The History of Cheerleading | Cheerleading's Early History
The history of cheerleading goes as far back as the late 1880's. The first organized, recorded yell was performed at a pep rally: "Rah, Rah, Rah! TIGER, TIGER, SIS, SIS, SIS! BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Aaaaah! PRINCETON, PRINCETON, PRINCETON!" Although a good start, it did not carry over from the pep rally to the game for a few more years. One of Princeton's alumni, Thomas Peebles, moved to the University of Minnesota and in addition to taking along that first pep rally cheer, he also created a college “fight song.” However, it was Johnny Campbell, a first-year medical student, who led the initial organized cheer at a game in 1898. The inspiration to jump out in front of the bleachers came from two sources: a student letter and a professor's response. A student fan had written to the school newspaper to complain that their losing team would start winning if it had the backing of the fans. One of the university's professors took this statement one step further and declared that the collective stimuli of hundreds of students, focused on sending positive energy, would turn the tide of their losing streak. Johnny latched on to the theory and moved the cheers to the game. His example filtered to other campuses, paving the way for bigger changes, thus the history of cheerleading began.
Cheerleading's Early History
Cheerleading was now a recognized force in schools. “Yell leaders” in the 1930's began to use megaphones, drums and noisemakers to heighten the excitement. Then came World War II and men left to fight. Women took over cheerleading and began to dominate the sport. In fact, when Laurence “Herkie” Herkimer founded the spirit industry and organized the first cheerleader camp at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 1948, 52 girls attended. The camp taught fundamental cheerleading skills. Throughout the next two decades and into the 70's, the sport branched out to support wrestling, track and swimming, in addition to the well-established football and basketball. The expansion of cheerleading inevitably attracted the attention of television producers and, in1978, the International Cheerleading Foundation initiated the first nationwide broadcast of the Collegiate Cheerleading Championships.
The History Competitive Cheerleading
By now, it was evident that the elevated skill levels being demonstrated in gymnastics, partner stunts, pyramids and advanced jumps needed uniformity to balance the competitive field. It's hard to imagine, but it was not until the 1980's that standards for cheerleading competitions were set. With these standards in place the history of competitive cheerleading is relatively young compared to the history of cheerleading.
Cheerleading promotes community service projects and has been recognized by the media as an important way to promote enthusiastic, positive attitudes and school spirit. It's been quite a journey through the history of cheerleading; starting with Thomas Peebles' humble pep rally cheer to the competitive industry that exists today and make no mistake - cheerleading's popularity continues to roar.
