Help Varsity.com! What Are the Top 10 Things People DON'T Know About Cheerleadin

[VarsityAndrea]

Are you tired of hearing the typical stereotypes from your friends who aren't cheerleaders? Well, you can help take those stereotypes and demolish them for good!

Varsity.com is looking for cheerleaders, like yourself, to help us compose a list of "The Top 10 Things You Don't Know About Cheerleading." If YOU could tell the world 10 things they DON'T know about cheerleading, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM?

We want to hear from YOU! Let us know, right here on the Varsity.com Forums![/b]

[Kong]

That it's not nearly as DANGEROUS as the media has been portraying in recent years.

[coolcoach]

Contrary to popular belief, it is not easy and it involves much more than girls wearing cute skirts, looking pretty, and shaking their pom poms.

It is a very demanding sport, and the athetes who participate spend MANY MANY hours in the gym practicing stunts, pyramids, etc.

[blonde_cheer_loser]

That we are not all stuck up, rude, and moralless (is that a word? ha.).

People are always shocked when they find out I am a cheerleader because I'm known as one of the few girls in school who doesn't get into trouble and is kind to everyone.

[Travana]

Thhose who cheer don't do it because they "aren't good enough to play a real sport" 
This is the one they chose, and they are athletes just the same as someone who plays football or runs track.

[Jen H]

That it's not nearly as DANGEROUS as the media has been portraying in recent years.

Yes! My #1 hated stereotype now, having moved above even "It's not really a sport/athletic/demanding activity/hard" and "They are all airheads or mean." Well, mean isn't the word usually used but that is the gist of it.

[LCSD1 coach]

Its a year long commitment not just a seasonal one

[DubleDwn]

I hate that people don't realize the time and effort that goes into competition.  Practice doesn't just consist of getting ready to compete but also to perform at games.  Performing a 2 minute 30 second routine is equal if not harder than playing in any game.  Another thing is that we don't have a lot of opportunities to show our stuff, you work all season and then compete.  When the season is over you don't have a record you didn't go 3-0 or what not.  One more thing, most of the people who see us at basketball or football games never come see us compete, I think they would be blown away if they got to see what we really work for.

[Jen H]

It drives me nuts when people say our school should drop the competition team and just do basketball cheering, because that's how cheering started and that's what it should be all about: supporting other sport teams, not being the sport team.

I say they are equally important, and to strip my kids of their chance to challenge themselves against other cheer athletes would be just as unfair as saying to the basketball team that they can hold practices, but they can't actually play any games.

[TigerDragonGrrl]

Cheerleading teaches leadership skills.
Many famous leaders, including presidents, were cheerleaders.

[RPCmme]

In some states, cheerleaders are required to complete the same amount of conditioning as any other designated sport, such as football and basketball.  We're not athletes...oh yes we are!

Cheerleading goes beyond the ability and the skill (jumps, stunts, tumbling, motions, etc.) and is a performance sport.  It's not just athleticism, but also showmanship.  Imagine a football player having to complete the entire play with a huge smile on his face.  No smile, then the play is dead.  Or a wrestler making facials at his/her opponent while in a hold. 

[pouncer the panther]

hello! it is 2009 we are not in the fifties anymore! it is not a popularity contest anymore! the movies and media arent excactly helping! like the world there are some good and bad just because some act a certain way does not mean everyone else is! like the fab 5 scandal! hello 5 girls happen to be desperate for attention just happen to be cheerleaders? we are not ditzy! if we were we wouldnt stunt! thank the lord for herkie! for forming nca! like the many t-shirts say they throw balls cheerleaders throw athletes.

[dancin_an88]

I guess this comes close to being in the "Pet Peeves" section, but dance and cheer are TEAM SPORTS! Missing two to four people from a formation at any given practice can mean not being able to practice the routine at all!!!!!

[Miss April]

People don't know that cheerleading actually isn't like the Bring It On movies.

[pouncer the panther]

People don't know that cheerleading actually isn't like the Bring It On movies.

hello! i so agree like try-outs (was a funny scene) but they really include release forms 900 dollars and a series of practices!