- Dec 27, 2010
- 54
- 105
I've been around cheerleading for 8 years now and have seen many great cheerleaders perform and they were were respected by teammates and parents and people on other teams. They didn't need to go on twitter and beg to be a ''cheerlebrity'' and put in all this effort to be loved by everyone and have ''fans'' and stuff. I worry that the team aspect, which is of course the most important aspect of the sport, is being lost. No one individual is greater than the team as a whole, good luck stunting on your own. I have talked to some athletes who feel disrespected and like they are supporting players. There are NO supporting players in cheer, everyone is valuable and everybody has a major role.
And this is a problem because everyone knows about the reputations the athletes have. If you take two identical cheerleaders and put them in a college tryout situation and one is more shy and just focuses on his or her abilities and the other is all over twitter gaining followers and gaining ''cheerlebrity'' status that person may get the spot based on reputation. The same thing can happen with awards and other things.
And I very rarely see these ''cheerlebrities'' give any credit to their teammates it's all about them. I find it selfish and bad for the sport. And this is NOT about any one individual, in fact it has nothing to do with the athlete many of you probably think this is about. This is a problem with all star cheerleading as a whole, and specifically the social media aspect of it that is evolving incredibly fast.
And this is a problem because everyone knows about the reputations the athletes have. If you take two identical cheerleaders and put them in a college tryout situation and one is more shy and just focuses on his or her abilities and the other is all over twitter gaining followers and gaining ''cheerlebrity'' status that person may get the spot based on reputation. The same thing can happen with awards and other things.
And I very rarely see these ''cheerlebrities'' give any credit to their teammates it's all about them. I find it selfish and bad for the sport. And this is NOT about any one individual, in fact it has nothing to do with the athlete many of you probably think this is about. This is a problem with all star cheerleading as a whole, and specifically the social media aspect of it that is evolving incredibly fast.