Are cheerleaders essential to the game?

This thread reminds me of the Texas cheerleader Mom who tried to have the Mom of her daughter's rival killed so her daughter could make the squad.
 
How about the senior cheerleaders who EARNED the right to be there for tgeir final game. JVs, by definition, get another shot.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Uh-oh tom you committed a capital offense with insensitive, misogynistic and politically incorrect terminology.

“I applaud the cheerleaders for the hours they spend perfecting their craft and wish them the best, but it’s not really leading cheers.”

It’s a sport, not a craft. Wasn’t there a thread debating this topic several years ago?
 
Why not include cheerleaders? I know they do not have an impact on the final score of the game, but they have practices and go to every game, ride the buses, etc. What is the benefit of excluding them? Cheerleaders are add more to the game than some 55-70 year old guy sitting in the stands bitching about everything (coaches, refs, the way the game was better in the old days).
 
falcon6766 said:
Why not include cheerleaders? I know they do not have an impact on the final score of the game, but they have practices and go to every game, ride the buses, etc. What is the benefit of excluding them? Cheerleaders are add more to the game than some 55-70 year old guy sitting in the stands bitching about everything (coaches, refs, the way the game was better in the old days).
Click to expand...
This limited fans policy did not last long! As I understood it, there were to be no attendees at the games who were not essential to the game, or were immediate family members of the players. Immediate family was limited to four individuals.
My list of essential personel would have been three officials, time keeper, official score keeper, scorekeeper from each team, medical trainer, coaches, players.
JV players would be next on my list as they are part of the same program, and are the future of the program.

My view on cheerleaders. They certainly practice and hone their skills. They are artistic. Even if they have their names read aloud before the game no body of official capacity checks credentials meaning they are not an official part of the game. None are listed in the score book.

A common practice by some coaches is to enter JV players onto the offical team roster turned into the tournament, but these kids are not notified personally that they are on the varsity roster, but should a player get hurt the JV kid could be suited up and put on the bench so long as he was on the roster turned in by the coach at the start of the tournament. This makes JV players more important to the team than cheerleaders who will not be playing regardless of who gets hurt.

Nothing against these kids who cheer, but what about the pep band? Is a good pep band not every bit as central to the atmosphere as cheer squads? Years ago (1980's) I recall pep bands attending the tournaments. Have not seen that in many years now.

My overall thought was if it was too risky to have fans in attendance, it was too risky to have cheerleaders who mingle with each other.
 
Warrior81 said:
Relax...its called school spirit and it's been a part of the high school atmosphere forever.
Click to expand...
Okay Mr. Holier-than-thou, that doesn't mean I have to like it when cheerleaders encroach upon the room I have along the endline to do my job.

And of course, Lord forbid you inadvertently run over one who gets in the way or you accidentally brush one of their breasts - someone's mommy or daddy is bound to make an issue of it.

And I never said we shouldn't have cheerleaders - I said I don't like them being on the endline.
 
Warrior81 said:
Relax...its called school spirit and it's been a part of the high school atmosphere forever.
Click to expand...

Are they essential to the game of basketball or any sport for that matter? No (see baseball, tennis, cross country...)

Are they a huge part of the game experience ? Absolutely !!

....... and as zebrastripes noted, just get the heck out of the way ! (my rebuilt right knee is evidence of this)
 
SeeYaSometime said:
Uh-oh tom you committed a capital offense with insensitive, misogynistic and politically incorrect terminology.

“I applaud the cheerleaders for the hours they spend perfecting their craft and wish them the best, but it’s not really leading cheers.”

It’s a sport, not a craft. Wasn’t there a thread debating this topic several years ago?
Click to expand...
I agree cheer leading is not a "sport", but I also would point out that there is a lot more athleticism involved in the cheer leaders stunts and tumbling runs than there is in many things we do consider "sports". Now, are they "essential to the game"? Of course not! But neither is having the JV team on the bench. Or the 10 assistant coaches teams seem to have! Or even the fans for that matter (since we were ready to have the tournament without them!). Do they add to the experience? Absolutely! And I do disagree that they do not "lead cheers". At least in my experience at STVM, the cheerleaders absolutely lead the student body in cheers. They are all part of the experience. The fans... The cheerleaders... The band... The leprechaun!!! It's all part of what makes high school sports so entertaining.
 
"Uh-oh tom you committed a capital offense with insensitive, misogynistic and politically incorrect terminology."

I HAVE SINNED!

 
And this is why there are message boards. To keep us off the streets and away from sane people while there are no sports.
 
AllSports12 said:
Are they essential to the game of basketball or any sport for that matter? No (see baseball, tennis, cross country...)

Are they a huge part of the game experience ? Absolutely !!

....... and as zebrastripes noted, just get the heck out of the way ! (my rebuilt right knee is evidence of this)
Click to expand...
We are paid to officiate basketball. Just like we aren't paid to police the spectators (but we should be at this rate), we aren't paid to accommodate cheerleaders.

First HS game of the season last year, of course there were visiting cheerleaders on the endline (which was already pretty tight at this school). I think once or twice they were way too close and I turned around and motioned with my hands for them to back up (didn't come anywhere close to intentionally touching anyone), and another time I inadvertently made contact when running from T to L. I think someone got upset because I didn't apologize profusely.

Home AD comes in our dressing room after the game and informs me that one of the visiting parents is upset because I "pushed" a cheerleader. :ROFLMAO: :rolleyes:

I informed him that if it were up to me, they wouldn't be standing there, but I wasn't going to be a pioneer.

Never heard anything about it again, but it just goes to show that people love to find things to complain about and you never know when someone is going to break out a lawsuit.
 
Last edited:
D4fan said:
This limited fans policy did not last long! As I understood it, there were to be no attendees at the games who were not essential to the game, or were immediate family members of the players. Immediate family was limited to four individuals.
My list of essential personel would have been three officials, time keeper, official score keeper, scorekeeper from each team, medical trainer, coaches, players.
JV players would be next on my list as they are part of the same program, and are the future of the program.

My view on cheerleaders. They certainly practice and hone their skills. They are artistic. Even if they have their names read aloud before the game no body of official capacity checks credentials meaning they are not an official part of the game. None are listed in the score book.

A common practice by some coaches is to enter JV players onto the offical team roster turned into the tournament, but these kids are not notified personally that they are on the varsity roster, but should a player get hurt the JV kid could be suited up and put on the bench so long as he was on the roster turned in by the coach at the start of the tournament. This makes JV players more important to the team than cheerleaders who will not be playing regardless of who gets hurt.

Nothing against these kids who cheer, but what about the pep band? Is a good pep band not every bit as central to the atmosphere as cheer squads? Years ago (1980's) I recall pep bands attending the tournaments. Have not seen that in many years now.

My overall thought was if it was too risky to have fans in attendance, it was too risky to have cheerleaders who mingle with each other.
Click to expand...
How are JV players essential to a game??? At least cheerleaders are part of the game in it's entirety. JV players sit in the stands and watch just like fans. At most they may get called up to suit for a game, but in that case they would be part of the active roster. If you're making the argument for rostered players to be on the bench, I'm not sure a single person would argue against that point. But it sounds like you are saying JV players in general are essential personnel, AND you say it's because they are key to the future of the program. In that case, so is the freshman, the junior high players, and don't forget about the elementary kids too. They are the future of the program! Are you saying they are all essential personel that should be given priority access to attend these games? Because again, cheerleaders are at least a regular part of the execution of the game in its entirety. All the people you say are the future of the program just watch the games no different than you or I.
 
Philly_Cat said:
How are JV players essential to a game??? At least cheerleaders are part of the game in it's entirety. JV players sit in the stands and watch just like fans. At most they may get called up to suit for a game, but in that case they would be part of the active roster. If you're making the argument for rostered players to be on the bench, I'm not sure a single person would argue against that point. But it sounds like you are saying JV players in general are essential personnel, AND you say it's because they are key to the future of the program. In that case, so is the freshman, the junior high players, and don't forget about the elementary kids too. They are the future of the program! Are you saying they are all essential personel that should be given priority access to attend these games? Because again, cheerleaders are at least a regular part of the execution of the game in its entirety. All the people you say are the future of the program just watch the games no different than you or I.
Click to expand...
I will try to clear my point up. Some coaches when they turn in the tournament roster will list 15 players but perhaps have played the entire year with 10 varsity players. The jv kids have 5 players on the roster for the tournament, but these kids generally have no idea they are included on the roster. To me, that makes the kids listed more essential to the game than cheerleaders who are not on the 15 player roster. These 5 JV kids could be called into action at any moment in the game, even while they are sitting in the stands. They often are not aware they are on the team roster. Some teams dress all kids on the roster, some teams do not. Those that do not are as eligible for action as those that dress and warm up.

You say cheerleaders are part of the game, yet I have never seen one cheerleader listed in the score book, while I have seen many JV kids listed who set in the stands unaware they were in the book.
 
D4fan said:
I will try to clear my point up. Some coaches when they turn in the tournament roster will list 15 players but perhaps have played the entire year with 10 varsity players. The jv kids have 5 players on the roster for the tournament, but these kids generally have no idea they are included on the roster. To me, that makes the kids listed more essential to the game than cheerleaders who are not on the 15 player roster. These 5 JV kids could be called into action at any moment in the game, even while they are sitting in the stands. They often are not aware they are on the team roster. Some teams dress all kids on the roster, some teams do not. Those that do not are as eligible for action as those that dress and warm up.

You say cheerleaders are part of the game, yet I have never seen one cheerleader listed in the score book, while I have seen many JV kids listed who set in the stands unaware they were in the book.
Click to expand...
I fell in that boat as a soph. 3 of us didn't even know we were on that roster as we never dressed for varsity. We found out come tourney time when the coach told us we had passes to get into the game and we coulda ride the bus. That last part was a hard no on our part!
 
No, the cheerleaders aren't essential to the game, but I would probably argue that I'd prefer to see them there at the games before the families.

This is a high school event for the benefit of the students.
 
Mackinbiner said:
No, the cheerleaders aren't essential to the game, but I would probably argue that I'd prefer to see them there at the games before the families.

This is a high school event for the benefit of the students.
Click to expand...

I'd rather allow mom and dad, grandma and grandpa to see the game.
 
D4fan said:
I will try to clear my point up. Some coaches when they turn in the tournament roster will list 15 players but perhaps have played the entire year with 10 varsity players. The jv kids have 5 players on the roster for the tournament, but these kids generally have no idea they are included on the roster. To me, that makes the kids listed more essential to the game than cheerleaders who are not on the 15 player roster. These 5 JV kids could be called into action at any moment in the game, even while they are sitting in the stands. They often are not aware they are on the team roster. Some teams dress all kids on the roster, some teams do not. Those that do not are as eligible for action as those that dress and warm up.

You say cheerleaders are part of the game, yet I have never seen one cheerleader listed in the score book, while I have seen many JV kids listed who set in the stands unaware they were in the book.
Click to expand...
And I'll repeat what I said. You are talking about rostered players. Where as anyone said rostered players cannot attend? I said if that is what you are referring to then you will be hard pressed to find anyone that would argue against them being allowed to attend.

And since when has anyone official said that rosters had to be limited and not all rostered players could attend? I say that because the whole topic of this thread was about whether cheerleaders should be allowed. When debating that one would think you would compare them to others that may or may not be allowed to attend, i.e fans/family members. What you're comparing is no different than saying "Well I think coaches should be allowed to attend before any cheerleader." Well no ****, Sherlock.
 
Cheerleaders are part of everyone’s program. They should be a part of this for many reasons. They’re very under appreciated and work very hard !!!
 
1 time said:
Cheerleaders are part of everyone’s program. They should be a part of this for many reasons. They’re very under appreciated and work very hard !!!
Click to expand...
Should they be a part.....yes. absolutely.


But they are not essential.
 
bengals wrestling said:
No, they are not. As long as I can remember, Benedictine H.S. has not had cheerleaders. This is a good thing, since IMO cheerleaders are basically useless.
I'll take a good student sections any day of the week.
Click to expand...
Why so much hate? This is something I don't understand about this board. So much hate towards things that don't matter.
 
I'll not say if they are essential or not, but OHSAA authorization for football state semi-final games is $15 per day for meals per day of participation and $30 lodging if a stay overnight for up to 8 cheer leaders if the one-way trip to the game is more than 50 miles.
 
Cheerleaders have been around the sport a loooooooong time. Here are some other extra items that who knows if they are. "essential": 3 asst coaches, water boys, away book, concessions, accouncers. But, all those sure create the atmosphere of the game and cheerleaders are at the top of the list.

Lets try and get more students involved wherever possible in our sports in whatever role that allows students to feel a part of the awesome friday evenings.
 
If some of you had a daughter, you might understand and I don’t They’d rather do competition, but they have a following at most schools and are very dedicated !!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top