Ep 93 | Is Cheerleading a Sport?

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What do you feel like are the ingredients that are important for a champion cheer team?

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Dedication. Without dedication, you can't get anything to happen. Without people coming to practice, without parents and kids that believe in the idea and believe in you as a coach. That's definitely number one.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Sportsmanship, discipline, physical fitness, all benefits you'd expect your child to get from participating in high school sports like basketball and football. But what about cheer? My next guest is the Tate High School special needs teacher and cheer coach. She has led her team to Win State three times and is herself a former Tate Aggie cheerleader. Today she's going to share why cheerleading may not be what you think it is, as she tells us about her team, behind the scenes of coaching, and the opportunities only cheer can provide. Champion for cheer, mom of two toddlers, Tate High Aggie for life, Morgan White. I'm so happy you're here.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yes, me too. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

I love how full circle this is, too, because you cheered at Tate, now you teach there and you coach there. So it must be like so nostalgic for you. Do you feel like cheer taught you anything that you couldn't have learned otherwise?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

I mean, I know all sports teach you about teamwork and like working with people and things like that. But the one thing that stands out to me about cheer is that it's a year-round sport. So we have to work with each other for a year and not just a season. Oh, that's interesting. Yes. So a lot of times, like by the end of the season, we are just about or completely over each other. You know, like we've had enough of each other. We see each other every single day for hours at a time. So just working with each other and like just pushing through arguments and problems and just getting frustrated with each other. I think that to me is what is something big that cheer is when it comes to being different than other sports.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Well, you're right. That is very different because when you think about seasonal sports, you have that separation from each other. And even though let's use football as an example, you have, you know, different second string football. Those you have the bench team, and then you have I'm talking like I know football. I know nothing about football. I'm really imagining soccer if I'm being perfectly transparent. But you have this separation. I was the goalie of the soccer team, for example. So I didn't even practice with the team. Right. But in the circumstance of cheer, it's almost more like a workplace.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Oh, absolutely. I mean, we are with each other. Well, I speak for Tate myself, but we have seventh period cheer class. So we practice every single day, Monday through Friday, on top of after school. We have special events, we have football games, basketball games, competitions. We travel with each other. And whenever we go to nationals, we'll be gone for six days at a time. So it's definitely a lot. It's it's a lot. And they have to learn how to work with each other and to get past their problems and issues. And, you know, just, and like you said, that's kind of like the workplace. You know, you see these people every day at work and can't really get away from them.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Do you see a big difference in the developmental milestones between the new cheerleaders and the seasoned cheerleaders? Oh, a thousand percent.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

So they usually come in as freshmen, they're all quiet and they follow all the rules and they're so sweet and perfect. And then by the time they're seniors, they're definitely seasoned. They have a little more vocal and you know, they try to step up as leaders. So it's definitely it's different as a freshman to a senior for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

So they advocate for themselves a little bit better.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

They don't let their parents talk for them as much. You know, that's one thing we really focus on at Tate, is like having the athletes speak for themselves. So by the time they're seniors, they're usually they feel comfortable to talk to me and the other coaches, and you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

That's a big deal, actually. Yeah. Well, also, unlike other sports where people buy tickets to watch the players, like, you know, basketball, football, the cheerleaders are not the main event. Do you consider cheer its own sport or is it a supporting sport?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Both. So obviously, for football and basketball, the the sports we cheer for, we go and we support the teams, and our parents will buy tickets that support the teams there, you know. And of course we're there for school spirit. But as far as competition and competitive, that is definitely our own sport and it's definitely changed. And people just don't realize that it has changed so much, even in the past 10 years since I've gotten out of high school. It's definitely become more competitive. It's more mentally challenging, especially with like social media, you get more ideas of how to do things. And it just seems like it's been way more competitive in the past 10-ish years than ever has been. And so it's it's competition is definitely what we do. You know, that's like our our sport, our individual sport.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

You're a stunt and tumble team. Correct. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

So stunting, to put it in so simple terms, is there's someone on the ground and they throw people up in the air. So that's how I like to explain that to people that don't know about cheer. And tumbling is whenever you're just flipping all over the place. So we do both of those in a two-minute and 30-second routine. Oh my gosh. Two minutes and 30 seconds. Okay, how do you prevent injuries? So at practice, we do um a bunch of spotting around. So we we have alternates and people that aren't stunting around to catch people that they do fall and like their catchers are struggling to catch. I'm just using simple terms, obviously. Please, thank you. We also we do warm-ups, we stretch, you know, the basic things that most sports do. But it is it's very dangerous for and we know it's dangerous, and we respect that it is dangerous. And as far as that Tate, I can't speak for other schools, but we always make sure our athletes are safe because that's our number one priority. Because once you lose an athlete and they get hurt, it affects the entire team because we really don't have a bench we can pull from.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Oh, interesting. That's another way that it's different. Yes. So there's a very present incentive to be safe.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Absolutely. That's literally our main thing. And especially right before a competition, if someone gets hurt, it just brings the whole morale down and you know, it's it's hard to replace people. So we just make sure that our kids are safe.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah. Well, your team has done amazing. You're number one in Florida and fifth in the entire nation in your division, which feels like a really big deal. Why wouldn't more people have heard about that?

SPEAKER_00 6:52

I truly believe it's just because we are um mainly a female sport, and of course there are male cheerleaders as well, but people just don't look at cheer as it is today. They only look at it as what it has been in the past, what they see on TV, just the little cute cheerleaders in a skirt on the sideline going rah-rah, you know. And it's definitely evolved. And like I was saying earlier, it's mentally challenging, physically challenging. It takes a lot of sacrifice. I mean, these kids don't get to work like a lot of kids do in high school just because cheer takes up so much time. It's it's like a full-time job. So I just going back, I just do think it is because it's a female sport and it's just people haven't realized that cheer has evolved the way it has.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah, we think of cheerleaders as like those chipper but not so bright tropes that have the best screams on the uh teen horror flicks. Absolutely. So who are they really?

SPEAKER_00 7:46

So they actually cheerleading the second year we won state. They actually have the highest GPA of any sport in the district at Tate. So they're actually not dumb at all. They are very smart. We actually require a two point at least a 2.5 GPA in order to cheer, whenever every other sport is a 2.0. So our kids are very, very smart and they're respectful and they take their schoolwork seriously, and they're usually overachievers. Like they they don't want to just do nothing. They want to help their school, they want to help their friends, they want to be successful one day. They are usually just your all-American girl, really. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

And what about the boys? Because there's a stereotype that boys in cheer are kind of the effeminate guy that doesn't have a lot of guy friends. Right. Who are the guys in the Tate Cheer team?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So our male cheerleaders are um very strong. They have to be strong physically, but they also have to be strong internally. Just being a male cheerleader, they always have stereotypes that they have to struggle to fight against or to embrace however they want to. A lot of male cheerleaders, actually, especially in the college level, they have come from other sports like football, baseball, soccer, and they go into cheer because they're like, oh wow, this is a great opportunity to get a scholarship to college, you know, to get something paid for.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So explain that a little bit because that is an unexpected benefit for somebody who is male and is already an athlete. I wouldn't think, like, oh yeah, get a scholarship by becoming part of the cheer team.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Right, right. Well, a lot of colleges getting males is hard. It's just because, once again, the mentality of being a male cheerleader sometimes is looked at negatively. But in college, they basically will just hand you over a scholarship to be a male cheerleader. And they can usually, especially if you are athletic and you have like athletic experience in other sports. So you're usually strong, you're usually conditioned, you know, things like that. So things that you really can't teach. So they can get you on and then they teach you how to stunt, tumble. And the best thing about cheering in college is that they don't, they don't care to make you like feel feminine if that's not your thing, you know? They have you, they don't have you like really do cheer motions. You're really just there to throw the girls up in the air and to tumble. So it's just more of a skill and not so much of a you know sideline cheer situation.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So they're not trying to make you conform to the other members of the team, like you still have your individual identity as a part of the team. Correct. That is way something I did not even expect. That's so fascinating. You okay, so scholarships. Are there a lot of scholarships all around for cheer, whether you're male or female?

SPEAKER_00 10:33

I would say right now it's getting better, but some schools still don't offer scholarships for anybody. It just goes back to the school because a lot of cheer isn't considered a sport in college for a lot of people, for a lot of places. So they don't have the act like the extra scholarships for the sports that most people would have. But there are definitely are. I've had a girl that went to Weber University that had a full ride scholarship, never had to pay a penny for anything. She got her books paid for, her tuition, her housing, everything. And so she graduated, now she's in graduate school right now. So it just depends really where you go and if you just embrace the scholarships.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

How do you think future employers view applicants who were on cheer teams?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

I think that they like the fact that they had been a cheerleader before because, you know, we do a lot of community service where they have to go and talk to people and help people out in the community. And usually cheerleaders are good with talking to people and having conversations and, like you said, being bubbly and stuff. So I would think that they would. Oh, you were a cheerleader. Okay, well, you also know what it's like to be dedicated. You also know what it's like to show up every day, be on time, you know, because that's something else cheer definitely teaches.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Do most sports teams have a community service aspect? I don't think we did that in high school.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

I don't know about most teams. I know cheered in other areas definitely, definitely do. I don't know about other sports teams in general, but I know we like do Miracle League and Special Olympics, and we've done like breast cancer stuff and which I do know Tate Softball, they do the they do like a cancer strikeout for cancer games and they raise a bunch of money for that. So yeah. But it's the norm across cheer culture.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yes. Wow. Okay. This is the third time that your team has won state, like we said earlier. What do you feel like are the ingredients that are important for a champion cheer team?

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Dedication. Without dedication, you can't get anything to happen. Without people coming to practice, without parents and kids that believe in the idea and believe in you as a coach, that's definitely number one dedication for sure. I would probably say another one would be pushing yourself. Because cheer is kind of a mental sport where if you get a mental block, you know, like in baseball, like if you get in a like a batting slump, I think that's what they call it. You know, you get in your head and it's hard for you like to hit the ball, you know, and cheer is the same way, but it's really with with tumbling. So people get in their heads really bad and like scared they're gonna break their necks and like they just think traumatic things. So being mentally tough and being able to push through those mental thoughts is another big one.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Wow. Okay, so mental toughness, dedication, you know, intelligence. Why are breaking all the stereotypes of these things important to you?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

It's important to me because I see how hard these kids work. And I've been at the coach at Tate for seven years and have been in high school for 11 years. So, like I've I've worked with so many kids and they really are some dedicated, strong athletes that deserve to be recognized for who they are, which is an athlete. And that's what I really, really like. Whenever I do decide to step away from cheer, that's my goal, is that people will look at cheer in a different way than what they always have.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

And you're a cheer coach, not a cheer sponsor. Is that important for parents to know the difference?

SPEAKER_00 13:54

I think it is. To me, a cheer coach is someone that that gets on the floor, that spots around, that gives ideas on how to fix problems, that helps with anything that needs to be helped with. A lot of times we just have sponsors in the cheer world where they don't know what's really going on. They they're just there because no one else would coach. And thankfully we have those sponsors because without them, we probably wouldn't have a cheer team for some places. But at the same time, I wish people would look at cheer more as a sport and would take that into consideration when hiring people or just allowing anyone to come and and coach. Because it goes back to safety too.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah, it goes back to safety. And I think utility. I'm betting that parents want their kids to, I think it's a mix of things, and I'm just speculating here. So you have to tell me how on or off I am. I think parents want their kids to make the most of their high school experience. Absolutely. The nostalgia, you know, the the and enjoy it while you can aspect. But then there's also this side of parents where they're like, oh gosh, you you're expensive. Extremely. So we want you to grow up to be a functional member of society and not, you know, one of those stereotypes, like live in mom and dad's basement kind of thing. Absolutely. To be a functioning member of society and to potentially set yourself up for successful college experience if that's what you choose, but definitely a successful career experience. Absolutely. Definitely. Do you feel like the cheer team sets the kids up for those things?

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Oh, absolutely. Like they just learn so much being in a cheer team. Like I said, dedication, working with each other year round. We have practices at eight o'clock in the morning in the summertime. That takes a lot of dedication. Every day. Um, two days a week. And then we have an afternoon practice once. So they have to know, okay, I can't stay up all night because I have practice at eight o'clock in the morning where I have to be worth something and not exhausted, you know? So that's as high school kids, that takes a lot of dedication.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

That takes so much dedication, and that's such a myth buster, yeah, also because I think every extracurricular activity has its own set of stereotypes. But when we think about cheerleaders, we think, oh, they're, you know, maybe not following the rules or they're off partying, right? I think really because of all the movies. The movies is what really gets us. But if these kids, you know, are so impacted by each other's behavior, it's almost like positive peer pressure. And then you add in 8 a.m. summertime practices, these it's probably not at all like what we've seen in the movies. Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

I mean, they really have to be dedicated and they know that if they don't show up to practice, there's going to be a consequence. And, you know, I mean, it's just like a job.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Wow, that's impressive. Well, as we wrap, what else would you want parents to know about cheerleading?

SPEAKER_00 16:47

I would just like parents to know that cheerleading just isn't what it used to be. It has changed, it's evolved. And if you don't know what cheer is like, come out to a tape football game and watch, come out to a competition, any competition really, anywhere, it will it'll show you exactly what cheer is like. And that cheer is not necessarily all about the cute girl in the short skirt and the stereotypes that come with that. It's a sport and it deserves to be recognized and treated like a sport.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Thank you so much for coming and sharing this. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Scambia County Public Schools.