Cheerleading has come a long way since 1988!

Yesterday Kelsie and I went to a cheerleading competition in Raleigh to see Emily (a neighbor, the kids favorite babysitter and family friend) cheer.  

She’s been cheering/dancing/tumbling most of her life, so we knew she was pretty good.  Pretty good is putting it mildly.  Those cheer groups were INCREDIBLE!  But, they weren’t the cheer teams that I remember.  Yes, I’ve been out of cheerleading since 1988, so I’ve missed a couple things. 

1. There were NO cheers!  What happened to “A-W-E-S-O-M-E, AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME ARE WE”?!  I never heard the girls say a word.

2. Hello bellybuttons!  In my day the outfits were polyester, the skirts came down to our knees and we had to wear a turtleneck!  Today the outfits are covered in glitter, sequins and not much else.  Emily’s cheer team was the only team that didn’t have exposed stomachs.  They did NOT win the trophy for best uniform (yes, there is a trophy for that).  The hair accessories were outrageous, too.  The bows were bigger than most of the girls heads.  A simple ponytail or braid won’t do? And don’t get me started on the matching cheer uniforms for the American Girl Dolls.

3. Boy cheerleaders?  When I was cheering, the only boys at my games were on the playing field.  I was shocked to see all of the male cheerleaders.  I counted 12 on one team.  Those guys were AMAZING!  I came home and asked Dave if I could put Kyle into gymnastics.  Guess what his answer was.

4. The “music”… most of the noise was bass and voice-overs.  There were a few songs, one of which caught my attention… “Too much booty on da’ floor”… I’m sure the boys loved dancing to that.

5. The team names.  Shockers, Bombshells, Cheer Divas.  Again, I’m sure the boys loved to be referred to as a “Bombshell”.  What happened to the Blue Knights, Wildcats and Rams?

6. The “Cheer Parents”.  I think I was more exhausted watching the parents jump around than the cheerleaders on stage.   Most of them had buttons on with pictures of their cheerleader, team shirts and cowbells.  Yes, cowbells.  One mother even had a massive purple feather wig on.  That’s hardcore.  It was hard to talk to her while keeping a straight face. 

Whew… makes me glad Kelsie doesn’t want to be a cheerleader.  I don’t think I have it in me to be a “Cheer Mom”.