERLEADERS! Y'all are GREAT and keep on doing what yall are doing!

P.S. I was a cheerleader...but im graduating...so I dont refer to myself as one anymore...haha..

New to forums so I don't mean to offend.........

I used to think that Cheerleading was just something that was done..... actually, I never thought about it a lot at all.
One day while channel flipping, I saw a documentary about a Dallas competitive team and what all they had to do to compete. Totally changed my view on cheerleaders.
A few years later, my son came in and told me he was going to try out. We talked and he explained why he wanted to do it........ Being a big redneck kind of guy, this was a little hard to swallow at first. BUT, I remembered the documentary I had seen and I believe in allowing my kids to make their own decisions, so...............
He's been a cheerleader since 7th grade, he will be a Senior next year. I've paid for his camps, private lessons, etc and have watched him do things that I couldn't even imagine doing. He is a little upset since his stunt partner is graduating this year and he will have to find another. IF you are a cheerleader (or associated with them) you will understand how important a good stunt partner is at a HS level. He can already do the 3 stunts required for most colleges already and is going to attend "stunt" classes this summer to improve upon what he knows.
I've watched a school go from openly berating him and calling him "gay" or "queer" to accepting him as just another kid. There have even been a few instances where fellow students interjected themselves in issues where other school's students ran their heads.......
He has earned my respect, if for no other reason than the fact that he pays no attention to the namecallers at opposing schools. (It's not easy being a male cheerleader in E Tx) He also has had an open dialogue w/2 top ranked colleges in Tx regarding scholarship opps. (whew, glad of that)
AND for the ever doubting............
He has a 32" vertical
runs the 40 in 4.2
Benches well over his body #
Set all eyes to him last year when he squatted 350 (not the greatest but impressive when you factor in the fact that he is 6' 4")
Plays Varsity basketball for the last 2 yrs
Plays Varsity baseball
Was the only Freshman in the top 10 athletes in his school
Has never been lower than 5 in the top 10 since his Freshman year
Maintains at least a B average, including his Honors classes

Clayton i watched you cheer the other night, and you are quite possibly the best male cheerleader i have ever seen. That is Clayton Alexander:thumbsup:

When it comes to training and competing in the competions that they do between football seasons, i would have to say that they are athletes, but they don't have to be in that great of shape though.

IF YOU WANNA SEE SOMETHING THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND GO CHECK OUT SOME OF MY BUDDIES AT WWW.WHATISPROX.COM . oNE OF THE GUYS NAMES OLD SCHOOL/GARRIN/BIG G IS A COACH AT KILGORE COLLEGE. GO CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS, I THINK YOU'LL BE IMPRESSED.

here lately (in my town anyway) they have become a mixture. parents getting mad cause their daughter didnt make the team but some overweight girl did........so they just let everybody who tried out join athletes, pompo wavers, and just girls that dont have an ounce of athletic ability but have a loud mouth mom.

this was not speculation or rumor, it was in the texarkana gazette several months ago.


In football you play the best player for the position, why should cheerleading be different?

My daughter was a cheerleader in high school ... the co - head cheerleader... for a competitive squad that won the UCA national championship in February 2006 against 60 plus squads from all ove the nation. Their squad WAS made up of athletes, if you concede that gymnasts are "athletes." If you don't think olmpic gymnasts are "athletes" then you arn't going to think competitive cheerleaders are "athletes" either. These girls ARE athletes in every sense of the word. They are probably 50 times more active then the right fielder in any baseball game. Is a baseball player an athlete when he spends the majority of his time watching the game, especially if he walks when he is at bat.

On the other hand, my daughter's squad weren't what I would consider cheerleaders at games. They were more "cheer yellers" not "cheerleaders." I don't think that they worked too hard at making sure the crowd cheered, in fact sometimes the crowd would start a more appropriate cheer. Were they athletes at the game. Probably not. BUT I have seen squads that really got the crowd going & they weren't "athletes" but they were motivators. I have also seen the "hotties" who stood & let the plain girls do the leading & their whole role... they thought... was to stand & be admired. Were they "cheerleaders" ... probably not.... were they athletes... probabably not. Were they **Cheerleaders** ... well, yeah, they had the uniform.
Is a race car driver an athlete?

My rule is "if you dont have to be in shape to be a champion, its not a sport." That being said, cheerleaders do have to be in shape and have athletic ability to be the best. and no, drivers are not athletes in my opinion. Neither are chess players.

then i guess you should throw out fishin, golf, shuffle board, madden nation, hunting, and any fraternity sport :rofl:

I was unable to cheer due to a torn ACL (left knee). But I respect them as athletes, because that is what they are. If my son or daughter wants to cheer, they will be allowed.

i'd have to say that cheerleading IS a sport, and athletes are in sports, therefore, cheerleaders are athletes. it requires more athleticism than you would think. how many poeple would get up at 6AM, two days a week, for a 2 hour cheer practice? not to mention an hour and a half during school?.. yeah i dont know many people that would. poeple think cheering is just gettin out there and lookin all cute and yelling GO TEAM GO... let me be the first to tell you, its not.

Just a point to ponder for this discussion.

I have read that cheerleadrs suffer more catastrophic injuries in their cheerleading and competition than all other sports (I can't remeber if this was a all other sports combined or if cheerleading was just the leader in the category above all others).

I would say cheerleaders are athletes and competitive cheerleading is a serious sport.

i completely agree. out of all sports.. cheering is probably the most dangerous...i mean, what other sport do poeple get thrown 30+ feet in the air and expect someone to catch them?? :]

gymnastics=sport
cheerleading=no sport

yeah, completely disagree.

gymnastics, yes you go to competitions for that. same as cheerleading, you go to competitions, and cheerleaders train hard for those competions... many hours a week...

I have 2 daughters, 1 only cheers and the other cheers, plays softball, volleyball, basketball, and throws shot put in track. I can tell you that both of the girls work their b#@&s off for cheerleading. The squads that my daughters are on run several days a week. they do bleachers, make occasional trips to the weight room. They have a 10 minute work out that generates around 200 crunchs a day!

I am not sure who said that you don't have to be in shape to be a cheerleader but let me try to explain it. When a flyer is in the air she must have strong legs and abs of steel. That is where her balance is going to come from. When a base lifts a flyer she better have solid legs, and pretty good arm and shoulder tone. Have you ever heard the saying "cheerleader legs". This is not just a saying it is a fact. Try doing a set of 10 toe touches in a row! Not many cheerleaders are tooth picks anymore. They are very muscular. You try to throw someone up into the air and then cradle them.

If you are one of the really good cheerleaders who tumbles you have to use every muscle in your body whether it is to block, tuck, or a jump. If you don't have the muscle tone you will not be able to accomplish any of these.

Let me add this, my daughter has played competitive softball since she was 8 years old, she is now 14. Tumbling and cheerleading has given her more tone, diffenition, and strength than anything she has ever attempted!

As for the danger, yes according to the "professionals" cheereleading is the most dangerous sport there is!

I challenge anyone who believes that cheerleaders are all fluff and not bronze, go to a NCAA championship or even turn it to ESPN and watch the kids. They are pretty amazing.

couldnt ahve said it any better.... its very true that cheerleaders have to be in shape... i've seen girls do two 2-3 minute dances in a pep rally back to back [in those dances there's dancing, tumbling, stunts] ..so you have to be in very good shape and know what your doing.

Chearleaders are athletes, but I don't think as chearleading as a sport. You win based on someones opinion, that makes it just a competition. It's not like a race where if the you perform the same everytime, the outcome will always be the same. It all depends on if the judge likes you

Exactly! If there is no score involved, its not a sport. Not saying cheerleaders arent athletic, because most are (one exception being the school my son attends)...but the main event at a football or basketball game is the game itself. The ladies on the side are more like an extra-curricular activity happening during the down time of the main event.

I'm going to be the "Devil's Advocate" on this subject. With all the problems and commotion that has arisen from cheerleading, they are both athletes and pom-pom wavers.

There's just as much shenanigan's going on in the cheerleading world, as there is what they are cheering for. Too me, it's like a "beauty pagent", the only thing it is going to accomplish, is maybe a picture in a men's magazine. I'm sure to some, it's glamorous, a chance to be on stage, pure entertainment.

I suppose I'm getting old, and as I'm getting older I'm understanding more. When I did play sports, I didn't pay attention to "cheerleaders" they were nice to look at, and fun on a date, but... The way I see it now, they're simply "eye candy" for the spectators.

When a mom hire's a hitman to take out a cheerleader's mother, something's wrong. When cheerleaders show up at a grondum store, and have pictures taken there, are they just being something, that they are or aren't ?

I'm not trying to be pious on this subject. I realize these young women, are working hard, but what is it they are going to accomplish ?

It can build self esteem, they could land the prospective mate, that they desire to love forever. I'm just trying to put it in perspective. I'm with Bon Jovi on this, life is more than "lipstick, plastic, and paint".