Lansing State Journal

January
10, 2008

A
sport worth shouting about

Brittany
Ghiroli

Much has changed — and quickly — since senior
Rebecca Bradfield joined Mason's competitive cheer team four years ago.

The "girl has to be pretty sport," as she once heard
it called, has now become Michigan's
fastest-growing among female athletic choices.

Of Michigan's
766 member schools, about 350 have cheer teams. And according to Michigan
High School Athletic Association communications director John Johnson, more
are adding squads on a weekly basis, although this season is well underway.

Last March, nearly 8,000 spectators attended the two-day state
finals at Grand Rapids' Delta Plex — marking the second-largest turnout for a
state finals competition in Michigan.

"I think people are realizing what a bond the teams have
and how much fun it is," Bradfield said. "I think someone watches
and she says, 'I want to try that.' My best friend didn't want to do it. But
then she came and watched us, came to practices, and now she's been on for
two years."

Participation on the rise

The MHSAA added the sport in 1994 when about 70 schools had
teams. Now, Johnson said, Michigan
has set a precedent for other states to follow. Of 24 states that sponsored
competitive cheer during the 2006-07 school year, Michigan had the third-most teams, according to the
National Federation of State High School Associations, trailing only North Carolina and California. Michigan had the fourth-most individual
participants with 7,786.

The state finals formerly were held on one day, but added a
day of competition last winter to accommodate the crowds, which create
"one of the loudest sporting events I've ever seen," Johnson said.

Although competitive cheer has received full support from the
MHSAA, the acceptance from those outside its realm hasn't been nearly as
seamless, according to DeWitt coach Deb Rambow.

Rambow, who has been involved in coaching
for 20 years, said it has been a struggle to get some faculty and students to
view cheer in a competitive light.

"I tell the girls to let it go (when people question the
sport's validity). People don't understand it," said Rambow,
whose squad — last year's Division 2 state runner-up — held a
school pep rally to help generate buzz.

"I would love for them to come to a competition or come
to a practice. We put in 2 hours a day with no down time."

More than just clapping

In addition to long practices, Lakewood coach Kim Martin has
her squad in the weight room three times a week and schedules frequent
competitions she says are comparable to that which is common among hockey or
basketball teams.

"My girls work their butts off," Martin said.
"It is just as demanding as any other sport, and they deserve any
recognition they can get."

Bradfield said some who see Mason's cheerleaders practicing in
the school's cafeteria then ask about competitive cheer and later end up
coming to meets. Her team has grown from 13 two years ago to 21 this winter.

The demands of practice and competition have grown so much
that many competitive teams rarely are cheering at their schools' basketball
games this season.

"There are people that still think cheerleaders
just stand around and clap," Lansing Catholic's Jodi Boehringer said.

"The biggest thing that people don't see are the many
hours and demands that are placed on cheer teams," added Boehringer, who
holds a meeting at the beginning of the season for parents and athletes,
outlining the demands of practice in addition to how the teams are judged in
regards to each round.

Each cheer competition has three parts: leadership, skills and
a routine with varying point allowances from three judges, in addition to two
safety judges who are responsible for penalties and deducting points.
Generally, the entire team doesn't compete in every round.

This season, Round 1 has a maximum of 80 points, Round 2 has
86.16 points and Round 3, which is the longest round at 2 minutes, has a
maximum of 110 points allotted per judge. The points allowed are 10 points
higher than last year's standards, a signal that the MHSAA is still
experimenting and evolving competitive cheer.

"They are trying to perfect the sport," said Rambow, whose squad will start the season with 13
participants in Round 2, hoping to use to their advantage the new
"multiplier" rule, which allows teams to score more points with
more girls on the floor.

Shift in emphasis

Competition has come with other growing pains, too. Bradfield
said that because the cheerleading has grown so quickly during her high
school career, too much focus has been turned toward the competition side
— especially during the postseason.

"I think it's going to come to the point that it's so
competitive that it's not fun anymore," she said. "It's getting to
the point that it's 'Drill, drill, drill. Go, go, go.
Gotta beat this team.' It's taking the 'Do your
best' feeling out of it. You have to win, you have
to get that skill to beat that team."

But despite the absence of cheerleaders at games this winter,
Johnson said competitive cheer's growth is a positive.

"The whole idea was to get girls into a competitive atmosphere
instead of a supporting role," Johnson said.

"The important thing is the opportunity is there and the
support is there. It is a competitive, athletic sport."

Whose leading the cheers?

If your local school has a competitive cheer team, you may have
noticed the absence of those cheerleaders during basketball games this
winter.

A potentially busier schedule, due in part to girls basketball
moving to the winter season, has led a number of area teams to forego
cheering during basketball games altogether, or do so on a limited basis
while focusing instead on practices and competitions.

Lakewood and Mason are among
those not cheering at games. Lansing Catholic plan to cheer at two home
boys/girls doubleheaders and occasional halftimes during the next two months,
with varsity then cheering during the boys postseason and the junior varsity
handling the girls.

Lansing Catholic coach Jodi Boehringer said parents and other
members of the community opposed the move away from games at first, but in
time understood the Cougars' primary commitment to their own competitions.

Mason senior Rebecca Bradfield said her school's student
cheering section gave the cheerleaders some grief at first, but the
basketball players were glad because there is so little room along the
sidelines with cheerleaders and players both squeezing in.

Mason coach Kathy Showers and Lakewood coach Kim Martin both said that
cheering games, and multiple competitions a week as
well as practice would make for too much for their squads. Boehringer asked
her cheerleaders if they'd prefer cheering at games or in competitions
— and the vote was unanimous for competition. Some wanted to still
cheer big games, but others didn't want to cheer at games at all, she said.

—
Brittany Ghiroli and Geoff Kimmerly