A look inside the world of competitive cheer

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

Katrina Keithley, left, and Krysta Enos of Lakeview stand
with their team as the National Anthem opens the varsity contest of the 3rd
Annual Bearcat Competitive Cheer Invitational. Sixteen teams took part in
the tournament on Jan. 28 at the Battle Creek Central Field house.

Three cheers

Background:
Competitive cheer has been a certified MHSAA sport since 1994

Upcoming events:

·
SMAC championships at BCC - Feb. 18

·
State regionals - March 4

·
State meet - March 11

Local state-ranked teams:

·
Gull
Lake - No. 2 in
Class B

·
Colon
- No. 5 -Class C/D

·  Climax-Scotts - No. 7 in Class
C/D

Inside Competitive Cheer

Competitive
Cheer competition consists of three performances. Each performance is
called a round and each round contains requirements as well as
restrictions. Points are earned in each round. The winning team is the
team that has accumulated the most points after all points are tallied from each round.

LENGTH OF ROUNDS

Round 1 and Round 2 are limited to one minute and 30 seconds from the
time of the first vocal or movement to the time the last cheerer steps
off the competition mat. Round 3 is limited to two minutes and 30
seconds. The round begins with the first vocal or movement of the team
and ends when the last cheerer steps off the competition mat.

THE OFFICIALS

Meet officials consist of safety judges and cheer judges. It is
recommended that at least two safety judges and three cheer judges be
contracted for a meet. Additional numbers of safety and cheer judges
are often contracted for large invitationals
in order to keep the event moving at a reasonable pace for competitors
and spectators.

SEASON ENDS

The last competition must be completed no later than the day of MHSAA
Tournament Finals (March 11, 2006).

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

Samantha Roberts, right, and Genetazia
Tatum of Battle Creek Central celebrate a second place win in the junior
varsity Class A division at the 3rd Annual Bearcat Competitive Cheer
Invitational on Jan. 28. Competitions were held for JV, freshman and middle
school teams as well as varsity.

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

Lakewood team member Lauren Erb, 16, peeks
under the practice area divider to watch teams compete in the 3rd Annual
Bearcat Competitive Cheer Invitational. Sixteen teams took part in the
tournament on Jan. 28 at the Battle Creek Central Field house.

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

Members of the Harper Creek Competitive Cheer squad
pump themselves up before taking the floor at the 3rd Annual Bearcat
Competitive Cheer Invitational. The conference tournament will also be at
the BCC Field on Feb. 18.

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

The Marshall
cheer squad loses a flyer in the last round of competition at the 3rd
Annual Bearcat Competitive Cheer Invitational. The last round is the only
time teams are allowed to do gymnastics and tossing.

Julie Dawes/The Enquirer

Kaitlyn DiMaria, 15, of Marshall is comforted by teammates after
struggling with the routine before the last round of the 3rd Annual Bearcat
Competitive Cheer Invitational. DiMaria is one of
Marshallñs three flyers, the members who
are lifted and tossed during open competition.

Nick Buckley

The Enquirer

Black eyes, bloody
noses, bruised knees and broken bones.

Competitive
cheerleading at its finest.

A certified MHSAA
sport since 1994, the world of competitive cheer is beginning to gain
recognition, along with some overdue respect.

"For those who say
it's not a sport, I tell them to look at my bruises," Battle Creek
Central junior cheerleader Britton Kilpatrick said.

"It's not the
dancing and shaking your butt you see in (the movie) 'Bring it On', it is
completely different and more serious."

As opposed to sideline
cheering, competitive cheer is an all-girls sport where teams condition,
practice and prepare solely for competition.

Last year alone, three
area squads were able to make a run in the state tournament.

Climax-Scotts finished
fourth in the Class C/D competition, followed by Colon in sixth. Gull Lake
placed fifth in Class B.

"The state
tournament is intense," said Gull
Lake 16-year head coach
Julie Jones, who has coached since the Blue Devils were a club squad.

"Truly, any given
team can win it that day. When you talk about execution, it comes down to
tenths of points."

Currently all three
squads are ranked, with Gull Lake No. 2 in Class B and Colon and Climax-Scotts ranked fifth and
seventh, respectively, in Class C/D.

"These girls probably
work just as hard if not harder than most of the other athletes," said Colon first-year head
coach Jayne Sabaitis.

"These girls
pretty much just put it all out there on the floor and there is some really
cool stuff going on in round three."

Squads compete in 11
meets throughout the season prior to regionals.
This year, regionals will be held March 4, with the
MHSAA State Finals being held March 11 at the Delta Plex
in Grand Rapids.
This Saturday, the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference will hold its
season-ending league meet at Battle Creek Central.

Battle Creek Central,
Harper Creek and Lakeview are among the city schools with competitive cheer
teams. In addition to Colon, Climax-Scotts and
Gull Lake,
Albion, Bronson, Coldwater, Delton Kellogg, Maple
Valley, Marshall
and Quincy
are among the area schools fielding squads in 2006.

During a competitive
cheer competition, a minimum of four and a maximum of 16 team members are
allowed to compete in any of three rounds. A panel of three judges and two
safety judges provided by the MHSAA mark the teams in each round.

Round one is the
required round, where teams are marked for their floor mobility, vocals,
jumps, team coordination, difficulty or variety and general impression based
on a 10-point scale.

Round two is the
compulsory round, where at least five specified skills have to be performed.
At least one skill from each of the following categories must be performed:
Flexibility, jumping and tumbling. It also is based on a 10-point scale.

Round three is the
open round, where teams are judged on floor mobility, vocals, team
coordination and skills. The degree of difficulty for the round is judged on
a 20-point scale, while execution is on a 22-point scale.

BCC began competing in
cheer in 2001 when head coach Stefanie Miller brought a program to the
school.

"People need to
come and see exactly what all the shouting is about," Miller said.

"It's a contact
sport. I had a girl perform today with a black eye. You are throwing people
up in the air and catching them."

Unlike most team
sports, where one or two individuals can carry a team, competitive cheer
squads thrive when they perform well as a synchronized unit.

"It's definitely
a team sport," said Lakeview second-year head coach Heather Goy.

"Even the girls
who are not on the competition floor are playing a big part by cheering on
the team. At any time, somebody could get hurt and we train all the girls to
be ready at a moments notice."

Although somewhat
similar with sideline cheering, prospective competitive cheerleaders can
often be stunned by the difference between the two.

"They want all of
what's going on in football (sideline cheering), but when they get here, they
see the competition is a big event," said Harper Creek fourth-year coach
Megan Brennan.

One of the more
interesting aspects of competitive cheer is the camaraderie the teams form, not only with teammates, but also the squads
they are competing against.

"The camaraderie
you see in the cheerleading circuit is absolutely amazing," said BCC's Miller.

"It's like no
other sport out there. (Other sports) shake hands at the end, but here, all
the girls get on the mat together and they cheer for each other."

Harper Creek junior
captain Johnna Hurley agrees that the sportsmanship
in competitive cheer sets it apart.

"It's just
sportsmanship because we all know we are all working hard to accomplish the
same thing. It's really hard to go out there and not have anybody cheering
for us at all and we went through that last year."

With the many dangers
involved in competitive cheer, it's easy to understand why competitions are
filled with well-wishers.

Marshall's second-year coach Sarah South
painted a picture of a 'M ·  A ·  S ·  H' unit when she
spoke of the physicality of the sport.

"I broke my ankle
cheerleading, I've seen many black eyes cheerleading, broken arms...seen it
all," South said. "There are more injuries in cheerleading than any
other sport."

According to a study
published in the January issue of Pediatrics, cheerleading injuries more than
doubled among five-to-18-year-olds between 1990 and 2002. The study also
found that an average of 16,000 cheerleading injuries occur each year
requiring hospital emergency room visits and approximately 40 percent of the
injuries are to legs, ankles and feet.

Because of all the
dangers involved, the MHSAA has taken precautions by forming uniformed safety
procedures like regulating certain stunts and pyramids.

While relatively new
among MHSAA sports, the disrespect given to competitive cheer may stem from a
"new kid on the corner" mentality.

Still, Harper Creek
junior co-captain Diema Woodworth has a response
for those who say cheerleading is not a sport.

"It makes us be
more competitive and better when people say that because we want to show them
we can do things that they wouldn't normally expect. It drives us to let them
know we are a sport. It's not just jumping around and saying rah-rah,"
Woodworth said.

Eventually the naysayers will have to see that it's not all rah-rah,
otherwise it is just a matter of time before they hear what all the shouting
is about.

Originally
published February 14, 2006