Firstly,
welcome back to Cheer From Head to Toe’s blog. You’re back with me,
Abbey, from the DMU Saints for a round-up of what’s gone on with us in the past few months. In this article, we also had a word with some other UK university cheerleading teams such as Leicester Panthers, UEA Angels and MMU Cheerleading to talk about the stereotypes cheerleaders often face here in the UK. Last but not least, I caught up with one of our level 3 girls to talk about what transitioning from gymnastics to cheerleading was like. Stay tuned!
Update
Both of our competitive teams hit the mat for the first time at Future Cheer. For so many of our members, it was their first time at a cheerleading comp, and we couldn’t be prouder of everyone for taking to the mat so hard! We’re happy to reveal that Midnight came in at 2nd in the small co-ed level 3 division and Scarlet placed 3rd in the small all-girl level 1 division!
Our coaches and teams were both extremely pleased with these placings despite having deductions. This means that the grind is on to upgrade our routines for our next competition which is ICC Nationals in Nottingham. If you want to see a vlog of our weekend at Future Cheer click the link below.
Our teams looked INCREDIBLE in their brand new bows from Primacy Cheer. The girls have never looked sparklier on the mat! A massive thank you to Primacy Cheer for gifting us such high-quality bows. If you’re interested in looking as sparkly as we do, you can check out Primacy Cheer from the link at the bottom of the page.
Our Varsity squad now has a full routine ready for their performances at the Futsal Varsity game and the Football varsity game. Now it’s just a matter of perfecting and cleaning the routine to make it as visually pleasing as possible.
Transitioning to Cheerleading
“…sometimes the most nerve-wracking part of the sport can be letting your team down.”
There’s no doubt about it. Cheerleading is one of the most unique sports out there. It is a mesmerising blend of incredible athleticism and glamour and energy and teamwork and…the list goes on. So, what is it like transitioning from a largely solo, stricter sport like gymnastics to a sport like cheerleading? I spoke to Lydia from team Midnight about what it was like making that step into a new sport. Here’s what she said:
I started Cheer in the first year of uni & hadn’t done it before – the team was extremely welcoming, and I was surprised at how well everyone worked as a team after knowing each other for such a short amount of time. It was so lovely to meet such a great bunch of people and to have coaches that push us to our best.
“…no matter what team, someone is cheering for you.”
Moving from gymnastics to cheer was great fun because it meant I could continue to use the training I’d learnt with tumbles and jumps. But it was also enjoyable to move into a team-based sport. It came with challenges though. Within cheerleading, you rely so heavily on your teammates to do their job that sometimes the most nerve-wracking part of the sport can be the prospect of letting your team down. Even small things, like making sure you’re counting during full outs was something to get used to, that we didn’t really do in gymnastics. Competitions within cheerleading are so much louder than gymnastics comps too. But it feels exciting. It feels as though no matter what team, someone is cheering for you. I feel like cheerleading has a bad rep sometimes, but cheerleaders really know how to come together.
Stereotypes within UK Cheerleading
“Who do you cheer for?”
I’m almost certain that every cheerleader has experienced the dreaded question: “Who do you cheer for?” Whilst recognition and understanding of cheerleading as a sport is on the up, there are still many people that are unfamiliar with the sport that we all love so much. Realistic representations of cheerleaders are lacking in the media. Sure, there’s films like ‘Bring It On’ that show some areas of cheerleading, but the sport has developed endlessly from just side-line cheer. Cheerleaders rejoiced everywhere when the Netflix docuseries ‘Cheer’ came out. Finally, a real representation of cheerleading as those in the sport know it. More importantly, this representation was on a platform that’s accessible to so many people.
I wanted to speak to some other university cheerleading teams to see what kind of stereotypes and assumptions they get from the people around them.
Manchester Metropolitan Uni’s cheer team told me that their biggest annoyance is people telling them that “cheer is not a sport”. This was echoed by the other universities that I contacted. The squad also told me that people like to tell them that cheerleading “isn’t difficult”. An interesting comment to make from someone that has never tried cheerleading…
“Cheer is not a sport.”
MMU told me that they try to encourage those that don’t understand the sport to watch ‘Cheer’ on Netflix as it “really shows what the sport is about.”
“The sexualisation of cheerleaders is an insult to the…work that goes into this sport.”
UEA Angels Cheer Dance squad brought up a major issue within perceptions of cheerleading. That is, people telling them, “I wanna see you in that outfit.”
The sexualisation of cheerleaders is an insult to the amount of work that goes into this sport, and the skillset that you need to be a part of such an activity. This sexualisation also comes from a lack of true media representations and in turn, respect, for the athletes that take part in this sport – whether it be in cheer dance, or in cheer stunt. What cheerleaders look like in their uniforms should not take away from the power and athleticism that they are capable of.
The UEA Angels also reiterated the dreaded question of “who do you cheer for?” is a frequent ask, as well as comments such as “cheerleading isn’t a sport.” To that, the UEA Angels would like people to understand that “getting up for a 7am session to do the cha-cha slide ab work out then drilling a routine for an hour does count as a sport.” The squad also touched on the stereotype of cheerleaders being “mean and superficial”, something that the University of Leicester Panthers also went into detail about.
The UOL Panthers spoke to me about how they are often thought to be “cliquey”. But they explained that this is, “down to how much of a family we are.”
“Cheerleading has evolved in leaps and bounds…”
So, why are cheerleaders often seen as superficial and cliquey? Again, it’s likely down to the stereotypes that are portrayed in the media. Often in films, the cheerleaders are portrayed as the most popular people in school. Extremely exclusive, and snobby. It is ongoing perceptions such as these that are damaging to the reputation of cheerleading as a sport. The reality is often quite the opposite. As the Panthers explained, they are “always looking to include and recruit new people to grow [their] family.”
Cheerleading has evolved in leaps and bounds from where it was in its infancy. Its time that the general publics’ perceptions do the same. The cheerleading community can be one of the most supportive, welcoming, and empowering environments to be in. Your teammates are your second family. There’s pride to be taken in being a part of such an incredible sport.
That’s All for Now
A big thank you to all of those that took the time to read this. I believe it’s so important to highlight the issues that cheerleaders are facing on the regular. It can be insulting and degrading hearing bad assumptions so frequently about a sport you love. It’s time to challenge those perceptions.
Thank you to MMU Elite, UOL Panthers, and UEA Angels Cheer Dance for getting involved in this article – very kind of you, guys!
As always, if any of our readers have got any opinions on this month’s topics or next, please contact us! We would love to hear from you. You can catch us over on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmusaints
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dmusaints/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DmuSaintsCheerleadingSquad/
For beautiful bows like ours, check out Primacy Cheer below:
Much Love,
DMU Saints xxx
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