Category: Spirit

The number one reason athletes have difficulty gaining new skills is their bodies are not ready for them. They are either not strong enough or not flexible enough to perform the skill they would like to have. Part of this is because they are not spending enough time conditioning. Core strength is essential to everything…

NCA & Cheersport have been kind enough to respond to our request for information about team and division sizes. Thanks to Justin Carrier and Kevin Brubaker for providing this information. From NCA: Average size of all teams – 22.29 participants Average size of all Small divisions – 18.19 Average size of all Large divisions –…

The Scranton Times Tribune published Cheerleading for MDA awareness. Prior to the cheer competition, attendees participated in the Cheer for a Cure Walk, taking “one symbolic lap” around Mellow Park. The amount of funds raised was not available Sunday. Plans call for Cheer Academy students to present a check during the Labor Day weekend MDA…

Jammy introduced the “NEW JAM Score Department” today.

Cheer Cincy published the September 2010 issue.

Tina Sexton of the JAM Brands was named the JAMfest Brand Director: Hello! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I am Tina Sexton, and I have recently been named the JAMfest Brand Director. Aaron Flaker, Emmitt Tyler, and Dan Kessler are the owners of JAMfest and have remained closely integrated with the…

I recently wrote Industry Problem #1, touching on the need for the industry to increase the average number of teams per division by increasing the number of teams, decreasing the number of divisions, or some combination of both. That article focused on decreasing the number of divisions so I’m writing this one to touch on…

This email was anonymously sent to us this morning. We have no idea whether or not this is true, but Oregon, one of the leading NCSTA Universities, and Nike, based in Oregon and a major University of Oregon supporter, have very strong ties so it’s definitely believable. anonymous wrote: Getting announced this week Nike will…

Many of you have inquired about getting certified to judge, but we are not offering a Full Day course in your area. If that is you, we now have the answer – National Cheer Judging Course on-demand via the web! This online course offers everything the interactive Full Day Course offers except some of the…

Tonic published Cheerleading From Wheelchairs?. Last season, despite near-debilitating cerebral palsy, Gabby Conklin became the first honorary cheerleader at Wilson Central High School. The teen’s mom says she’s a trailblazer who won’t let her disability stand in her way.

Hellcats will premier on September 8th on CW. The new show, which premieres on September 8th, follows the college life of a pre-law student at Lancer University in Memphis, Tennessee. The student joins the University’s competitive cheerleading squad after she loses her academic scholarship. The show stars actresses Ashley Tisdale and Alyson Michalka.

Your Sewickley published Cheerleaders rooting for recognition, support as real athletes. “When I was in high school, cheerleading was just standing on the sidelines and clapping. Now, you need to be an athlete in order to cheer,” said Lori Brennan, the varsity cheerleading coach at Gateway.

The Tri-City Herald published Cheerleading: It’s a sport. U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill probably knows the law far better than most. He’s a Rhodes Scholar, with a law degree from Yale. But there’s one area where we doubt the judge’s expertise: Cheerleading.

Dear Event Producers, Our industry has come to a point where several people, including myself, are wondering if it’s time to change team sizes. So far we’ve been forming our opinions based on personal observations and the limited data made available to us, thanks NCA, but we don’t have enough data to really know whether…

“The Skill Sets of Cheerleading: Stunts & Tumbling Have Long Out Grown the Activity.” – Kimberly Archie When cheerleader Dale Baldwin was rendered a quadriplegic from a tumbling mini-tramp stunt gone wrong and Janis Thompson died from a head injury sustained while stunting all in the same week back in 1986; it should have been…

The Fierce Board has just launched the Fierce Board Network! In an effort to bridge cheerleading forums across the US and the World the Fierce Board will begin to catalog and list the most relevant cheerleading forums for each locality. These boards will carry a Fierce Board Network badge and domain name to help identify…

The NACCC Meeting will take place in Atlanta on January 3rd & 4th. Location Westin Atlanta Airport, 4736 Best Road, Atlanta, GA 30337, 404-762-7676 Registration Fees $100 (received on or before 12/10/10) $140 (received after on or after 12/11/10) Room Reservations $109 plus tax per night Each individual guest must make their own reservations by…

We are coming into football season soon and this is by far one of my favorite times of the year! I am from the south, so there is nothing quite like college football (sorry Pro). The fans for a college game in the south cannot be beat. The atmosphere! The band! (The drum line gets…

The New Haven Advocate published Should Cheerleading Be Considered a Sport?. Quinnipiac needed to cut something from its budget. Out went women’s volleyball and in came competitive cheerleading. But to stay within bounds of Title IX, the federal law requiring it to provide equal opportunity to men and women, the university had to make the…

The Women’s Sports Foundation published 25 Benefits of Girls Playing Sports. Courtesy of Joey Delaney

SPIRIT Roundtable Episode 2 is now available. Guest were Kimberly Archie of the National Cheer Safety Foundation (NCSF), John Blake of the National Collegiate Stunts and Tumbling Association (NCSTA), and Lindsay Kottmann of Cheer Cincy. Episode 3 will be recorded tonight.

Outsports’ Jock Talk Blog published Is cheerleading a sport?.

Progressions, or using progressions, is teaching skills in an order that the skills build upon each other. An example is teaching an extension, pop cradle before basket tosses because the motion of bases starting in the athletic stance, exploding through their legs, and taking to top person to an extended position is similar to the…

USA Cheer published 2011 Team USA Cheer Tryouts and 2011 Team USA Dance Application.

At the USASF Regional Meeting in Atlanta, Les Stella said the number one problem in the industry is the lack of competition. I agree with him, but state it a different way. I say the problem is the average number of teams per division is too low because that makes it quantifiable. Increasing the average…