Allstar Cheerleading

Is Cheerleading a sport? Well many may haters may argue its not but the Oxford Dictionary definition of a sport states that a sport is ‘An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment’. Does Cheerleading involve this? Yes it does. In fact it involves this more than certain so called “sports” actually do. Cheer is compared to dancing a lot of the time however, dancing involves less dangerous skills than Cheer. So if dancing can be called a sport why can’t Cheer? (Popoloski,D. 2011).

My Experience: World Championships

My experience of Cheerleading over the past 9 years has always been very positive. It has taken me places I never would of dreamed of going and it has also taught me valuable life skills. The atmosphere at the World Championships in Florida was definitely electric and unlike any other Cheerleading event I had ever went too. The sportsmanship of other atheletes is unreal and everyone is very friendly. The thing that ruined this experience for me was the commercialisation of the event. It was definitely over commercialised in the sense that it was all about the merchandise they can sell with the ICU (International Cheer Union) logo on it and what brands they could promote while at the event.

I guess this is where disneyfication ties in. Just like Disney has been globalised and is basically taking over the world – you can literally get Disney anything – Cheerleading is trying to do the same thing. Within the World Championships you can buy everything from t-shirts to bags to badges and so on with the ICU logo on it. They also offer coaches and judges courses – very expensive I may add – at this event.

Overall, I understand Debord’s point in which he says a false reality has now become our reality. This is true as the Cheerleading world is completely different from the outside world. It is a time where people behave differently from the outside world but the same as the people in the Cheerleading world. Even though it is a false reality I do believe that peoples emotions are real. There is always new and exciting things happening and you just end up in your own bubble when at competition.

Event Design

Sporting events will not always go to plan, this is because the large audiences who participate/spectate can not be predicted. Goldblatt (1997) identifies events as “a unique moment in time celebrated with ceremony or ritual to satisfy specific needs.” People attend these events as they enjoy the atmosphere and want to watch their favorite team compete. However, a negative stigma can come of this if their team lose. Fans take it very personally when their teams lose and it affects their moods. Events are supposed to be a positive experience so the way the event is designed should help boost their experience no matter the outcome of their team.

The design set up of the World Cheerleading Championships is that athletes usually arrive in bus loads with their teams. In this particular event it is different countries competing against each other. The event takes place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports so all athletes have special ID cards to gain access to the venue. Spectators follow shortly behind with wristbands. Each persons bag is checked to ensure their is nothing dangerous inside. Inside spectators are allocated seats and so are athletes. Athletes site separate from spectators and only coaches are allowed back stage with athletes.

Cheerleading competitions are unpredictable as they might not run on time. Generally competition runs between 9am and 9pm however, if there are any injuries or any other incidents then this may go on for longer.

The atmosphere inside when teams are on is magnificent. The sportsmanship  is amazing and it gives you a buzz.

 

Globalisation

Globalisation is the name for a company/organisation who’s product or services have expanded world wide from locally (Finkell, 2017).  Globalisation has impacted nearly ever aspect of modern life (Kuepper, 2017). Before globalisation sports were only popular in the countries they were created in (Ramaswamy, 2009). For example, Cheerleading was originally started in America in 1898 and the first squad was all male. The sport grew gradually within the US – mainly high schools and colleges – and then by the 1980s nearly every school and college had a cheer team (Varisty, 2017). Ramaswamy states in his article that as time passed and globalisation mechanisms increased, the sports popularity increased. Sports will continue to grow due to the increased communication mechanisms in this century (Ramaswamy, 2009).

The Cheerleading brand Varisty are a great example of globalisation. Varsity started off in the US as a company who ran small competitions and sold uniforms to teams. Now Varsity are the leading brand in the world for Cheerleading. Not only do they offer competitions such as UCA and World Championships, they offer camps, sponsors, teaching opportunities and much more. Varsity have expanded and have also created Varsity Europe.

The Society of Spectacle: Guy Debord

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The spectacle can be considered a commodity in contemporary society because of its ubiquitous production and rigorous marketing’ (Debord, 1994). Debord wrote a book called The Scoitey of Spectacles which was published in 1967. In this book Debord (1967) states that “The spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society which ultimately expresses nothing more than its desire to sleep. The spectacle is the guardian of sleep.” This suggests that we are living in a false representation of society. Debord (1994) also suggests that “In our society now, we prefer to see ourselves living than living”. This is a powerful quote that shows our society in this day and age is more interested in materialistic things and showing it off in the media other than actually living in the moment. Just like at a Cheerleading competition, it is basically unheard of for Cheerleaders not to post at least one selfie on snapchat or instagram before competing. 

Instead of appreciating their team winning, athletes tend to take straight to social media sights to express their ‘happiness’ when in reality they are just trying to show off to their rivals. Again, there is nothing wrong with that but it shows that this society is reliant on technology in this day and age.

Commercialisation

Commercialisation is described as a way an organisation emphasise the profitable/financial aspects of something (Finkell, 2017). Cheerleading competitions used to be solely about teams for different states/countries competing against each other to win national tittles. The Cheerleading world now is all about commercialising the sport, which is not all bad. The more exposure Cheerleading gets there is a higher chance popular brands will want to sponsor the events. The leading brand called Varsity has expanded in size of the recent years having three separate brands within itself. Varsity’s mission is to ’empower young people by encouraging participation, recognising achievement and building community and school spirit (Varsity, 2017).

The brand within Varsity called Varsity Spirit are the team who run the Cheerleading events. These events include the World Championships in Florida run by the International Cheer Union, the UCA championships and many more. All these events are broadcasted world wide on ESPN.

References

A-Z Quotes. (2015). TOP 25 QUOTES BY GUY DEBORD | A-Z Quotes. [online] Available at: http://www.azquotes.com/author/3808-Guy_Debord [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017].

Finkell, R. (2017). Strategic Directions in the Experience Economy.

 Iep.utm.edu. (2017). Adorno, Theodor | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [online] Available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/adorno/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Popoloski, D. (2011). 10 Reasons Why Cheerleading Is a Sport. [online] Bleacher Report. Available at: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/613494-10-reasons-why-cheerleading-is-a-sport?comment_id=4610502 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (2017). sport | Definition of sport in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sport [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

 Ramaswamy, A. (2009). How Globalization Is Making Sports Better. [online] Bleacher Report. Available at: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/288357-how-globalization-is-making-sports-better [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

The Balance. (2017). Globalization and Its Impact on Economic Growth. [online] Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/globalization-and-its-impact-on-economic-growth-1978843 [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

Varsity Brands. (2017). About Varsity Brands – Leader in Sport, Spirit, and Student Achievement. [online] Available at: https://www.varsitybrands.com/about [Accessed 13 Nov2017].

Zlatkova, R. (2012). Guy Debord The Society of the Spectacle – notes and quotes that speak to me. [online] Rumena Zlatkova. Available at: https://rumenazlatkova.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/guy-debord-notes/ [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].

Images

Anon, (2017). [image] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1PRFE_enGB625GB625&biw=1366&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=6x8MWsvzK8H4aPusk9AE&q=globe&oq=globe&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i67k1l2j0j0i67k1l2j0l5.2207.2207.0.2527.1.1.0.0.0.0.153.153.0j1.1.0….0…1.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.149….0.9R2CE5B2mws#imgrc=yWNWHamVWmVtjM: [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].

Anon, (2017). [image] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1PRFE_enGB625GB625&biw=1366&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=IyAMWpqWEoLxau76huAM&q=cheerleading+cheer+extreme&oq=cheerleading+cheer+extreme&gs_l=psy-ab.3…14680.17725.0.17796.14.14.0.0.0.0.171.1431.0j12.12.0….0…1.1.64.psy-ab..2.6.781…0j0i67k1j0i30k1j0i24k1.0.yBEfQmcAAhs#imgrc=erSLg2XVBSmQyM: [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

 

 (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=international+cheer+union&rlz=1C1PRFE_enGB625GB625&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1-oqU-MDXAhXCiRoKHbdABFUQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=613#imgrc=P7m3xPP_HG9m7M:, 2017)