College and High School Cheerleading
Question.. Is cheerleading a NCAA Scholarship sport?
Answer… Cheerleading is not a NCAA sanctioned sport.
Cheerleading is a challenging and exciting sport that involves music, dance, gymnastics, cheers, tumbling, and stunts. Teamwork and leadership are developed to benefit the individual’s health and potential in life.
Cheerleading first began at Princeton University in the 1880s with the crowd chant,”Rah rah rah, tiger tiger tiger, sis sis sis, boom boom boom ahhhhhhh, Princeton Princeton Princeton!” as a way to encourage school spirit at college football games. A few years later, Princeton graduate Thomas Peebles introduced the idea of organized crowd chanting or cheerleading to the University of Minnesota in 1884, but it was not until 1898 that University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell stood in front of the crowd and directed them in a chant, making Campbell the very first cheerleader. Soon after that, the University of Minnesota organized a “yell leader” squad of four male students.
Although it is estimated that 90 percent of today’s cheerleaders are female, cheerleading started out as an all-male activity. Women started to take part in cheerleading in the 1920s due to limited availability of female collegiate sports. By the 1940s, it was predominantly a female activity.
Cheerleading is most closely associated with American football and, to a lesser extent, basketball. Sports such as soccer and wrestling rarely have cheerleaders, while sports like baseball have none at all.
Many people shake their head at the idea of cheerleading being called a “sport.” But whatever you call it, you might want to know that cheerleading is as dangerous as most sports—even more dangerous than football. With all those stunts and maneuvers like jumps, pyramids, twirling, flipping, and tossing, a lot of people are getting hurt while “cheering on the home team.”
Minorities and women under-represented in college sport admin and coaching jobs.
Home school athletes do not have the right to play high school sports. Court ruling.
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