The World Of Cheerleading

When a person looks at an image there are many ways they can interpret it. There is a famous quote that says, “An image is worth a thousand words”, which is true because when a person looks at a image they see different things. Scotty Mcloud in chapter two showed us a picture of just a face and he said “But when you enter the world of the cartoon you see yourself”(Page 36). He drew it seeing himself and when we see it we see our own face, already there are two different pictures being seen. Each part of an image has a special meaning to the whole of the photo. Also, when a photo has a lot of components to it different scenes of the photo attract the viewers attention. Just the simple words in this image “Cheer Up” can be interpreted in different ways. Obviously, when people think of cheerleaders they think of smiley and spirited boys and girls. There are so many stereotypes and thoughts about cheerleaders that people start personally judging them and not calling them true athletes. Sometimes now when people see cheerleaders they do the opposite of cheering up. Since they are already judged by what is thought of them people do not consider all they have to go through and overcome in order to become true cheerleaders. In this image there are three different kinds of stunts being done. First we have a three level pyramid, next to that we have a toe touch basket toss and finally we have a one-man scorpion. In all of these images you see cool things being done with a happy smiles on their faces. That is part of a cheerleaders job to show the crowd they are happy at what they are doing. But do you really think all of these stunts were possible to do in one day or that people were just born with the capacity to do this. Like every sport or physical work everything takes practice and multiple times doing it. In most cheer stunts there are three positions. First, we have the two bases and their job is basically to lift up the flyer. In order to be able to do this you have to have to have the muscles, the power, the confidence and the technique. The second position is the backspot, and their job basically is to lift up and secure the stunt. To be a good back spot you also have to have the same things the bases need but also you are in charge of the whole stunt because you can see all the positions. The last position is the flyer and their job basically is to balance themselves and trust the people on the bottom of them to catch them. People think since there are the ones being lifted up that their job is the easiest. That is not true because they have to have the same techniques as the other positions but they also have to be flexible and trusting. The flyers are the ones that everyone sees they have to put a smile on their face even though they could be terrified at what they are doing. All of these positions require different components but they are all equally important because you cannot be done with out the other. Now think about a cheerleading competition routine were there are multiples things happening at once so fast. A normal cheerleading competition routine is under three minutes and it incorporates various stunts, jumps, tumbling, dance, and cheers. When you see a cheerleading routine, again the only things you see are smiles on their faces. That’s one things about cheerleaders that makes them different from every sport they could be so exhausted, tired, nervous, stressed out, terrified, in pain and so much more but they will not show it to the crowd. You will see them having smiles on there faces making things look easy and fun because thats what cheerleaders have to do they have to be happy were ever they go. The last parts of this image are the various backgrounds. We have a waterfall in the Grand Canyon, the Capitol, and Niagara Falls. The reason I placed all these cheer stunts in famous places was to first catch the audience attention but also to show cheerleading is done all over the world and could be done in various places with the cheerleaders having smiles on there faces. So next time before you judge any level of cheerleading squad think about everything they have to go through in order to please the crowd.