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 JTA News: Very Interesting - The History of Cheerleading and Pom |
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Very Interesting - The History of Cheerleading and Pom
American Internet Cheerleading Magazine
Cheerleading: The History
The first pep club was established at Princeton University in the 1870s and the following decade brought about the first organized yell. According to legend, at a Princeton football game, Thomas Peebler gathered six men to lead a yell on the sidelines in front of the student body. In 1884, Peebler reportedly took the yell to the University of Minnesota campus and on November 2, 1898, a cheerleader named Johnny Campbell got so excited that he jumped out in front of the crowd. The University of Minnesota is also credited with the first school "fight song".
Although it had been in use on the day cheerleading began in 1898, the 1900s saw the popular use of the megaphone. The first cheerleader fraternity, Gamma Sigma, was also organized in the 1900s. The first "homecoming" was held at the University of Illinois in 1910. In 1920, "yell leaders" brought in drums and noisemakers. As football became more popular, so did cheerleading.
Women became active in cheerleading in the 1920s. The University of Minnesota cheerleaders began to incorporate gymnastics and tumbling into their cheers and the first flash-card cheering section was directed by Lindley Bothwell at Oregon State University. In the 1930s, universities and high schools alike began performing pom-pom routines and using paper poms, still the most widely recognized cheerleading prop. In the early 1940's, when men went to war, women not only went to work, but also on to the cheerleading squads. Cheerleading then became more of a female sport. When the men returned from war, new twists and turns were added. Gymnastics were always done by men, while the girls danced which gave rise to dance teams.
In 1948, Laurence "Hurkie" Hurkimer (founder of the spirit industry) organized the first cheerleader camp at Huntsville's Sam Houston University with just 52 girls in attendance. The first cheerleading organization, the National Cheerleading Association (NCA), was founded and Hurkimer created spirit slogans, ribbons, and buttons to raise spirit and money.
In the 1950s, college cheerleaders began conducting cheerleading workshops to teach fundamental cheerleading skills. The modern vinyl pom was invented by Fred Gastoff, around 1965, and introduced by the International Cheerleading Foundation (now the W.C.A.). The "Bruin High Step" style of pom-pom routine was developed by UCLA cheerleaders and the International Cheerleading Foundation. In 1967the first annual ranking of the "Top Ten College Cheer Squads" was begun as was the initiation of the "Cheerleader All America" awards by the International Cheerleading Foundation.
The Baltimore Colts organized the first professional cheerleading squad in history. Up until then, high school squads were used on the sidelines to promote spirit. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders created a pure pom-pom "Broadway-style" dance entertainment for the crowds.
As the 1970s began, cheerleading was building greater and greater m momentum. In addition to cheering for the traditional football and basketball teams, cheerleaders began supporting all school sports, sometimes selecting several different squads to cheer for wrestling, track and field, and swimming. The first nation-wide television broadcast of the Collegiate Cheerleading Championships on CBS-TV in the Spring of 1978, was initiated by the International Cheerleading Foundation. In 1976, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders performed at Super Bowl X and started an evolution of "dancing cheerleaders." The 1970's also saw the beginning of collegiate and high school cheerleading competitions.
In 1980, universal standards were established and safety guidelines precluded many dangerous tumbling moves and pyramids. National cheerleading competitions for junior and senior high school as well as collegiate squads took place across the U.S.. The I.C.F. Training Course for faculty cheerleading 'sponsors' and coaches was offered at locations nationwide.
Today, collegiate pom and dance is a fast growing segment of the spirit industry. Partly in response to the "internationalization of basketball and American football, cheerleading is now itself international, with Japan, Europe, Australia, Canada, and Mexico involved in the sport.
The importance of cheerleading has come a long way and was first acknowledged by Willis Bugbee in 1927, when he wrote: "The cheerleader, where once was merely tolerated, is now a person of real estate. His prestige is such that at many schools and colleges he must win his place in competitive examination." And it is true today, that a person must be highly skilled and competitive in order to achieve the honored and respected position of cheerleader. This cherished position has, throughout the years, been held by some truly talented people including:
Kirk Douglas
Jimmy Stewart
Meyrl Streep
Terri Hatcher
Samuel L. Jackson
Mary McDonnell
Eve Plumb (Brady Bunch)
President George W. Bush
Paula Abdul
Ann-Margaret
Kim Bassinger
Halle Berry
Betty Buckley
Sandra Bullock
Deana Carter
Sen. Thad Cochran
Katie Couric
Pres. Dwight Eisenhower
Barbara Hershey
Reba McIntire
Jessica Lange
Jack Lemmon
Sen. Trent Lott
Susan Lucci
Shirley MacLaine
Madonna
Steve Martin
Mary McDonnell
Annie Potts
Diane Sawyer
Cybil Shepard
Sissy Spacek
Aaron Spelling
Lilly Tomlin
Raquel Welch
Vanna White
Rita Wilson
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