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Overview
College cheerleaders are extreme athletes who fly thirty feet in the air, build pyramids in which a single slip can send ten people crashing to the ground, and compete in National Championships that are won by hundredths of a point. Cheer! is a year-long odyssey into their universe, following three squads from tryouts to Nationals.
Meet the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack cheerleaders from Nacogdoches, Texas, who seem destined to win their fifth National Championship in a row -- until they are shaken by the departure of their longtime coach. Fall in love with the Southern University Jaguars from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an African-American team hoping to raise the $17,000 needed to travel to Nationals and transform their near win several years ago into a Cinderella victory. Root for the University of Memphis All-Girl cheerleaders from Tennessee -- a team that continually struggles for the same respect Coed teams get -- when their quest for a national title is threatened by injuries and dropouts.
Along the way, meet unforgettable characters like Sierra, a cheerleading prodigy who has never lost a competition; Doug, who is in his eighth year as a college cheerleader; and Casi, one of the few female bases who can lift another cheerleader on her own. These are people who risk horrifying injuries on a daily basis, battle demons like eating disorders and steroid use, and form intense bonds.
In the immersive tradition of Friday Night Lights, Cheer! is a captivating, all-access journey into a deeply absorbing world.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781416566007 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Gallery Books |
| Publication date: | 03/11/2008 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
The Yale of College Cheerleading
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Brad Patterson leans back in his chair. On the blue mat in front of him, more than 150 cheerleaders form an ocean of bodies as they practice. Brad crosses his arms over his chest, his baby face out of place on his bulky body. In his purple SFA polo shirt with sunglasses tucked into the open buttons, he appears laidback. But he's taking careful mental notes. It's the day before tryouts for the Stephen F. Austin cheerleading squad. As head coach, by the end of tomorrow, Brad will have to whittle the 150 people on the mat down to just thirty.
Stephen F. Austin State University is the Yale of college cheerleading. They've won their division, Cheer I at NCA Nationals, eight times. Just three weeks ago, they clinched a fourth set of championship rings in a row. In fact, the squad has won every year since it's been under Brad's direction.
SFA is located in Nacogdoches, Texas, a city that calls itself "The Oldest Town in Texas," although Brad tells me two other cities claim the same thing. As I made the two-hour drive from Houston, I passed logging truck after logging truck, making it obvious how the school chose the Lumberjack as their mascot. Nacogdoches is small — a main drag with the university on one side and strip malls on the other. A water tower looms above the town with the letters SFA emblazoned across it in huge purple letters.
Nacogdoches boasts only 30,000 people, but a third of them routinely show up at SFA football games. There's enough interest in cheerleading here to warrant two all-star gyms. But that shouldn't be surprising. After all, in Texas, football is often referred to as a religion, and cheerleaders are the high priests. As I watch the SFA hopefuls practice, Newton's theory of gravity seems broken — nearly every woman who goes up stays up. Still, Brad's lips are pursed. "This is one of my smaller tryouts," he says in a smooth Southern twang. "That's how it is the years we win — people get intimidated. In the years we don't win, they come crawling out of the woodwork."
Brad has recruited many of the people on the mat, scoping them out at competitions and swooping down to suggest that they try out. "At this point, I'm seriously looking at fifteen girls and twenty-five guys. But my mind can be changed during tryouts — it always is," he says.
Sierra Jenkins is no doubt one of Brad's top picks. Her über-blonde hair is piled on top of her head in a messy ponytail and a hello, my name is sticker is affixed to her black spandex shorts, dubbing her #48. She hails from Arlington, Texas, and has cheered since elementary school. In the fall, she'll be a junior, and she already wears two National Championship rings around her thin fingers. In fact, in the eight years she's competed at Nationals with school teams, she has never lost.
Sierra is used to being the best. As a college freshman, she headed to a top cheer college in Hawaii, where she established herself as a standout. But it wasn't the idyllic year of waterfall hikes and white sand beaches she'd imagined. "I was the biggest girl on the team. I thought I was fine, but my coaches were like, 'You gotta lose weight,'€…" says Sierra, a just-gargled-gravel roughness to her voice. "My first few weeks in college, all my dreams and aspirations went down the drain."
Sierra developed an eating disorder that brought her weight down to a scary ninety-five pounds. Still, she shone on the mat and was even made a captain. But midway through her sophomore year, Sierra realized she needed help. She headed home to Texas.
Back home, she enrolled in a junior college to keep in shape, and her flexibility and energy quickly made her the team's star. "I'm always trying to be like, 'Look at me. Look at me,'€…" she says. "My method is just to have more enthusiasm than everyone else. I want to see everyone's eyes going to me." Today, on the mat, Sierra does a Rewind. It's a move I first saw at last year's Nationals, when a cheerleader explained to me, "Every year, there's a move that's the move to try. This year, it's the One-Arm Rewind." The name makes complete sense once you see it — it looks like that old special effects trick where an editor plays the film backwards to make it look like someone is jumping up instead of down.
Sierra stands in front of her partner, her knees bent. His hands are placed on her lower back and she leans back on his wrists. She swings her arms and flips backwards as he grunts and pushes up, like a track and fielder throwing a shot put ball.
Sierra flexes her feet sharply in the air, uncurling her body into a straight line. There's a loud smack as her feet land in her partner's open palm. Her big, brown eyes widen as she smiles. Her brows swoop in thin arches more fitting to a silent movie star.
Along the walls of the women's basketball gymnasium where tryout practice is being held, a mural is painted of women dribbling basketballs. Bleachers run around the perimeter of the room, where a few parents sit, nervously biting their fingernails. Brad admits that parents can be uppity about tryouts. "I'll get phone calls from moms who have kids in the seventh grade. They'll ask, 'What would she need to do to make SFA?' I say, 'Call me in five years,'€…" he jokes with a dry delivery.
There is no official agenda for today's practice — the cheerleaders are free to rehearse anything they want in preparation for tomorrow. Brad has asked that the cheerleaders find someone new to try out with, rather than auditioning with a regular partner. All day, guys and girls have walked up to each other asking, "Will you stunt with me?" like they're at a middle school dance. By the end of the day, they need to map out the three stunts they'll perform at tryouts.
Most of the cheerleaders in the room are hedging the uncertainty by choosing a partner from last year's SFA team. "Returners spots are not guaranteed," says Brad. "But it's rare that I won't take someone back. I pull kids from all over the country, so if someone uprooted their life and moved here, I'm not gonna replace them with someone who's just a little bit better."
Yvette Quiñones runs up to the table where Brad sits. Her soft belly pokes forward like a little girl unaware that she's supposed to suck in. She is one of the smallest women I've ever seen — 4'11" and ninety pounds, a stature she attributes to her Mexican heritage. Her pin-straight hair falls over her rounded cheeks.
Even though she looks young, Yvette will be a senior at SFA. She's one of the few returning flyers from last year's team, and she's already agreed to stunt with four guys at tryouts tomorrow. "I better make captain for this," she jokes, as yet another guy asks to be her partner.
The men flock to Yvette because of her bubbly demeanor and because they assume her small stature will make stunting a breeze. But Yvette knows that isn't always true. "Sometimes guys overtoss me since I'm so light. They can't control it," she explains. "So if it's not working out, I'll tell them, 'I know the perfect girl for you,' and introduce them to someone else."
Yvette strolls back to the mat, and Brad's phone rings for the hundredth time today. "There's a girl on the way now who had to take the SAT this morning," he says. "According to her mom, she's God's gift to cheerleading."
Like academic scholars, cheerleaders have specialties. Men can be stunters or tumblers — a precious few do both well. Occasionally, a woman on a Coed team will be a tumbler, but more often they are flyers. Some flyers are fantastic all-around, while others concentrate on partner stunting, basket tosses, or pyramids. To decide who makes a team, coaches will often factor in what specialties they are currently lacking.
Looking around the room, I see lots of shirts for Navarro College, Trinity Valley Community College, and Kilgore College — three junior colleges located within a few hours' drive of Nacogdoches. These teams have become a minor league feeder system for the Lumberjacks; most team members come to SFA after cheering at a junior college for two years. Because cheerleaders generally start at SFA as juniors, many of them stay on extra years. It's not uncommon to talk to an SFA cheerleader who's in his or her fifth or sixth year as an undergraduate — some even enroll in grad school primarily to cheer. The scholarship means there's no financial burden to staying in school.
"It took me four years after community college because I couldn't pick a major," says Trisha O'Connor, the squad's assistant coach, a quiet woman in her twenties with long, reddish hair. She insists on calling me ma'am even though I am only two years older than her.
Trisha glances at Doug Daigle, whose shaved head and bulging muscles make him look like Mr. Clean squashed down to 5'10". This will be Doug's eighth year in college cheerleading. "I graduated in 2003 and started a career as an insurance agent," he explains. "I was making good money, but I didn't feel prepared for the real world. So I quit my job, applied to grad school at SFA, and came back. Brad was once my captain — now he's my coach."
"Doug's old as dirt," says Brad, shaking his head.
On the mat, Samantha Frazer talks to her partner from the air. Her eyes are lined in kohl, like a Texas Cleopatra, and everything about her is long, from her arms, to her legs, to her narrow face and its steep nose. "Pick it up, pick it up," Samantha commands as her arm bends. With the determination of an Olympic lifter, he powers her back in the air. "Yay," she says as she lifts her chin and smiles.
When Samantha started two years ago at a junior college, she was only a mediocre stunter. Then she saw SFA for the first time. "I was like, 'What are they on?'€…" she remembers. "They were purebred cheerleaders." Samantha was inspired to join a recreational team with some of them and worked her butt off for the next year and a half to reach their skill level.
Making the SFA squad would be a dream come true for Samantha. The same goes for her boyfriend, Hunter, a petite tumbler with light brown stubble. Both of them are trying out, and they're praying that they both make it so they can move to Nacogdoches together.
"Drop!" bellows Brad, all of a sudden.
On the mat, a girl has fallen straight to the ground, none of the guys having reached her in time to break her fall. All the men stop what they're doing and plunge to the ground for fifty push-ups while the girl slowly stands up and walks it off.
"She's picking mat out of her teeth," someone jokes.
But Brad takes this seriously — hence the push-up punishment. The number-one rule of cheerleading for men is simple: don't let your girl hit the ground.
Practice ends an hour later. The cheerleaders gather around Brad, and he briefs them on what to expect for tomorrow. "We've got good, strong guys," he says as the hopefuls head out the door. "But we need good flyers — I'm losing three of the best in the country."
Almost on cue, Sierra runs back into the gym. Brad's eyes follow her as she picks up a bag and rushes back out the door. "I like her more every day," says Brad.
"That's a Law of Gravity I Just Don't Understand."
I've never felt so tall. At 5'4", I'm used to being one of the shorter people in any given room. But as I stand at the corner of the mat surrounded by women stretching in the minutes before tryouts, I tower over them. Even the ones who appeared tall from afar, like Samantha, still only reach my nose.
Brad and his wife stroll through the gymnasium holding hands. His wife is half his size, a former college cheerleader herself, with a stylish bob and a balloon for a stomach. She's six months pregnant. Michael Preston, SFA's Director of Student Life and Brad's boss, walks behind them. "This is the worst day for me," he says. "There's all these kids and I don't know their abilities and they're trying all this stuff. I just hope they signed the waiver forms."
Brad, assistant coach Trisha, Michael, and I take seats at the judging table that faces the mat. Trisha neatly arranges stacks of information sheets and judging scorecards, all of which she's printed with matching Lumberjack logos in the corner. "Five minutes until we start," yells Brad, cupping his hands to his mouth.
The women strip off their sweatpants and T-shirts and stand in skimpy sports bras and shorts that barely cover their butt cheeks. A few of them shiver — the air-conditioning is on full blast.
"Everyone move to the right of the mat," says Brad, as all the hopefuls obey. Some of them sit calmly, while others squeeze in a last-minute stunt. Brad begins calling names, the contenders heading to the mat in groups of three in the order of the numbers scrawled on their nametags.
Samantha is one of the first to be summoned. She stands up and claps as she walks to the mat, getting out her nervous energy.
For their tryout, each cheerleader must show Brad three things — their best running tumbling pass, the tumbling they can do from standing, and, finally, the three partner stunts that best show off their skills. For her running tumbling, Samantha will attempt a Full — the Holy Grail of college cheerleading, where a cheerleader flips and twists for one full rotation in the air before landing. Samantha looks pumped as she runs, and her body whips perfectly into the air. But she stumbles to her knees as she lands. "Oh, man," she says, throwing a fist toward the ground. Brad allows everyone one do-over on each move. She runs again. Handspring, handspring, Full. She lurches forward, her knees dropping to the mat again. It's not the way you want to start a tryout, but Samantha plays it off, turning to the others and pointing her index toward the ceiling.
Samantha is focused on redeeming herself in the partner stunts. But as she and her partner attempt a Rewind, he can't catch her feet. She falls like a defective Weeble. "Ugh," groans Samantha. They move on to a new stunt, and finally they nail it. Samantha kicks her left leg up in a move called a Heel Stretch. Her eyes are focused, unwavering from a point behind me on the wall. She hops down and bows.
Samantha's last stunt has a modest name: the Awesome. Her partner tosses her, catching both of her feet in one palm. Samantha's stomach muscles quiver as she holds the position for several seconds before hopping down. Samantha takes a seat, her thin lips in a straight line. "I tried out between two other girls — I'm 100 pounds and they're like eighty-five," she says. "Plus I didn't land a single tumbling pass. There's no way I made it." She sighs deeply.
The next group called to the mat is all men. "It's a sausagefest," someone behind me yells. As the guys get into place for their partner stunts, Yvette skips onto the mat, standing in front of guy #1. He throws her in the air like a juggler tossing pins. As she does a trick, Yvette blows kisses to the judging table. She hops down and high-fives her partner.
She moves over to the next guy in line — she'll be stunting with him as well. All in all, Yvette will stunt with five different guys today, her face glowing each time she's up in the air.
We're halfway through tryouts. Everyone is amazing, but it's hard not to feel jaded watching people do the same things over and over again. And then Sierra walks onto the mat.
As she stands before us, it's striking how much darker her tanned skin is than her bleached ponytail. She runs and turns a flawless Full. For her standing tumbling, she looks straight at the judging table and shuffles backwards, bending back toward the ground and flipping over before launching into another Full.
"That's a law of gravity I just don't understand," says Brad as the rest of the cheerleaders clap. "I need more girls with Fulls."
Sierra pauses, her chest heaving as a partner steps behind her.
"Well, are you gonna go?" asks Brad.
"Not yet, my legs hurt too bad," she says.
Brad looks impatient as she takes another minute before flying into a Rewind. As she stands up in midair, she pulls her leg to the point where it appears to bend backwards. Her eyes bug out as she molds her mouth into an O. From here, Sierra does a Double Down, the hardest dismount in cheerleading, where a flyer whips her legs together from whatever position she's in and spins twice like a log rolling in water. Sierra makes it look easy. Whispers arise from around the room.
Sierra gets ready for her next stunt, a Full Up, where a flyer rotates once as her partner throws her into place over his head. As her sneakers land in her partner's hands, Sierra turns to the side and brings her right leg behind her, grabbing her foot over her head in a move called a Scorpion. Her body flattens like a pancake as she pulls her foot higher. I'm prepared for her hip to pop out of its socket at any moment. She sticks out her tongue and Doubles Down.
"That's skills," says Brad quietly as Sierra walks off the mat and sits down, an ear-to-ear grin on her face.
Tryouts are done and a different mood settles over the gym. Nervousness has been replaced by anticipation. "Everyone listen up," yells Brad. "Good job. In two hours, the list will be posted on that bulletin board over there." He points to the corner of the gym at a board with scalloped borders. "If you don't make it, there are coaches from Trinity Valley, Navarro, and Kilgore here if you would like to talk to them."
Everyone starts talking all at once. "Listen up," bellows Sierra in her Southern rasp.
"Go get some food and come back then," says Brad.
"It's Like She's in an Antigravity Room."
I feel like I'm privy to a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as I sit in a conference room with Brad, Trisha, three community college coaches, and several SFA cheer alumni who make a point of coming to practices. They act as advisors for the program, and Brad wants their opinions on who should make the squad. The twelve of us sit in cushy black executive chairs, the corporate glamour hindered only by the chalkboards and two-way mirror that takes up one whole wall. One of the alums lays his hand on the table, four fingers sparkling with championship rings. Each one has a different pattern. My favorite has an axe shape beveled on a faux ruby.
The first order of business is to look at videos. Since many cheerleaders can't make the trek to tryouts, they send in a video audition and hope Brad will be dazzled. As the group watches one sent in by a female tumbler, I hear rounds of "Wow," "That's beautiful," "She tumbles like a guy," and "Holy shit."
"It's like she's in an antigravity room," says Brad.
"Sierra is not going to like her — she's used to being the star," someone notes.
"I should also say that she's trying out at Louisville," says Brad.
"Oh, Louisville will take her," moans one of the alumni women.
If SFA is the Yale of college cheerleading, then the University of Louisville is Harvard. In the NCA's Cheer IA division, Louisville is also after their fifth straight title this year. At Nationals, there are many divisions — Cheer IA, Cheer I, Cheer II, All-Girl I, All-Girl II, Small Coed I, Small Coed II, and Junior Colleges. A National Champion will be named in each.
But even though Louisville is Cheer IA and SFA is Cheer I, the two are rivals. At NCA Nationals there is a Grand National Champion — the team that scores the highest in the competition out of all the divisions. Louisville has been the Grand National Champion four years running. SFA hasn't won since 2000. Still, as Brad told me earlier, Division 1A teams are not better by virtue. "The division you're in is based on how many people attend football games — it doesn't have anything to do with the cheerleaders," he explained. "We can beat everyone, we've done it before."
Brad's interested in two more of the video tryouts. "She's ultra-skinny, which worries me," says Brad, as a girl with limbs the size of pencils stunts on the screen. "But tiny helps, just in the way that big helps when you're playing football." He also likes a tape from a partner pair from Georgia. The rest of the tapes he disperses to the junior college coaches like trading cards.
They move on to the nitty-gritty of judging the cheerleaders from tryouts. "Right now, I'm looking at twenty girls and sixteen guys, but I can only take thirty total," says Brad, blue eyes glued to his list. "I usually take twenty-seven, but I want a few extra because I always lose a few to grades. I'm not dragging ditches again this year." Because the university has stiff academic standards, last summer Brad had several cheerleaders who made the team but did not get admitted to the school itself.
Since there are fewer guys to debate, Brad reads out the names of the definites in his mind as a junior college coach scrawls the names on a chalkboard. "You're taking him?" someone asks, as Brad names a tumbler whose GPA was so abysmal last year that he lost his scholarship and had to leave school.
"I'm willing to take a gamble on him," says Brad.
"Can you just have him take an easy schedule?" someone asks.
"If he took underwater basket weaving and sticking his finger up his butt, he still wouldn't show up for class," says Brad, shaking his head. "But he shows up to practice."
In the end, there is one extra name on the list of guys. They debate for a few minutes who to cut and in the end make a surprise decision. Brad axes a current squad member who's been slacking lately. "He'll be mad, but he didn't show up today," says Brad. "He's a no." With that, the men are settled.
The group moves on to discussing the women. Brad takes a minute to look over his list. "We've got six returners. They're all definites," he says, calling Yvette's name along with the others. "And those three from the videos are definites." All nine names are written on the chalkboard.
"I would take Sierra over anyone," says one of the junior college coaches.
"Oh, I'm taking Sierra," says Brad, agreeing. The junior college coach etches her name in bubbly letters at the top of the list.
They've barely mentioned a quarter of the women at tryouts, and already there are twelve names on the board. Brad looks at his score sheets, crossing off the absolute nos. "So there's four women left, but I only have one more spot," says Brad. He reads the four names in the running for the last spot. Samantha is one of them.
Brad rubs his eyes. "What do you think of her?" he asks, referring to a tiny blonde.
"She's got legs like a thoroughbred," snips one of the guys. No one flinches, but it's amazing to me that someone would say this in a room packed with women.
"I like Marly," says someone else. "Her tumbling is better, and she's beautiful in the air."
"I like Samantha," one of the alumni finally says.
"But she's a headcase about her Full," says Brad. "She just can't do it."
Samantha's junior college coach rushes to her defense. "She'll work on it, she'll get it," she says.
Someone at the table has a suggestion. "If you took all four of them, that would only put you at thirty-three people."
Brad shakes his head. "We have twenty-seven full scholarships, so if I take thirty and a few leave, that's perfect," says Brad. Since at Nationals, only twenty people will perform, if Brad takes too many people now, not only will he be over budget but he could also have a morale problem if a third of the squad members are alternates.
"I need to talk to Michael Preston and see if I can take more people," says Brad. Someone passes him his cell, and he dials his boss's number. "Pick up your phone," says Brad. But there's no answer.
Brad stares at the chalkboard and shakes his head. "We gotta cut some people." "Can some of these girls be alternates?" someone suggests.
"I don't like alternates," says Brad. "I want everyone to be on equal footing, I want everyone to have a scholarship." His scholarship philosophy is unusual — in most sports, coaches don't hesitate to give uneven scholarships based on talent, seniority, and NCAA allotment.
"Some will feel lucky just to make it," nudges a junior college coach. "Maybe give two people a half scholarship? Is anyone rich and won't mind?"
"None of these kids should have to pay to cheer," says Brad. "I'm at a standstill. I don't know what to do."
I glance at my watch — the list was supposed to be posted half an hour ago.
"Take more and hope a few don't show up," someone says.
"But if they all show up, I'm jacked," says Brad. "I've gotta cut someone. Samantha has to be cut."
"I don't understand. Why take those two girls from the videos over Samantha?" asks a former SFA cheerleader, her mouth agape. "Samantha can do those same stunts."
"An itty-bitty girl can just do more. Samantha's tall," says Brad. "It's physics."
"Samantha's like 5'1"," says the alumna, reading my mind. "Look, she can't be an elite stunter. Whoever gets her for a partner will pout," says Brad. "My partner in college was taller and I didn't mind, but a lot of people don't stunt well with a tall girl. I'm just not that impressed with Samantha. She's gotta be cut."
"She works hard, and she's really developing," her junior college coach protests.
Brad looks at his list. "Shit." He buries his head in his hands. "We gotta get the team posted ASAP. If I post thirty-three names, Michael Preston is gonna have a heart attack," he says. "I've gotta come up with a plan." The room goes silent, glances shooting across the table. Finally Brad picks up his phone and calls Michael Preston again. This time, he leaves a message. "Remember how I told you I'm gonna take extra cheerleaders this year so we don't have the same situation as last year? Well, I'm gonna take eight extras," he says. Everyone in the room laughs. "We'll probably lose a lot, but if not, then I know I'll have additional fund-raising to do." He hangs up the phone and wipes a bead of sweat off his brow. "Someone come write this list." "You're Exploding My Budget."
By the time the list goes up, it's an hour and a half later than Brad had promised. Some of the SFA hopefuls have waited in the bleachers with baited breath, while others have left and come back bearing McDonald's bags. Cheerleaders are not a carrot-stick-and-grilled-chicken-breast kind of crowd.
A stocky alumni cheerleader walks in, holding a sheet of paper. On it are the names of the thirty-three people who will be SFA Lumberjack cheerleaders. All eyes turn to him as he strolls with an air of circumstance. He loosens a pushpin from the bulletin board and secures the list in place.
The cheerleaders surge forward and crane their necks to get a look. Sierra's bleached ponytail is visible at the front of the pack — she quickly finds her name and walks away, a sly grin on her face. Yvette is a few steps behind her and nods as she sees her name at the top. As the others check the list, there are no big, dramatic reactions — no screams of joy or tears of sorrow. I have a feeling they could tell when they walked off the mat whether they made the team. They've had the past few hours to process their fate.
Samantha walks into the auditorium, her fingers interlocked with her boyfriend's. They edge their way to the front of the pack. Samantha uses her index finger to scan the list. At the bottom of the final column is the name she least expected to see: Samantha Frazer. She jumps up and down, clueless to the fact that a half hour of debate went into the decision to give her a chance. She grasps her boyfriend in a hug. He congratulates her, but his face remains stern. His name is not on the list — he'll have to settle for SFA's less prestigious Small Coed squad. (Many colleges have multiple squads — again, it largely depends on what the coach and school want.)
"When I saw my name, I almost had a heart attack, but at the same time, I saw that he didn't make it," says Samantha, walking away. "I'm a big ball of emotions right now."
Fifteen minutes later the new team meets in a classroom across campus. Plastic chairs have been lined up in exact rows, but as people file in, they pull them into clusters with their friends. People hug and congratulate each other. Brad walks in, folder in hand. Everyone gets quiet. "Congratulations. You just made the team that is probably the best in the country right now." "Go Jacks!" screams Yvette in a high pitch.
Brad passes around a packet to each cheerleader. "This is our contract. Our mission is to set the cheer standard for around the country and to be exemplary ambassadors for the school. You must maintain a 2.0 GPA. You must be available for events over the holidays, even winter break. You will have no spring break — that's when we'll be getting everything in line for Nationals," he says, barely looking up.
"Your scholarship will be forfeited if you break the college's drug or alcohol policies," he continues. "Do not do anything in uniform that would be deemed inappropriate — that includes drinking, smoking, and stealing from gas stations." Two guys exchange a glance and crack up. I'm guessing there's a backstory.
"Just don't do stupid stuff," he says. "I'm not your father, I can't tell you what to do, but if you get in trouble, there will be repercussions." Samantha leans back in her chair, using her knee as a desk to sign her contract. Sierra is perched on the edge of her seat. People stand up and walk toward Brad to hand him their signed contracts. Many of the women have light bruises in the shape of fingerprints on their waists.
Michael Preston walks in the room. Without saying a word, Brad follows him into the hall. All I can hear as they walk away is, "Are you crazy? You're exploding my budget." The cheerleaders don't seem to notice — they continue gabbing. Michael and Brad return a few minutes later. "From here on out, you guys are Stephen F. Austin cheerleaders," says Michael Preston. "We try to keep it fun around here — that's why we're so good. We just won four National Championships in a row. There's already pressure for the fifth. This year, I wanna score higher than Louisville. I want that Grand National Champion trophy."
"S! F! A!" chants Yvette, the new squad members following her lead. "S! F! A!"
The team forms a circle in the middle of the room, and Brad explains a team cheer. "Put your axes up," he says, sticking out his arm, his thumb holding the pinky and ring finger down. They yell together, "Ohhh .€….€….€…Jack, Jack, Jack, L-C-L-M, '07 National Champs," pounding their axes toward the ceiling.
Copyright © 2008 by Kate Torgovnick
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Introduction
PART ONE: TRYOUTS
Chapter 1: The Yale of College Cheerleading -- The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Chapter 2: Both Teams in Bring It On Rolled into One -- The Southern University Jaguars
Chapter 3: The Superwomen -- The University of Memphis All-Girl Tigers
PART TWO: SPIRIT CAMPS
Chapter 4: "Have a Hell of a Good Time."
Chapter 5: "When a Coach Leaves, a Program Either Drops Off or Goes to a Whole New Level."
Chapter 6: "Coach Will Go Crazy If We Win That Award."
PART THREE: FOOTBALL SEASON
Chapter 7: "Hey, Mom, I'm on ESPN."
Chapter 8: "That Was the Most Fun I've Ever Had at a Game."
Chapter 9: "I Was Addicted to the Attention, Not the Cocaine."
Chapter 10: "I Know We Cheered Our Hearts Out, 'Cause My Voice Is Hoarse."
PART FOUR: BID VIDEOS
Chapter 11: "They Need a Little Cussing Out Sometimes, Bless Their Hearts."
Chapter 12: "Pretend Like It's Nationals Every Time."
Chapter 13: "Agendas Are Pulling Them in Different Directions."
PART FIVE: NATIONALS
Chapter 14: "Practices Have Been Scary Lately."
Chapter 15: "He Can Do Rewinds with a Horse."
Chapter 16: "I'm Shit- My- Pants Nervous."
Chapter 17: "It's Like Race Car Driving -- There's Always a Chance Something Could Go Wrong."
Chapter 18: "That Dream Slowly Melted Away."
Chapter 19: "That Pyramid Should Be Called the Wall of Death."
The Cheerleader's Dictionary
Acknowledgments
Reading Group Guide
Kate Torgovnick would be thrilled if your group would consider reading Cheer! Below are discussion questions to jump start a lively conversation. Kate is also available to talk to your group -- in person if you are in New York, or via phone if you live elsewhere. Email her at cheerbook@gmail.com if you are interested. Enjoy!
Part One: Tryouts
1. Cheerleading is one of the only sports where men and women compete together. Yet when asked about dating teammates, James Turner, captain of the Southern University cheer squad says, "The girls on the squad are like my younger sisters. People always ask 'Are you holla-ing at 'em?' But I don't even look at them that way." (p. 30) How do gender dynamics seem to play out on college cheerleading squads? Does dating a teammate have the same implications as dating a coworker? How could team romances effect the squad's overall chemistry? How do the cheerleaders in the book navigate this minefield?
2. In Cheer!, Torgovnick gives many reasons why, in the cheerleading world, All-Girl teams are seen as secondary to coed teams -- including that All-Girl teams are associated with high school, and that All-Girl squads typically cheer for less-attended sports like women's basketball and volleyball. Why do you think this hierarchy has developed? The University of Memphis All-Girl Tigers say that one of their objectives in creating new moves and trying coed stunts is to get All-Girl cheerleading the respect it deserves. Is this a feminist undertaking?
3. During the tryouts at Stephen F. Austin University, Samantha -- who is listed at 5'1" -- is nearly cut on account of her being "too tall." Do flyers need to be tiny, tiny, tiny to be good cheerleaders? What kinds of pressure do you think this puts on the women? Is this different than the fact that top football players are 250-300 lbs and that many basketball players are close to (if not over) 7 feet?
4. While observing the Memphis tryouts, Torgovnick notes that of all the criteria the judges consider, "look" carries the greatest amount of weight. Discuss cheerleading's emphasis on appearance. Is it a necessary evil and/or an inherent part of the sport? Is cheerleading capable of shaking this infatuation? Should it? What are some other subcultures that place such a high value on looking good?
Part Two: Spirit Camp
5. When discussing the differences between male and female coaches, Sierra says, "Honestly, I was kind of worried about coming to SFA and having a guy coach." What factors contributed to her making this statement? Consider the case of Trisha replacing Brad. How significant is the sex of a coach in the world of cheerleading?
6. Safety is a primary concern of counselors at spirit camp, but ruminate on this statement made by an announcer at the UCA camp Memphis attended: "Right now cheerleading attracts athletic people. Y'all are good-looking, all-American people. If they decide to ground you, they won't see the effects for five years...Remember, a girl goes down and cheerleading will change." How do cheerleading's governing bodies approach the sport's built-in safety hazards? Do safety restrictions limit the sport? How do cheerleaders seem to interpret the risks inherent in their sport? Are they cavalier about the danger, or is their risk-taking admirable?
7. Southern University's status as one of the premier historically black college cheerleading teams is both a blessing and a curse. They routinely lack the necessary funds and numbers to compete with the better-funded, traditional powerhouses. At the same time, every time the team performs, Torgovnick notes, everybody stops what they're doing to "watch them intently." Why is competitive cheerleading so expensive? Should schools provide bigger budgets to cheerleading teams? And should attendance at Nationals require large sums of money?
8. Speaking candidly about steroid use in the sport, one cheerleader at camp says, "If they started drug testing...hoo boy! All those guys -- Louisville, Kentucky, SFA." If steroid use is as prevalent as he says, why don't the major cheer organizations police it? Or should this responsibility fall on individual schools and coaches? How would open discussion about steroids change the cheerleading world? Why do you think athletes go to these extremes?
Part Three: Football Season
9. Upon winning the intramural football championship at the University of Memphis, one member of the cheerleading team says, "This takes away every doubt people have that cheerleaders are athletes." This theme, cheerleaders reaffirming their status as athletes, recurs throughout Torgovnick's narrative. Do college cheerleaders seem to have an inferiority complex? Why do you think people tend to view cheerleading as just pom-poms, hair ribbons, and rhyming chants? Why is the common understanding of cheerleading so different from the reality?
10. Throughout SFA's chapters in Cheer!, the letters LCLM come up over and over again. Why do the Lumberjack cheerleaders guard the meaning so vigorously? Consider the role these letters play in building a collective identity for a squad like SFA, where team members are recruited from across the country, versus at schools like Southern and Memphis, where cheerleaders tend to be local talent drawn to cheer for their love of the school.
11. Regarding friendships with non-cheerleaders, Torgovnick quotes Sierra, "It's boring to me to talk to normal people." Is this sentiment consistent throughout all of the teams Torgovnick analyzes, or is it unique to SFA? How would you imagine "normal people" perceive the cheerleaders on campus? Consider what the Memphis cheerleaders' have to say about preferring to date other athletes. Would they fit Sierra's definition of normal?
12. In Chapter 9, Torgovnick tells the story of Mary, who started using cocaine as a way to stay skinny for cheerleading. Discuss Mary's story. Ultimately, who is responsible for her spiraling out of control? Should coaches and advisors be expected to supervise and stop this sort of behavior? Can they? Considering all the body image pressures on cheerleading, how can coaches, schools, and the major cheerleading organizations make sure that cheerleaders don't go to hazardous extremes -- like developing eating disorders or using hard drugs -- to keep their weight down?
13. Discussing Southern's failure to secure a paid bid to Nationals, one squad member says, "The system is not designed to entice a struggling historically black college team." Later, Coach James hypothesizes that "Talent is not the question, it's just the finances." Based on what your reading, are these statements accurate? Analyze the racial undertones of Torgovnick's book. What role, if any, does race play in the world of competitive collegiate cheerleading?
Part Four: Bid Videos
14. Before devoting an afternoon to community service at a retirement home, Casi mentions she might lose her job on account of missing so much work for cheer practice. Later, Kristen mentions missing a friend's wedding for a cheerleading commitment. Cheerleading, it seems, always takes precedence over the rest of a cheerleader's life. What other examples of this did you find in the book? In your opinion, do the benefits outweigh the sacrifices?
15. Even with safety training and precautions, injuries remain a constant part of cheerleading. One Memphis cheerleader quoted in the book almost seems proud of the sport's dangerous nature, because as Torgovnick points out, doing so "somehow legitimizes her hard work." Yet despite the obvious risks and frequent injuries, few cheerleading teams have their own athletic trainers to deal with medical concerns. What would it take for this to change?
16. Compare the rapport between stunt partners Tyrone and Samantha with that of James Brown and Sierra. What are some of the major differences between how they treat each other, and how they approach the sport? If you could partner with any of these athletes, who would it be, and why?
17. At the conclusion of section four, we learn Southern will not produce a bid video, essentially forgoing Nationals. The decision comes after several members leave the squad to focus on non-cheerleading activities. One of them, Tiffany Jones, says, "It's a hard decision, but what I came here for was an education." Compare this sentiment to those of the SFA or Memphis cheerleaders. Can you imagine people on those squads making this statement?
Part Five: Nationals
18. Going into Nationals, Kern was Memphis' savior. After the team's disappointing performance, though, she was sobbing alone, avoiding her teammates. Discuss Kern's swift fall from hero to zero. Can one person deserve responsibility for a failed routine? Consider the way her teammates treat her in response to her mistakes. Is their behavior justified?
19. How would you have reacted in Chapter 17, when Sierra falls during a basket toss and is rushed to the hospital? How does this injury effect the team? And what do you think of her drive to come back?
20. Talk about all of the obstacles faced by the Southern Jaguars, from the start of the season to the anticlimactic finale at the New Orleans Convention Center. Put yourself in their shoes. Considering all of the turmoil faced throughout the season, how/why do you think they never gave up? How does their experience at a relatively insignificant competition compare to those of the book's other teams who were able to compete at Nationals?
21. With the conclusion of each team's season, several members seem set on retiring early from the sport, even if they are not graduating. Torgovnick isn't entirely convinced. Why do you think so many cheerleaders feel this way at the end of the season? And why doesn't the author buy it? If you had to guess, which of these cheerleaders do you think came back for the 2007-2008 season? (Email Kate at cheerbook@gmail.com to find out the answer.)
Introduction
Kate Torgovnick would be thrilled if your group would consider reading Cheer! Below are discussion questions to jump start a lively conversation. Kate is also available to talk to your group — in person if you are in New York, or via phone if you live elsewhere. Email her at cheerbook@gmail.com if you are interested. Enjoy!
Part One: Tryouts
1. Cheerleading is one of the only sports where men and women compete together. Yet when asked about dating teammates, James Turner, captain of the Southern University cheer squad says, "The girls on the squad are like my younger sisters. People always ask 'Are you holla-ing at 'em?' But I don't even look at them that way." (p. 30) How do gender dynamics seem to play out on college cheerleading squads? Does dating a teammate have the same implications as dating a coworker? How could team romances effect the squad's overall chemistry? How do the cheerleaders in the book navigate this minefield?
2. In Cheer!, Torgovnick gives many reasons why, in the cheerleading world, All-Girl teams are seen as secondary to coed teams — including that All-Girl teams are associated with high school, and that All-Girl squads typically cheer for less-attended sports like women's basketball and volleyball. Why do you think this hierarchy has developed? The University of Memphis All-Girl Tigers say that one of their objectives in creating new moves and trying coed stunts is to get All-Girl cheerleading the respect it deserves. Is this a feminist undertaking?
3. During the tryouts at Stephen F. Austin University, Samantha — who is listed at 5'1" — is nearly cut on account of her being "too tall." Do flyers need tobe tiny, tiny, tiny to be good cheerleaders? What kinds of pressure do you think this puts on the women? Is this different than the fact that top football players are 250-300 lbs and that many basketball players are close to (if not over) 7 feet?
4. While observing the Memphis tryouts, Torgovnick notes that of all the criteria the judges consider, "look" carries the greatest amount of weight. Discuss cheerleading's emphasis on appearance. Is it a necessary evil and/or an inherent part of the sport? Is cheerleading capable of shaking this infatuation? Should it? What are some other subcultures that place such a high value on looking good?
Part Two: Spirit Camp
5. When discussing the differences between male and female coaches, Sierra says, "Honestly, I was kind of worried about coming to SFA and having a guy coach." What factors contributed to her making this statement? Consider the case of Trisha replacing Brad. How significant is the sex of a coach in the world of cheerleading?
6. Safety is a primary concern of counselors at spirit camp, but ruminate on this statement made by an announcer at the UCA camp Memphis attended: "Right now cheerleading attracts athletic people. Y'all are good-looking, all-American people. If they decide to ground you, they won't see the effects for five years...Remember, a girl goes down and cheerleading will change." How do cheerleading's governing bodies approach the sport's built-in safety hazards? Do safety restrictions limit the sport? How do cheerleaders seem to interpret the risks inherent in their sport? Are they cavalier about the danger, or is their risk-taking admirable?
7. Southern University's status as one of the premier historically black college cheerleading teams is both a blessing and a curse. They routinely lack the necessary funds and numbers to compete with the better-funded, traditional powerhouses. At the same time, every time the team performs, Torgovnick notes, everybody stops what they're doing to "watch them intently." Why is competitive cheerleading so expensive? Should schools provide bigger budgets to cheerleading teams? And should attendance at Nationals require large sums of money?
8. Speaking candidly about steroid use in the sport, one cheerleader at camp says, "If they started drug testing...hoo boy! All those guys — Louisville, Kentucky, SFA." If steroid use is as prevalent as he says, why don't the major cheer organizations police it? Or should this responsibility fall on individual schools and coaches? How would open discussion about steroids change the cheerleading world? Why do you think athletes go to these extremes?
Part Three: Football Season
9. Upon winning the intramural football championship at the University of Memphis, one member of the cheerleading team says, "This takes away every doubt people have that cheerleaders are athletes." This theme, cheerleaders reaffirming their status as athletes, recurs throughout Torgovnick's narrative. Do college cheerleaders seem to have an inferiority complex? Why do you think people tend to view cheerleading as just pom-poms, hair ribbons, and rhyming chants? Why is the common understanding of cheerleading so different from the reality?
10. Throughout SFA's chapters in Cheer!, the letters LCLM come up over and over again. Why do the Lumberjack cheerleaders guard the meaning so vigorously? Consider the role these letters play in building a collective identity for a squad like SFA, where team members are recruited from across the country, versus at schools like Southern and Memphis, where cheerleaders tend to be local talent drawn to cheer for their love of the school.
11. Regarding friendships with non-cheerleaders, Torgovnick quotes Sierra, "It's boring to me to talk to normal people." Is this sentiment consistent throughout all of the teams Torgovnick analyzes, or is it unique to SFA? How would you imagine "normal people" perceive the cheerleaders on campus? Consider what the Memphis cheerleaders' have to say about preferring to date other athletes. Would they fit Sierra's definition of normal?
12. In Chapter 9, Torgovnick tells the story of Mary, who started using cocaine as a way to stay skinny for cheerleading. Discuss Mary's story. Ultimately, who is responsible for her spiraling out of control? Should coaches and advisors be expected to supervise and stop this sort of behavior? Can they? Considering all the body image pressures on cheerleading, how can coaches, schools, and the major cheerleading organizations make sure that cheerleaders don't go to hazardous extremes — like developing eating disorders or using hard drugs — to keep their weight down?
13. Discussing Southern's failure to secure a paid bid to Nationals, one squad member says, "The system is not designed to entice a struggling historically black college team." Later, Coach James hypothesizes that "Talent is not the question, it's just the finances." Based on what your reading, are these statements accurate? Analyze the racial undertones of Torgovnick's book. What role, if any, does race play in the world of competitive collegiate cheerleading?
Part Four: Bid Videos
14. Before devoting an afternoon to community service at a retirement home, Casi mentions she might lose her job on account of missing so much work for cheer practice. Later, Kristen mentions missing a friend's wedding for a cheerleading commitment. Cheerleading, it seems, always takes precedence over the rest of a cheerleader's life. What other examples of this did you find in the book? In your opinion, do the benefits outweigh the sacrifices?
15. Even with safety training and precautions, injuries remain a constant part of cheerleading. One Memphis cheerleader quoted in the book almost seems proud of the sport's dangerous nature, because as Torgovnick points out, doing so "somehow legitimizes her hard work." Yet despite the obvious risks and frequent injuries, few cheerleading teams have their own athletic trainers to deal with medical concerns. What would it take for this to change?
16. Compare the rapport between stunt partners Tyrone and Samantha with that of James Brown and Sierra. What are some of the major differences between how they treat each other, and how they approach the sport? If you could partner with any of these athletes, who would it be, and why?
17. At the conclusion of section four, we learn Southern will not produce a bid video, essentially forgoing Nationals. The decision comes after several members leave the squad to focus on non-cheerleading activities. One of them, Tiffany Jones, says, "It's a hard decision, but what I came here for was an education." Compare this sentiment to those of the SFA or Memphis cheerleaders. Can you imagine people on those squads making this statement?
Part Five: Nationals
18. Going into Nationals, Kern was Memphis' savior. After the team's disappointing performance, though, she was sobbing alone, avoiding her teammates. Discuss Kern's swift fall from hero to zero. Can one person deserve responsibility for a failed routine? Consider the way her teammates treat her in response to her mistakes. Is their behavior justified?
19. How would you have reacted in Chapter 17, when Sierra falls during a basket toss and is rushed to the hospital? How does this injury effect the team? And what do you think of her drive to come back?
20. Talk about all of the obstacles faced by the Southern Jaguars, from the start of the season to the anticlimactic finale at the New Orleans Convention Center. Put yourself in their shoes. Considering all of the turmoil faced throughout the season, how/why do you think they never gave up? How does their experience at a relatively insignificant competition compare to those of the book's other teams who were able to compete at Nationals?
21. With the conclusion of each team's season, several members seem set on retiring early from the sport, even if they are not graduating. Torgovnick isn't entirely convinced. Why do you think so many cheerleaders feel this way at the end of the season? And why doesn't the author buy it? If you had to guess, which of these cheerleaders do you think came back for the 2007-2008 season? (Email Kate at cheerbook@gmail.com to find out the answer.)
Kate Torgovnick is a former associate writer/editor at Jane magazine. She writes about extreme athletes for The New York Times and her articles have also appeared in Newsweek, The International Herald Tribune, and The Daily News (New York). She grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and now lives in New York City.