Let’s Go Rams! R-A-M-S, Let’s Go RAMS! Cheerleading teams typically have a mascot or symbol for their team. In competition cheerleading, the cheer part of the routine generally chants about their mascot. The basic setup of a cheer routine consists of a cheer, a partner stunt, a basket toss, a pyramid, a dance, jumps, and tumbling. Each stunt group has four main parts: the flyer (girl on top), the main base (main person holding foot), the side base (other person holding foot) and the back spot (supports back of flyer). In case you didn’t know, a partner stunt is a stunt that is executed with your own stunt group only. A basket toss is where the flyer steps on the bases hands, is thrown up in the air to do a cool trick, and then is caught in a cradle position. A pyramid is where multiple stunt groups come together to perform a cool trick/stunt. Most cheerleading competitions are scored based on multiple skills by judges. The places are first, second and third, and if you get a high enough score, you advance into the next competition.
Competition cheerleading is such a competitive sport. I love going to all my competitions because not only is it fun to perform, but it is fun to watch the skill of other teams as well. How are skills of each cheer team separated you ask? There are separate divisions: white is the easiest level, blue is the hardest level, and red is the in between level. I competed in the blue level, and although there was hard competition, it was a great experience to get a feel for what sort of teams we will be up against in the future. Throughout my competition experience in CJF I have learned to always challenge yourself no matter the difficulty, because the outcome will be much greater than than the time and effort you put into it.
~Samantha