College Has College Cheerleading Been Changing In Recent Times?

[emax13]

So I admit I am relatively new here, but I was wondering, has college cheerleading become more diversified and more open than it was even 5 to 15 years ago?

My understanding was that in college cheerleading, it has often been considered very unforgiving in terms of the demands on body size, particularly since I had thought that it used to be that for women in college cheer, they all wanted to be Large Coed Flyers and they especially want to do it on the UCA type squads where they have some of the biggest and strongest bases. And being an All Girl Flyer or a SmalL Coed Flyer is considered underachieving and that being a base if you are a girl on any kind of squad is considered a relatively unpleasant position in college cheer noone wants, at least relative to being a a Large Coed Flyer.

ANd also, that if you are a particularly big and powerful girl who is better suited for All Girl or Small Coed type Cheer, that is considered a drawback because that means your squad will be ignored and it will cause resentment among girls who don't fit the 90 pound, Coed Flyer mold.

Is this still a serious problem now or is it evolving to where girls of all body types and sizes are being celebrated for their skills instead of just the 90 pound Coed Flyer types? Was it always a problem in all top cheer colelges or only true for some of them?

 

[GreatWhite92]

I absolutely think so! I am on a small coed team as an all-girl base. The only solid fulls on our nationals floor right now all come from the all-girl groups. We are the ones holding up the pyramids and there would honestly not be a routine with-out us there. I could never make it on a Large Coed team but I also have never had any desire to. There are teams in our division who are well talked about. Of course the SEC schools will always be the most talked about but it is that way with any sport. I still talk about Louisville all girl and Moorhead all girl and look at them in Awe! I think it is safe to say that cheerleading welcomes any body type and needs every body type.

 

[King]

I can tell you college cheerleading is changing extremely quickly, and it is because of allstar. The fact is there isn't enough athletes to have a bunch of strong large coed teams in college. And there is a ton of group stunt flyers and female bases (along with smaller tumbler boys) to make strong all girl and small coed teams.

The university I coach at, Georgia Tech, we were traditionally large coed for many years. While we never won, we had a few years where we finished top 5 (back when I attended and cheered there). For a school as difficult to get into as GT it was quite respectable for what we were doing. I have come back to help rebuild the program after a long hiatus and we are going small coed. For some of our alumni it has been a difficult thing to accept. But in reality when you look at it on paper we cannot compete as a large coed and we have a LOT of talent in the small coed realm.

I always remember a large coed banner and a small coed banner hang at the same height on the wall. Stingrays taught me that.

 

[retiredl5cheer]

I cheered for a small coed school as an all-girl base and an all-girl flyer and never felt inferior to the large coed schools. Successful small coed and all girl schools such as Hofstra and Morehead are as highly regarded as many large coed schools. Obviously UK, Alabama and a few other large coed schools will always be a step above the rest, but I see that as more of a product of their continued success rather than their division. It helps that all girl bases are setting a whole new standard for the cheer world and drawing positive attention to that role.

 

[Kentucky Girl]

Definitely. In the late 1990s, all girl and small coed teams had only one division each and weren't getting much screen time during ESPN's coverage of the UCA College Nationals (the focus was on large coed teams back then).

Well, things have changed since since as there are now three all girl divisions (All Girl IA, All Girl I, and Open All Girl) while there are two small coed divisions (Small Coed I and Small Coed II).

The reason for the sudden rise of all girl and small coed college teams is to give female high school and all star cheerleaders (mainly bases from either all girl or small coed squads) the opportunity to cheer in college without making the transition to cheering on a large coed squad (although are are female cheerleaders who have made the transition from an all girl high school squad to a large coed college squad).

I wish that the University of Kentucky would add an all girl squad but knowing T. Lynn Williamson (who happens to be a traditionalist when it comes to college cheerleading), that will probably not happen anytime in the very near future.

Just my two cents.

 

[ScottyB]

Definitely. In the late 1990s, all girl and small coed teams had only one division each and weren't getting much screen time during ESPN's coverage of the UCA College Nationals (the focus was on large coed teams back then).

Well, things have changed since since as there are now three all girl divisions (All Girl IA, All Girl I, and Open All Girl) while there are two small coed divisions (Small Coed I and Small Coed II).

The reason for the sudden rise of all girl and small coed college teams is to give female high school and all star cheerleaders (mainly bases from either all girl or small coed squads) the opportunity to cheer in college without making the transition to cheering on a large coed squad (although are are female cheerleaders who have made the transition from an all girl high school squad to a large coed college squad).

I wish that the University of Kentucky would add an all girl squad but knowing T. Lynn Williamson (who happens to be a traditionalist when it comes to college cheerleading), that will probably not happen anytime in the very near future.

Just my two cents.

In regards to what you said about T. Lynn and traditionalists, it isn't always the sponsor or coach who is preventing the development of further teams at a lot of schools. Administrations don't understand the influx of strong female athletes in the high school and all star levels which mean they don't allow or support team growth for university teams that have consistently had large coed teams for years and years, making them clueless about All Girl and Small Coed teams. Others do understand but like you said are very traditional and want that Large Coed look on their sidelines for games.

 

[Kentucky Girl]

In regards to what you said about T. Lynn and traditionalists, it isn't always the sponsor or coach who is preventing the development of further teams at a lot of schools. Administrations don't understand the influx of strong female athletes in the high school and all star levels which mean they don't allow or support team growth for university teams that have consistently had large coed teams for years and years, making them clueless about All Girl and Small Coed teams. Others do understand but like you said are very traditional and want that Large Coed look on their sidelines for games.

I understand your point. The state of Kentucky area has many top high school squads such as Paul Laurence Dunbar, Henry Clay, Graves County, Bowling Green, Pikeville, Dupont Manual and Greenup as well as all star squads like Kentucky Elite and Gym Tyme.

While UK may not have an all-girl teams, there are other colleges in Kentucky that do like Louisville (it has an all-girl team and a small coed team), Morehead State, and WKU.

I know your college Kansas doesn't have an all-girl team that I can think of either. We both have something in common!