Cheerdance

Objectives:
Differentiate cheerleading and
cheerdancing.
Identify the elements of
cheerdance. (PE 1) HAND OUT

OBJECTIVES: Differentiate cheerleading and cheer dancing. Identify the elements of cheer dance.

Cheerdance
Is coined from the words cheer and dance. To cheer is to shout out words or
phrases that may well motivate team and perform better during the Game. Dance, on
the other hand, is a physical activity where one expresses emotions or gestures
while performing bodily movement usually In Time with rhythm
Cheerdance
Is coined from the words cheer and dance. To cheer is to shout out words or
phrases that may well motivate team and perform better during the Game. Dance, on
the other hand, is a physical activity where one expresses emotions or gestures
while performing bodily movement usually In Time with rhythm
Cheerdance
Is coined from the words cheer and dance. To cheer is to shout out words or
phrases that may well motivate team and perform better during the Game. Dance, on
the other hand, is a physical activity where one expresses emotions or gestures
while performing bodily movement usually In Time with rhythm
HISTORY OF CHEERLEADING

From universities to the olympics – a history of cheerleading

Although cheerleading is commonly associated with colourful pom-poms and encouragement for competition and
support of sport teams before and during games, it is first and foremost a sport discipline. And not an easy one
either. After all, it combines gymnastics, acrobatics and dance.

How did it begin?

Cheerleading originated in the USA. In the 1980s at Princeton University, Thomas Peebles together with other
students supported a local American football team with cheers. In 1884, he moved to the University of Minnesota,
where he quickly popularised the idea of cheering on football players. On 2 November 1898, standing in front of a
crowd of sport fans, Johnny Campbell, a medical student, started conducting the cheer on the spur of the moment.
He was so effective that the team won and he made history as the first cheerleader. And thus the current sport
discipline was born. Subsequent years saw the growth of cheerleading not only at universities, but also in secondary
education circles. Cheering groups were equipped with flags, drums, megaphones and other props meant to create
an atmosphere of excitement during sporting events.

Cheerleaders at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1948

source: UW Digital Collections / Wikipedia

Cheerleading not only for men!

Although it might be hard to believe today, at first cheerleading was mainly performed by men. It was not until World
War II that women dominated this activity. Since then, nearly 90 per cent of competitors have been girls. The
discipline thrived, to the point where the National Cheerleaders Association was established in the USA only a few
years after the war. The founder, Laurence “Herkie” Hurkimer, greatly contributed towards development of new skills
and advanced techniques in cheerleading, as well as growth of its popularity.

The professional Baltimore Colts

The Baltimore Colts cheerleading group, formed in 1960, was the first professional team. Five years later, Fred
Gasoff invented the modern pom-poms, which remain an attribute of cheerleaders to this day. From the 1970s on,
the popularity of cheerleading continued to rise, and the female dancers acted as supporters not only for American
football or basketball teams, but also swimming and track-and-field competitors.
Cheerleading takes over the world
In the 1980s and the 1990s, cheerleading started gaining popularity in various other countries, such as Japan, Chile,
the United Kingdom, Germany and in Scandinavia. This discipline started to flourish in the USA as well, as evidenced
by the massive number of competitions held nearly every weekend in many American towns and cities.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders performing on the deck of a US nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in 1983
source: National Archives and Records Administration / Wikipedia

The President was a cheerleader, too!

Cheerleading is so important and popular a sport in the USA that even famous Americans had careers in it. In the
1960s, future US president George Bush played trumpet as the head cheerleader at the Phillips Academy in
Massachusetts. And he was not the only president of the United States with such a past. Ronald Reagan supported
his fellow students at Eureka College, Dwight Eisenhower focused on cheering after he quit playing American
football, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was a Harvard cheerleader in the early 20th century, back when the sport did not
enjoy as great popularity as now. Celebrities whose careers started with cheerleading include Meryl Streep, Jennifer
Lawrence, Madonna, Cameron Diaz and Eva Longoria.

Cheerleading in Poland
Cheerleading in Poland begun in 1988, when first team was founded by Edward and Ruta Krajewski in Warsaw. The
team participated in World Cheerleading Championships in Japan four times – gaining knowledge and experience to
make progress in this discipline in our country.  In 1997 a Cheerleading Section was established in association to
Polish Basketball Union which helped to develop first rules for cheerleading competitions and allowed to organize I
Polish Cheerleading Championships. 30 teams from all over Poland took part in this competition in 3 ages
categories. In next few years cheerleading became more and more popular in Poland and in 2001 there was an
organization funded, to gather all the cheerleaders across the country – Polish Cheerleading Association (PCA).  It’s
founders and first board members were Edward and Ruta Krajewski, Mikołaj Korzun, Jerzy Wojtkowaik and Maria
Kapczyńska. Becoming a member of European Cheerleading Association (ECA) in 2005 was a break through
moment for PCA. It was the first time when Polish national team took part in European Cheerleading Championships
in Moscow. Membership in ECA gave Polish cheerleaders new opportunities. Thanks to special international
workshops and conferences in only two years Judges Rules and Competition Rules changed significantly, so that
they fit to European standards. New system of coaches and judges training was established. Knowledge gained
through cooperation with ECA, International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC), International Cheer Union (ICU) and
European Cheer Union (ECU) helped cheerleading to thrive in Poland and also allowed Polish National Team to take
part in European and World Cheerleading Championships.

Polish Cheerleading Sport Association

Polish Cheerleading Sport Association (PCSA) was founded in March 2018 by four associations: Polish Dance
Federation, Students Sports Club Duet, Students Dancing Sports Club Shock Dance Szczecin and Sports Club
Gravitation. Piotr Patłaszyński was elected as a first President of PCSA and in board of this Association there was
also Leszek Cichocki, Szymon Kowalewski and Andrzej Kuźnicki. PCSA represents cheerleading in Polish Ministry of
Sports and officially organizes Polish Sport Cheerleading Championships. PCSA is a way to express ambitions and
dreams of coaches, parents and athletes to reach the best teams of Europe and World. PCSA is a member of
European Cheer Union and International Cheer Union. Its priority is to appoint and prepare National Team to take
part in Olympic Games, Paralympics, World and Europe Championships.
On 6th of December 2016 International Olympic Committee recognized cheerleading as an Olympic sport which will
allow cheerleading to make a debut in Olympic Games during 2024. This decision raised hopes of athletes, coaches
and activists for further development, higher recognizability and wider interest of the sport.
On 21st of November 2020 Polish Cheerleading Association signed an official agreement with Polish Cheerleading
Sport Assocaition to cooperate in order to develop cheerleading in Poland. First cooperation was organization of
mutual judges workshop in December 2020. There was also a Sports Development Committee established with Piotr
Patłaszyński, Leszek Cichocki, Bartosz Penkala and Anna Polatowska-Zegar in it. This Committee since September
2020 is working on new solutions to promote cheerleading.  Thanks to that official PCSA Polish Cup competitions
started and what is more, judges and competition rules  as well as coaches and judges schooling were updated.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHEERDANCE -is coined from the words cheer and dance. To cheer is to shout out words or phrases that may well
motivate the team and perform better during the Game. Dance, on another hand, is a physical activity where one
expresses emotions or gestures while performing bodily movement usually In Time with rhythm.
CHEERLEADING- Is an activity in which the participants (called "cheerleaders") cheer for their team as a form of
encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate
sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition. Competitive routines typically range anywhere from one to
three minutes, and contain components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting.

How did Cheerdancing start?

Cheerleading history is linked closely to the United States’ history of sports, its sporting venues, as well as the
historical development of overall crowd participation at many Athletic events (history of Cheerleading, 2015).
However, its origin can be traced as far back as the late 19th century, wherein 1860’s students from Great
Britain began to cheer and chant in unison for their favorite athletes at sporting events. This event eventually
reached and influenced America (timeline of Cheerleading, 2012). In the late 1880’s the first organized, recorded
yell done in locomotive style was performed in an American campus and was first seen and heard during a
college football game. However, organized all-male Cheerleading only transpired when Thomas Peebles, one of the
graduates of Princeton University, brought the yell and the football sports to the University of Minnesota in 1884.

DIFFERENCE OF CHEERLEADING AND CHEERDANCING

 Cheerdancing is rooted from cheerleading.

  Cheerleading as we all know developed in the United States of America. But did you know that the
Philippines has had developed Cheerdancing?

 Cheerdancing in the Elementary, High School and College levels has always been the opening salvo for
intramurals in campuses in the Philippines. The difference between Cheerleading and Cheerdancing is that
cheerleading has itsfoundation in Gymnastics. And as for Cheerdance, it's foundation lies in the
Choreography where Ballet seems to be its foundation.

Cheerdance
Objectives:
Differentiate cheerleading and
cheerdancing.
Identify the elements of
cheerdance.
Cheerdance
Is coined from the words cheer
and dance. To cheer is to shout
out words or
phrases that may well motivate
team and perform better during
the Game. Dance, on
the other hand, is a physical
activity where one expresses
emotions or gestures
while performing bodily
movement usually In Time with
rhythm.
Cheerleading