Are cheerleaders essential to the game?

D

D4fan

Well-known member
Surprised when I viewed the Mentor game last night that both schools had cheerleaders on the sidelines. My thought was " are they more essential to the game than JV players who are not permitted to attend?"

Take the cheerleaders away and you have the perfect AAU SETTING. MOM'S AND DAD'S CHEERING FOR THEIR KIDS IN AN EMPTY GYM. Man did that bring back some good memories.
 
 
This event is new ground. There are going to be hypocrisies. Finding them takes removal from other motivations. Threads like this I think helpful. I think it is a good point but I won't castigate the people making the decisions. They're possibly afraid or it hasn't yet occurred to them to go all in. Looking for some sense of normalcy.

It should be suggested to people who can make that decision D4fan.
 
No.

As a referee who has worked in other states where cheerleaders aren't on the endline, it's one of the most obnoxious things about officiating in Ohio. And if you try to make them move when they're in the way, you stick out like a sore thumb.

When in Rome...
 
I am going to be politically incorrect here, but I what is the purpose of cheerleaders? By definition, they are supposed to lead the cheers in support of the team. However, how many people actually follow the cheers and participate? They learn these complicated cheers and routines at cheer camp, but no one follows them, because they don't know them. The crowd sits silent while the girls do their cheers, then politely applauds. Is that cheerleading? Most often the crowd starts its own cheers," de-fense," or " Let's go ___________." This is especially true at football games, but carries over to basketball. I applaud the cheerleaders for the hours they spend perfecting their craft and wish them the best, but it's not really leading cheers.
 
tom 48 said:
.... However, how many people actually follow the cheers and participate? They learn these complicated cheers and routines at cheer camp, but no one follows them, because they don't know them. The crowd sits silent while the girls do their cheers, then politely applauds..... I applaud the cheerleaders for the hours they spend perfecting their craft and wish them the best, but it's not really leading cheers.
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The heart of the matter right there. At the bare minimum, you need a dedicated student cheering section willing to partner with the cheerleaders and learn the basic cheers. And the cheering team coach needs to buy in also. If you encourage it, they will come.

Back when dinosaurs walked the earth, we had things called "pep rallies", even on school time. Each new freshman class learned the cheers at these events by following the upper classman. We looked forward to the brief respite, and we participated heartily. We knew that if we didn't, the principal would've stopped having them.
 
thavoice said:
No.
But there would be hell to pay if it they werent included........
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This. From a school and student standpoint, they are part of the team, just not officially necessary for the game. Anything the players get, the cheerleaders should get. Whenever shirts get made for conference championships, our Booster Club contributes $X per t-shirt both for players and cheerleaders. Again, doesn't mean they are necessary or have even the slightest impact on the game, but they are still "part of it."
 
I think for these games they should be imperative to bring some atmosphere to the games!

Speaking of cheerleaders........do your schools cheerleaders go through the post game handshakes with opponents with the teams?
I dont know why it annoys me!
 
tom 48 said:
I am going to be politically incorrect here, but I what is the purpose of cheerleaders? By definition, they are supposed to lead the cheers in support of the team. However, how many people actually follow the cheers and participate? They learn these complicated cheers and routines at cheer camp, but no one follows them, because they don't know them. The crowd sits silent while the girls do their cheers, then politely applauds. Is that cheerleading? Most often the crowd starts its own cheers," de-fense," or " Let's go ___________." This is especially true at football games, but carries over to basketball. I applaud the cheerleaders for the hours they spend perfecting their craft and wish them the best, but it's not really leading cheers.
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The yell leaders at Texas A & M are my idea of the role of a cheerleader.
 
RUTrippin said:
No cheerleaders are not essential to the varsity game but neither are the JV players. But the varsity cheerleaders do deserve to be there in my opinion more so than JV players because you go with who brung you there.
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So the JV that practices every day with the Varsity and helps prepare them are less essential to what got them there than thecheerleaders? You were kidding right?
 
I applaud the cheerleaders but they are not essential. I know my high school played a game to win our conference last year, and the cheerleaders couldn't be there. It was a re-scheduled game, and they had a competition somewhere else. The game went on as usual. We had a decent sized student section, which kept the energy going, and we won the game as if they weren't even there.
 
Are cheerleaders essential to the game?

Walking along, minding my own business....sees can labelled "worms"....pauses, ponders.....opens can of worms... ?

If there are any cheerleading mom's registered to this site we're all about to get an ear full.....
 
bass10 said:
So the JV that practices every day with the Varsity and helps prepare them are less essential to what got them there than thecheerleaders? You were kidding right?
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I’m saying for the varsity game to be played that it’s not essential for either to be there. But since they are the cheerleaders for the varsity and have been all season that they should have their moment also. Not trying to minimize the JV contribution but obviously we are in a unique situation. Will the cheerleaders want to be there with no fans I have no clue. Will the JV players want to be there with no fellow students is questionable also. I was giving my opinion on who should get top priority in this situation.
 
tom 48 said:
Absolutely. The spirit is amazing, and the crowd involvement dwarfs Ohio State's.


2:19 is what a crowd can handle.

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For hoops, I can give a little nod to the cheerleaders with hype but for football..........NAH, no way.
 
honestly, the only things essential to the games are the varsity players, coaches and refs.

jtk
()
 
For most schools who have low community support, I’d say no. To teams with big followings it is a big part of the game.
 
My wife and my daughter were cheerleaders. I often told them if it wasn’t for the sports there would be no cheerleaders and not the other way around. Never went over well. Lol
 
zebrastripes said:
No.

As a referee who has worked in other states where cheerleaders aren't on the endline, it's one of the most obnoxious things about officiating in Ohio. And if you try to make them move when they're in the way, you stick out like a sore thumb.

When in Rome...
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Relax...its called school spirit and it's been a part of the high school atmosphere forever.
 
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