Cheerleading is more than spirit and pom-poms. It’s more than rallying the crowd late in the game. It’s commitment, passion, and teamwork.

For the EHS cheer team, that commitment paid off with impressive finishes at the Wyoming State Spirit Competition.

This year’s squad returned to Cheyenne with trophies in all three categories – all-girl cheer, 4th place; cheer non-stunt, 2nd place; and, co-ed cheer, 2nd.

In the U.S alone there are 400,000 participants in high school cheerleading. It goes from cheering and stunts on the sidelines to competition.
Difficulty in this sport has increased over the years leading to safety concerns.

“I think it’s a popular sport because it’s more than just throwing people in the air, “said Tori Smale, 9.

When a fan thinks of cheerleading, they probably don’t consider the danger. Cheer has grown into an athletic event that is not just cheers from the sidelines. Cheer has become a high-risk, high reward sport.

“Cheerleading is a dangerous sport because we always have to be there to catch each others’ falls, “said Emma Trujillo, 10. “And that’s even off the mat too.”

Many cheer stunts involve launching a smaller cheerleader into the air called the flyer. The flyer isn’t the most important in the stunt because she isn’t the one that needs to get the flyer safely back to the ground. That job belongs to the bases. Anytime a flyer is held up in the air, or thrown into the air, her safety rests in the hands of the bases.

The back spot is the most important person in any stunt. The back spot calls the counts, making the stunt happen. The back spot has to help the bases, which means having a firm hold on to the flyer’s ankles.

“It’s not dangerous if you do it right,” said Emily Ruiz, 9. “There are other more popular sports that are more dangerous.”

Common stunts can be dangerous, including everything from pulling a muscle to breaking a bone.’

There are many types of jumps such as toe touches, pike, hurdle, tuck jump etc, and to be safe tt’s essential to put full effort into any jump.

Statistically, cheerleading can be a very dangerous sport. While the number of injuries is low, the severity is high, according to a Reuters Health News Report. Cheerleaders can get hurt while doing stunts and jumps from falling wrong or lack of stretching.

Like any sport, joining a cheer team is about dedicating yourself to the team. Your team depends on you to get better every day.

“Cheerleading is a big responsibility because it takes up a ton of your free time,” continues Trujillo. “You have to be willing to dedicate yourself to not just do the sport but live up to the name too. As cheerleaders, we try to be role models for the school.”

It’s more than decorating lockers and sporting a big blue bird mask. Cheer is high-flying, air, high-risk attitude. And being a champion means giving the team your everything.