Published January 20, 2005

Competitive cheer one of
state's fastest growing sports

40 new teams
added this season

By Dawn Klemish

For the Lansing
State Journal

Buy this photo

(MATTHEW SCHULERT/For the
Lansing State Journal)

Second-ranked: The
Pewamo-Westphalia High varsity cheerleaders are ranked second in Class C
and have won six Class C-D championships in the past 11 years. Competitive
cheer is rivaling bowling as the state's fastest growing high school sport.
The state added 40 new teams this year.

Phases
of competition

Here's a breakdown of how competitive cheer is scored:

·  Required round: During the first round of
competition, teams prepare an original routine that is judged on six
different aspects: floor mobility, vocals, jumps, coordination, difficulty
and variety, and general impression. Scores are based on a 70-point scale
for each of three judges. Routines during this round last a maximum of a
minute and a half.

·  Compulsory round: Teams display five skills
during their routine that are judged on a 14-point scale for difficulty and
how well the skill was completed. Each skill is assigned a level of
difficulty, and one skill from each of three categories (flexibility,
jumping, tumbling) must be attempted, though the difficulty level is left
up to the team. A regular cartwheel, for example, can earn a maximum of 7
skill points, while an aerial cartwheel (no hands),
can earn the full 14 points if completed flawlessly. Routines during this
round last a maximum of a minute and a half. Teams are also judged on
creativity, continuity, team confidence and general impression.

·  Open round: The final round is a
choreographed cheer that lasts a maximum of 2 and a half minutes. It
incorporates jumps, mounts, tumbling, or any other gymnastic skill. A full
description of this routine must be submitted to the judges in writing
prior to the round. A total of 108 points is possible during this round,
and routines are judged based on the same criteria as round one.

Source: 2004-05 MHSAA Girls Competitive Rules and Regulations Cheer Manual

A look at the growing sport of competitive cheerleading

·  Difference between cheerleading and pom-pom
competitions: Pom-pom routines use more dance moves and less tumbling and
stunting. Also, pom-pom routines are usually choreographed to music, while
cheerleading routines incorporate original cheers which are repeated from
the cheerleaders themselves during the routine. Music is actually
prohibited during routines at cheerleading competitions.

·  Boys’ involvement: Boys are allowed on
cheer squads, but in sideline cheering only. According to MHSAA rules, boys
are not allowed to appear in any competitions with cheer teams.

·  Growing sport: The 2004 state finals,
competitive cheering had the second-most attendance of girls sports during
the last day of competition, 5,272. This number was second only to girls basketball, which had 8,662 fans attend its final
day.

·  Bigger venues: Only its 12th year of
existence as an MHSAA-sponsored sport, competitive cheerleading has already
outgrown its surroundings. While high school gymnasiums are no longer large
enough to hold the state competition, it has moved to professional venues. This year’s state finals
will take place at the DeltaPlex in Grand
Rapids, a venue large enough to hold 3,000 people
on one side of the floor.

There's been a growth explosion in a Michigan high school girls sport, both in
participation and fan support.

Athletes in this sport practice three hours a day for five, sometimes six
days a week, along with performing twice weekly and going to competitions
each weekend.

It's a sport with a high risk of injury that requires year-round training,
a sport one would argue that athletes must be the most physically fit for.

The sport is competitive cheer.

The state added 40 new cheer teams this year for a grand total of 174 - of
which 14 are from local schools.

Competitive cheer is rivaling bowling as the state's fastest growing
sport, Michigan High School Athletic Association communications director John
Johnson said.

In fact, competitive cheer has grown so greatly, Johnson said it's a
struggle to find venues for the regional and state competitions because of
the crowd size. High school gyms are no longer adequate and, as a result,
this year's state championships will be held at the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids.

"It's a great sign of growing pains," Johnson said. "It's
what girls want. Schools should always be listening to their students, as far
as providing the opportunities when there is sufficient interest in a sport,
and I think now schools are recognizing that competitive cheer is a
legitimate opportunity for girls. It gives them a chance for participation in
the winter time, and that's one of the reasons it was created over 10 years
ago."

Television stations also are realizing interest in competitive cheer is
growing, as Fox Sports Net will broadcast the final round of the 2005 state
competition on tape delay for the second straight year.

Kylie Cherpes, a senior at Pewamo-Westphalia and
captain of her cheer team, said she isn't surprised at all. The Pirates have
won six state championships in Class C-D in the last 11 years, and finished
as runner-up four times. P-W's six titles are bested only by Rochester, which boasts eight Class A
championships.

"Sometimes people will say different things to me, like they think it
isn't a sport," she said. "They just don't understand the stunting
and the accidents that can happen, and everything else that goes along with
it.

"It's just not just throwing people up and catching them, it's smiling and yelling and doing everything in
time with everyone else, and making sure all the stunts are safe. There's a
lot that goes into it that makes it really, really difficult."

True, what was once thought of as merely a way to boost school enthusiasm
has grown to be a legitimate draw for fans in girls
sports. During the final day of the 2004 state finals, the 5,272 fans in
attendance for competitive cheerleading were surpassed only by girls basketball, which had 8,665. Competitive cheer
passed soccer in 2003 as the second most popular finals event, and attendance
has risen more than 2,000 since the 2002 finals.

No one has seen the rise in interest more than Soni
Latz, 16-year coach of the defending Class B state
champion Ovid-Elsie Marauders. So many girls were interested in competitive
cheer five years ago, Latz
said the team expanded to include a junior varsity program, which had more
than 40 girls sign up.

And interest is contagious at the middle school level as well. Last year
at Ovid-Elsie, so many girls wanted to be involved, the school had to double
its number of 7th-8th grade teams.

"Over the years, it's amazing to me at how much it's grown. It has
become in line with any other sport in what it takes to be successful, in the
commitment kids have," Latz said. "It's
totally different from what it used to be. It's very intense now, and they
have to be.''

Michigan
state cheer rankings

CLASS A

1. Rochester

2. Grandville

3. Holland-West Ottawa

4. Southgate-Anderson

5. East Kentwood

6. Troy-Athens

7. Jenison

8. Hartland

9. Portage
Central

10. Rockford

Honorable mention:-Mt. Pleasant, Lake
Orion, Allen Park, Rochester Hills-Stoney Creek

CLASS B

1. Chesaning

2. Ovid-Elsie

3. Gull Lake

4. Holland
Christian

5. Allegan

6. Otsego

7. Dearborn
Hts.-Divine Child

8. Remus-Chippewa Hills

9. Grosse Ile

10. Carlton-Airport

Honorable mention:-Gibralter-Carlson, DeWitt, Wyoming Park, Sparta

CLASS C

1. Breckenridge

2. Pewamo-Westphalia

3. Hudson

4. Climax-Scotts

5. Michigan Center

6.(tie) Mad. Hts.-Bishop Foley

Colon

8. Whitmore Lake

9. Leslie

10. Munising

Honorable mention:-Merrill, Brown
City, Shelby,
North Muskegon

Compiled by the Coaches’ Association

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