Who Invented Cheerleading - Do YOU Know?
So you think you know all there is to know about cheerleading; well then “who invented cheerleading?” What if I told you that the first cheerleaders were not girls in cheerleading uniforms holding cheerleading megaphones, but instead a group of six guys; yes, that's right, I said guys. In the 1870s a gentleman by the name of Thomas Peebler brought together six guys to lead a yell on the sidelines in front of the student body at a Princeton University football game. So one might say it was Thomas Peebler who invented cheerleading!
Peebler soon took this “yell” group to other colleges. Cheerleading eventually began in 1898 when a cheerleader by the name of Johnny Campbell got so excited that he jumped out in front of the crowd. So one might say it was Johnny Campbell who invented cheerleading!
As football grew, so did the sport of cheerleading. For those who don't think cheerleading is a sport, all I have to say is, “Try it!” Muscles are used in this sport that today's generation of men have no idea they even existed!
When Cheerleading Was Invented
In the early 1900s after the first cheerleading fraternity Gamma Sigma was organized that the cheerleading megaphone became widely used and again these cheerleading squads consisted of men. It wasn't until the 1920s that women began to become more active in cheerleading and in the 1940s when the men went to war, women became the dominate participants' in cheerleading.
It was the University of Minnesota cheerleaders who began to incorporate gymnastics and tumbling into their cheers. At this time the first flash-card cheering section was being played out at Oregon State University. It was not until the 1930s when high schools and universities began using cheerleading pom poms, which at that time were made of paper. Today the colorful cheerleading pom pom is the most widely recognized prop of the cheerleading gear.
The Growth of Cheerleading
As the years have gone by, cheerleading has grown to a national sport with national cheerleading associations. Not only national cheerleading associations but there are also cheerleading associations throughout the world.
So, the next time you are at a football or basketball game you might consider how cheerleading has evolved over the years, and also take a minute to remember who invented cheerleading.
