Category: Spirit

Cheer Professional published Spotlight: Dan Kessler, an inside look at the co-owner of the JAM Brands. In 2000, Kessler joined JAM Brands co-owners Aaron Flaker and Emmett Tyler, two of his old college buddies who’d started JAMFest in 1995, and made the team a “triumvirate,” as they call it. “People say [not to] mix business…

Inside Cheerleading published 15 Reasons To Cheer In College. 4. Role Model! Being a positive role model is one of the most rewarding experiences when you become a collegiate cheerleader. Children of all ages will look up to you and dream of someday being in your shoes. What could be better than having a little…

International Business Times published Cheerleading in the UK: Why More and More Britons are Making the Leap. This Easter Weekend saw the British Cheerleading Association’s National Championships at Telford’s International Centre. The Championships are a huge annual event, drawing crowds of more than 9000 spectators and athletes from across the country, some as young as…

Varsity All Star has released the Summit 2015 bid events. The Summit is scheduled for May 2-3 in Orlando. The first of 60 bid events is Athletic Championships in St. Louis on November 15-16. The busiest weekend is January 16-18 with 7 events. The last weekend is April 18-19 with 4 bid events, including the…

Last weekend I judged cheerleading tryouts for my alma mater, the University of Kentucky. My main observation from the weekend is how competitive it currently is to be a girl trying out for one of the top competitive collegiate programs. Don’t get me wrong,  I thought the guys trying out were great and will keep…

OverStretch on May 14th was hosted by Andre, King, and Lark. Topics included defining a cheerleading season, setting a date for announcing information regarding the next season, college tryouts, and various USASF announcements.

FiveThirtyEight published Where Cheerleading Ranks in Safety Among High School Sports. Although the raw-injury count in cheerleading may tell a headline-grabbing story, it’s important to look at those numbers in context. Yes, catastrophic injuries happen, as do concussions. But keeping in mind that a lot of kids are cheerleading — and that every day we…

As the 2013-14 winds down and gyms prepare for the upcoming 2014-15 season, please take note of the following items: Cheer Age Grid The Cheerleading Age Grid will remain the same, with the exception of the age limit for Senior Prep Cheer. This change is being made to reflect the original intent that the Prep…

Want to be involved? Be a part of the discussions that move All Star forward? The USASF is forming Regional Advisory Boards for both Cheer and Dance now! Click for more details (Cheer | Dance) and to apply (Cheer & Dance)! 2014 Appointment/Election Process Interested candidates can apply on line on or before May 16,…

Spirit Company’s news section has been moved to Spirit Post’s new Wall Street section. The Wall Street section of Spirit Post will focus on business and leadership topics that were previously covered here.

Scoring experts from both The JAM Brands and Varsity have agreed to work closely together to create a single score sheet and scoring system that will be utilized across all their events next season. “It is our feeling that gyms who attend our events will appreciate our efforts to work together to improve consistency and…

The season came to an end for so many teams, coaches, and judges this weekend between the Summit and US Finals. Mine ended at the Summit watching many great performances. I love events that eliminate teams going into finals and crown the champion based solely off the finals performance. There aren’t many that do it…

OverStretch on May 7th included hosts Andre, Lark, and Shane discussing Worlds.

The Suffolk Times published Editorial: Cheerleading Named a Sport. It’s About Time. This week, The New York State Board of Regents now finally agreed by approving a measure that classifies cheerleading as an interscholastic sport across the state. It’s about time.

Memphis, Tenn., (May 5, 2014) – The College STUNT Association, under the leadership of USA Cheer, has announced this season’s All Americans. This year’s STUNT All Americans were selected by a committee of coaches from various regions along with several STUNT officials. Nominees for All American are athletes who exhibited superior skills and techniques as…

Registration for the USASF Regional Meetings and the NACCC Annual Meeting is now open. Dates and Locations of the USASF Regional Meetings: Midwest – Chicago, IL, June 20 – 22, 2014 Southeast – Atlanta, GA, July 11-13, 2014 Northeast – Baltimore, MD, July 18-20, 2014 Southwest – Dallas, TX, July 25-27, 2014 West – Costa…

Good luck to all the teams wrapping up their seasons at Summit and US Finals this weekend.

Event 21 of the season was Worlds. With all the highs and lows of the weekend there was one thing that stood out. My highlight of the weekend was born from unfortunate circumstances, an injury during Spirit of Texas’ IOC5 routine. Watching that group pull themselves back together in the back hallway, return to the…

The McDowell News published Cheerleading Helps Seniors Make Friends, Get Exercise. The women who make up the small but spirited group have only been practicing as a team for the last three weeks, but members are already enjoying being part of the squad.

The Baylor Lariat published Points of View: Competitive Cheer Should be NCAA Sport, weighing in on the Cheerleading as a sport conversation. Although the NCAA does not recognize competitive cheerleading as a sport, girls around the world are fighting the battle to get their passion recognized.

Since today is Championship Monday at Worlds, it seemed appropriate to show the USASF’s Worlds of Champions video:

In honor of Worlds starting tomorrow:

Event 20 took me to Orlando for the first of 3 consecutive events and my final regular season event. I’m not as familiar with the scoring system used by this event producer, so I don’t know if teams still had any obvious omissions in their routines. As there normally is, there were some great performance,…

Here’s the USASF’s Dance Worlds A Dance Atmosphere video:

It’s Worlds week. Here’s the USASF’s A Cheerleading Family – Worlds 2014 video: