Pom poms to prestige
Karra Smith, News Editor
Cheerleading’s status in the broader sports community has been heavily debated for years, despite the high levels of athleticism and technical skill required to participate. However, with recent cheerleading-centred media—such as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) docuseries America’s Sweethearts—the narrative around cheerleading is shifting.
When someone says ‘think of a sport’, most think of widely known professional sports such as hockey, baseball or basketball, with cheering often represented simply for crowd morale.
In a ProCon piece by Britannica, Daniel Nester, former head coach of Georgia Tech’s cheer team, speaks to the physical effort and passion required to be a cheerleader.
“These athletes [cheerleaders] have trained their whole lives, and they continue to train every day. What’s the difference between a track-and-field athlete and a cheerleader? History and pom-poms—and that’s what is standing in our way,” Nester says.
This sentiment is echoed throughout the world of cheerleading.
‘I can’t imagine hip surgery at twenty-five’
In an article by People, DCC cheerleader Parker Kilpatrick says it’s hard to describe the intensity of cheerleading for a team as prestigious as the Dallas Cowboys.
She told People she’s always been athletic, but the training camp to join the Cowboys put her endurance and stamina to the test.
“I was like, ‘No, really, like, this is genuinely the hardest thing I’ve ever done,'” Kilpatrick says. “We really earn it every single day.”
Some of the DCC’s most iconic skills are also among the most physically demanding, with one Reddit user explaining that many of the cheerleaders will endure lifelong injuries to continue performing throughout the season.
“I know they are famously known for their kicks and the jump splits; however, season after season we see these ladies wreck their bodies for this one trick,” user Annual_Resolution_94 says. “When Caroline was getting her hip surgery, the doctor asked her if it was worth it and she was satisfied. I think she is 25? I’m the same age. Can’t imagine hip surgery at twenty-five!!!”
But it’s not just the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders who exemplify athleticism and stamina in the world of cheer.
The Stampeders Outriders
Sydney Moncrieff was brought to the auditions for the Calgary Stampeders cheer team—the Outriders—by a friend from high school around the time the America’s Sweethearts docuseries was gaining popularity.
While Moncrieff had already been a dancer for many years, she says cheering presented its own unique challenges.
“The amount of rain games have been horrendous,” she says. “Also, the boots that we wear on the Stamps are super, super heavy.”
Starting her cheer career on the heels of the series success meant Moncrieff constantly had fans questioning if the life of an Outrider was similar to that of a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
“I’d say almost half of them [fan interactions], people ask me about Dallas Cowboys and how it’s the same and if it’s similar, so, it’s kind of cool that they get a glimpse into our world because it is quite similar,” Moncrieff says.
“As far as, like, intensity, obviously, our schedule and our league isn’t as big, but in terms of dancer life and how kind of the industry works and how we’re hiring and all of that works, it’s quite accurate,” she says.
While the Outriders fall more closely into the category of dance cheer as opposed to stunt cheer, the dedication and discipline required to succeed are easily comparable to competitive athletes.
“It’s more about endurance you would see on a football field, or that stamina we still have to have. So I’d say, in a physicality way, we’re very similar to athletes, but we’re not obviously playing a game, like a normal traditional sport,” says Moncrieff.
Moncrieff, along with much of the cheer community, says the recognition this sport is finally getting is overdue, and DCC has played a large part in showing the world what it truly means to be a cheerleader.
Cheerleader Sydney Moncrieff dances for both the
Stampeders Outriders and the Roughnecks Drill Crew. Photo
courtesy of Instagram / @stampoutriders
