Cheerleading is more than just urging and inspiring the masses to support their local team. To be a good cheerleader, you need training in dance, tumbling, jumps and stunt movements. Cheerleading has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the late 19th century at Princeton University.
The Beginning
The history of cheerleading parallels the development of school sports in the United States, specifically football. According to the International Cheer Union, the first official pep squad began in the 1880s at Princeton University. The goal was to motivate the crowd to cheer for the school football team. The first pep club was made up of six Princeton men who motivated the crowd from their spot the bleachers.
Thomas Peebles
Thomas Peebles is credited with taking cheerleading beyond Princeton. A graduate of the school, Peebles took what he knew from Princeton to the University of Minnesota and started a cheerleading squad. Although Peebles brought organization to cheering, it was another student who took cheering out of the bleachers and put it in front of the crowd.
Johnny Campbell
In 1898, University of Minnesota medical student Johnny Campbell decided that cheering could motivate a losing team by sending positive energy to the field. His campaign was prompted by a letter to the school newspaper asking fans to support the team and pull the athletes out of their losing streak. To prove his point, Campbell began jumping in front of the bleachers to lead the crowd in cheers. When his effort proved successful, other schools followed his lead. Campbell's plan took off on Nov. 2, 1898.
Expansion
Once schools saw the effect Campbell's cheering squad had, the expansion began. In the early 1900s, cheerleaders at many universities began adding megaphones to their routines. Cheerleading's popularity would lead to the creation of a cheerleading fraternity, Gamma Sigma. The first pep rally was held at Kansas State University as a way to raise money for a stadium. In the 1920s, women began to lead cheers, and by the 1930s pom pon squads started to form in high schools as well. Cheerleading camps and dance squads first became popular in the 1940s and 1950s. By 1967, cheerleading was a competitive sport and the International Cheerleading Foundation started a ranking system for squads.
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