Cheerleading and gymnastics each gained popularity in the United States at about the same time. Cheerleading was born from collegiate football in the 1880s when Princeton University students formed an all-male pep club to yell out encouragement to their team. According to the International Cheer Union, the first cheers included "Rah, Rah, Ray! Tiger, Tiger, Sis, Sis, Sis! Boom, Boom, Boom! Aaaaah! Princeton, Princeton, Princeton!" Cheerleading was mostly a vocal experience with cheerleaders simply shouting in unison from the bleachers. Gymnastics were included in the first modern Olympic Games a few years later, in 1896.
Female Cheerleaders
After Princeton, other universities began adopting cheerleading. The University of Minnesota allowed women to join cheerleading teams in 1923, although men made up the majority of most cheerleading teams until World War II, when college age men went off to war in large numbers. Today, 90 percent of all cheerleaders are female.
Changing Roles
Cheerleading squads began to incorporate flash cards, dance moves, synchronized arm movements and rudimentary tumbling moves in the 1920s. Cheerleaders moved from the bleachers to stand between the crowd and the athletes, where there was more room to execute gymnastic maneuvers. Cheerleaders began to excite the crowd as much as encourage the players on the field by performing spectacular acrobatic feats. Cheerleaders began performing partner stunts and pyramids in the 1970s to make cheerleading more entertaining.
Gymnastics
Cheerleaders incorporate exciting gymnastic elements into cheerleading routines. A round-off back handspring is visually exciting, as are backwards and forward flips. Most cheerleaders know several gymnastic leaps and are capable of doing the splits. These elements become even more compelling when the cheerleaders perform these elements as part of pyramids or rhythmic routines.
Risks
Advanced gymnastic stunts are more visually exciting but also potentially dangerous. The majority of cheerleading injuries occur as a result of gymnastic moves and partner stunts, according to the University of South Florida. The most commonly injured body parts are the ankles, followed by the knees. Ankle sprains involving inversion of the talocrural joint occur when a cheerleader falls or missteps during a gymnastic element. Cheerleaders sometimes suffer shin splints from gymnastic stunts. Head and neck injuries are less common in cheerleading but are often severe.
Cheerleading injuries due to gymnastics occur because lack of experience, proper conditioning, the difficulty of the stunt and inappropriate equipment or conditions. Cheerleaders may also attempt gymnastic stunts before they have the athletic skills necessary. Coaches and cheerleaders must undergo extensive, proper training to safely incorporate today's advanced gymnastic moves into cheerleading routines.
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