to think cheerleading in the UK is just .... bleurgh

[barbaraprim]

Was at the Ice Centre yesterday with DD and there was a huge cheerleading competition going on. Hundred of competitors and squads from all over the UK. It was not a pretty sight. Garish costumes, orange fake tan, bad make-up and ludicrously huge bows in the hair of girls ranging for about 5 to 18 plus. Anyone who lets their child take part in this "sport" should get their head examined.

cheerleading is more dangerous than american football (in injury terms),so in reality it's not just some fluffy non sport to cheer the macho men even if that's where its origins lie

Wow nasty comments op!

At a recent half marathon most women wore far less than Stranded is wearing in her profile pic. There were also several runners who.were "meaty of thigh", doesn't mean running isn't good exercise! Cheerleading is very physically demanding and if there's a Cheerleading competition they aren't propping up another sport!

(Stranded, cute pic)

Also orange fake tan should be banned.globally. Don't pin it all on one activity.

Bemybebe, that isn't the main thing cheerleaders do, in the US or the UK. They are watched in their own right at their own competitions; appearing at men's sports is a tiny part of what they do in the US and often not done at all by many cheerleaders in the UK.

I think a lot of this is just sexism because cheerleading is primarily an activity done by girls so is somehow seen as less than other sports.

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/03/19/the-manly-origins-of-cheerleading/ Cheerleading was originally a male only sport and considered very manly

It went "soft" when women started it but competitive Cheerleading is back to it's hardcore athletic roots.

link fail

SeaHouses "fluffy non-sport" it maybe not, but the current context of it still is, not just the roots. I have never gone to cl competitions (maybe I should?), but did see them at basketball matches in the US years ago when I briefly lived there - a very impressive athletically, but not something would like to see myself doing, because it was a filler.
I have a background in dancing (up to the age of 16) - classical and modern, so the aesthetic of cheerleading does not appeal to me. "I think a lot of this is just sexism because cheerleading is primarily an activity done by girls so is somehow seen as less than other sports." I partly agree, but again, female gymnasts and dancers do not have the same position.

I thought the stuff done along the side of US games was technically pom dance, not cheerleading?

There have been very similar threads on here about ballet, even down to the comments about the thighs! So I do think a lot of it is down to the fact these are activities currently done by women and girls.

Can somebody explain about street cheerleading?

DD wanted to go to one secondary that did cheerleading, but didn't get in and is going to another. The one she is going to does street cheer. What does this involve?

I really dislike street dance. I think it is the line dancing of the current generation. Is street cheer similar?

DD has done ballet and jazz, but no gymnastics. So I don't know how she'd cope with cheerleading at secondary level anyway.

Yy to sexism. Gymnastics dance of almost all kinds and ice skating seen as girly soft options, horrible comments about women's bodies too.

People should try them or stfu.

Stranded I am very happy to stand corrected and reconsider!
Sea "I do think a lot of it is down to the fact these are activities currently done by women and girls." I would disagree but then I am coming from a country where ballet dancers (especially females) had a status awarded here in the UK to top footballers and thus, disagree that it is dismissed just because it is done by girls. As I said, the side of it which I thoroughly disliked is the "cheerleading" context, but I am happy to reconsider, since I clearly do not know what I am talking about.

I was told that in gymnastics it's ok if your leotard rides up and you flash your bum but you lose points if you pull it out :)

barbaraprim thank goodness you don't get to say who does which sports.

My dd has absolutely no desire to belong to the cheerleaders team at school, the teacher has suggested it more than once. Dd has other sports she enjoys and wants to take part in.

Sports for girls in the Uk needs to be encouraged whatever those sports are, thankfully cheerleading appeals to a lot of young girls and gets them involved and although they may ditch it later, it is more likely they will take up sports of one kind or another later in life.

Whereas those girls that don't do any sports during their early years (8-18) are less likely to be active when older, though there will be exceptions to the statistics

I don't think I can get over my dislike of the 'street' element. Hopefully DD will find some other activity to join. It is a shame because she did want to do cheerleading.

I watch a lot of rug

Stranded how is that street cheer different from street dancing? It looks nothing like cheerleading to me [knows nothing about this stuff].

Have to say I'm with Seahouses on this. It all looks very unappealing to me, but each to their own of course.