I was never a cheerleader - I wanted to be but never had the opportunity. It wasn't until my daughter took it up in 6th and 7th grade that I realized how much work goes into what they do. A month before school started they practiced 5 days a week for at least 2 hours a time. This included a lot of running as well as learning cheers. "Learning" cheers is such an understatement. Every move is technical and some are painful. When school starts, there are practices at least 4 days a week as well as games. What cheerleaders do at games is not really what cheerleading is about anymore. It is more about all of the work they do for competitions. It is very grueling and there is many an injury - and this is only at the 9-12 year old level in a Northern state. Can you imagine what practice must be like in the South where the crazy cheer people live? Long story short, I had cheerleading totally wrong and I'm glad I didn't put myself through that.
Link: slacktivist: Teen cheerleaders.
Recent Comments