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My team: 2015

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Jersey All Stars Sapphires - L5 Senior Restricted - Spirit Festival Nationals - Hartford CT 3/14/15

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My team: 2015

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Cheerleading audiences can be extremely large. The loud cheers of the fans help encourage the team performing. Cheerleaders feed off the energy of everyone around them.

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I first began cheering when I was in kindergarten. I started as a side-line cheerleader for football. I soon realized I liked the competitive aspect of cheerleading, not the side-line spirit. I joined Jersey All Stars, a gym based out of Lakewood, NJ. I absolutely loved this gym. During my time as a competitive cheerleader, I would spend 4 hours a night at the cheer gym. I sacrificed a lot of my social life and gave up many school dances in order to be apart of this gym. I have traveled a lot through the county due to this sport. Competitions were very frequent, giving me a busy schedule to keep up with. Throughout my years cheering I have been on many different levels starting on youth 1, ending on a senior 5 team. I have made friendships of a lifetime and learned the importance of hard work. This sport forever changed my life and is apart of who I am today.

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Second Place at 2018 Worlds

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This is one of my favorite routines. This routine shows the family aspect of a cheerleading team. This team, based out of a gym in Florida, had lost 4 teammates in a year. They created an extremely powerful routine in honor of those 4 team members.

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NCA- Dallas, TX
One Up- Nashville, TN
Summit- Orlando, FL
UCA- Orlando, FL
US Finals
Cheersport- Atlanta, GA
Worlds- Orlando, FL

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Cheerleading is scored by a panel of judges.

Safety being a major concern in cheerleading, point are often deducted for unsafe execution or violating rules.

Points can be deducted for as simple as a bent arm.

Routines are scored on: tumbling skills, jumps, choreography, execution, tosses, arm and body motions, and transitions.

Points are lost when mistakes are made.

Difficulty and execution help gain the most amount of points.

Scores are out of 100

Elite team's scores usually range from 96-98

It is almost impossible to get a perfect score.

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All-star teams are divided into different divisions based on their age and experience

All age groups range from levels 1-5.

Age groups are arranged from youth (5-11 years old), junior (5-14), senior (10-18), and open (17 years and older)

Teams are made typically from 20-35 females and males (co-ed).

People who compete on two or three teams are considered cross-overs

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Cheerleading music is created by mashing up many songs and voice overs into one single track

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Stunts are a large part of competitive cheer. A stunt group consists of 3-4 people. Flyers are held in the air by bases and back spots. Flyers pull different body positions while being lifted. Stunts also can include flipping or spinning motions. As your age and level increase, the difficulty of stunts gets harder.

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Often performed in a connecting sequence

Require flexibility and strength

A jump sequence is a key aspect to a competitive routine

Many jumps are the same but executed differently according to choreography

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Similar to gymnasts, cheerleaders must include tumbling passes within their routine. Many tricks and skills are included. Each pass is unique from the next, combining different skills together. Tumbling can take years to master and a lot of training. Strength and proper execution is a major role in correctly executing a skill.

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Music

Stunts

Jumps

Tumbling

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Originated in the United States

Originally was founded as a spirit team for football  teams

Competitive cheerleading started in the 1980s

Focused on athletic training and competition performances

The first team to call themselves all-star cheerleaders were from Virginia, Q94 Rockers

1986 the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) created a separate division for teams lacking a school or athletic association, calling it the All-Star Division

1999 cheerleading is officially recognized as an independent sport

The USASF was formed in 2003 by the competition companies to act as the national governing body for all star cheerleading

The first Cheerleading Worlds was held in April of  2004

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Cheerleading carries the highest catastrophic injuries to girl athletes in sports

Routines only last 2 minutes and 30 seconds

A single team, competes the same routine all year long with only making a few adjustments

There are over 1.5 million participants in all-star cheer.

Cheerleading started out as an all male activity

Cheerleaders often times relocate, living with host families, in order to compete on a more prestigious team.

Competitive cheer can cost $3000-$5000 a year

Cheerleaders spend on average 8-15 hours per week training in their gym.

As of December 2016, the International Olympic Committee gave provisional status to competitive cheer as a sport. This is a major step in competitive cheer being officially considered as a sport.

For winning competitions you can receive metals, trophies, jackets, shirts, backpacks, or rings.

Major cheer competitions are aired on ESPN