According to research, In 1882 women were not permitted to be on cheerleading teams. Cheerleaders were predominantly male up until World War II. With “the men going off to war”, women filled the role on the sidelines. Once the war was over, cheerleading remained overwhelmingly a female activity. Today, females account for approximately 85% of cheerleading squads.

Manual Arts High school has a total of 28 cheerleaders. Since the first game, people have complimented not only the cheerleaders, but also the cheers. A student at Manual Arts stated, “These cheerleaders are always on point. They have good energy, and they have very catchy cheers.” We love seeing them at games and how full of spirit they are when doing what they do. The jumps, kicks, stunts, and cheers all come from hard work and we appreciate them supporting our athletes. Let’s continue to cheer them on while they cheer for Manual Arts. 

My experience as a cheerleader has been a childhood dream of mine. Coming into Manual arts I wanted to try something new. Something I always wanted to do, become a cheerleader. Once my friend and I found out there were cheer tryouts we had to try it out. The tryout experience was fun, and it was an awesome experience. I was so nervous and afraid I wasn’t going to make it, but I did and I love cheering. My first Game was on a Thursday. It was cold outside. Yet, even with the coldness, I still had an amazing time. Cheer has helped me even outside of school. The dances along with the rhythm and rhyme has always made me happy and excited to come to practices and games. Everyone on the team, even the coaches, made my childhood dream an amazing experience and I can’t wait for more.

After the first game I cheered, everyone encouraged us at school and said we did really good. That made me happy.  I still look forward to going to cheer practices and learning new cheers even after a long tough day hitting the books..