Logan 1 Tecora Logan English 1101 Emilia Grant November 5th, 2013 The Ultimate Crowd Pleasers A cheerleader,

according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a person who leads cheers and applause, especially at a sport event (oxforddictionaries.com). Cheerleading is the act that cheerleaders do. Cheerleading was first introduced to the University of Minnesota as a pep club by a graduate student from Princeton University. The crowd and sports team at the University of Minnesota enjoyed the yell and it was credited with helping the football team win their game. The act of cheering on and supporting the football team at the games began to spread wildly. A brave individual by the name of Jack Campbell took on the responsibility to be the lead yell at the football game. This simple act of being the lead cheerer is how cheerleading was born (History of Cheerleading). From years of experience, it is safe to say that cheerleading has changed a lot since when it was first started by male students. Now cheerleading is a female dominated sport that does more than just cheering on the crowd and their team. Normally society thinks of cheerleaders in a positive light because of their enthusiasm to cheer on the team they are supporting. People usually do not realize that there is always more than meets the eye in everything, including cheerleading. The most common place that cheerleaders are found is at sports events and competitions. They are known as girls who simply show their spirit and cheer on their team. But cheerleaders are more than just that. According to cheerleading coach Cannady a cheerleading is not just girls who yell and stomp their feet but its rather a community

Logan 2 that embodies sisterhood, competition, recognition and social support. She goes on to say that everybody believes cheerleaders are just for show and that they have no significant meaning but she begs to differ (Cannady). Cheerleaders are almost always at sports events whether it is the younger population or older population. The tradition, the act of cheering, is found almost everywhere, but it seems to change depending on where its practiced. Cheerleading seems to have different levels within the community. There is the youth league level, middle and high school level, competitive level and collegiate level. The lowest level of cheerleading has a younger crowd. It is looked upon as something fun to do. Rarely do people take Little League serious, because of the young age of members and the care-free environment. The young members do not take it as serious, as older competitive cheerleaders. For kids, its just a hobby. There is a more relaxed atmosphere with the younger members because they are learning. The young crowd is often mushfaking, trying to imitate the older members of their community, such as the middle and high school cheerleaders. When it comes to the next level of cheerleading, middle and high school, the members regard it more seriously. This setting is more structured and often trained members of cheerleading are in charge of teaching the mushfakers. These trained members are ultimately helping this generation of cheerleaders to become more familiar with the concept of cheerleading and to practice their ability to cheer. It still seems though that they are not the highest level of cheerleading. At this level the members are respected more because they have been learning and practicing the act of cheerleading but they are still not apparently at the peak. As members stay in this community for a long time they

Logan 3 eventually move on to be a competitive or collegiate cheerleader. These two levels are mentioned together because they display high skill levels and an optimum level of cheerleading understanding. Competitive cheerleading is a competitive team sport incorporating skills from several other disciplines such as gymnastics, dance, stunting and, of course, cheer. Competitive cheerleading is a more strenuous physical activity that involves advanced skills of cheerleading. It is ultimately what every cheerleading wants to be a part of, if they have the skills. Competitive cheerleaders do not cheer on sports teams because they are the team that is being cheered on. It is an activity that requires a lot of training and practice because the team performs year-round for various cheerleading titles (What is Allstar Cheerleading). The collegiate level of cheerleading seem to be the median of cheerleading. These cheerleaders are involved in competitions throughout the year but they also cheer at games like the younger members of the community. Collegiate cheerleading is not focused on just competitions or cheering on their sports team but, rather, a blend. Collegiate cheerleading focuses on all the aspects found in competitive cheerleading and youth league. That is why it is considered the median of what cheerleading stands for. These different levels of cheerleading seem to fit in the boundaries of a discourse community and also a community of practice. According to John Swales a discourse community embodies different aspects and, though scholars are still questioning these aspects, the general and concise definition of a discourse community is a group of people who use discourse to reach a specific goal (Downs, 723). The six characteristics of a discourse community laid out by Swales are, a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals,

Logan 4 has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback, utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, has acquired some specific lexis, and finally a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 471-473). According to these characteristics of Swales only certain levels of cheerleading would fit into the structure of a discourse community. These levels would be competitive cheerleading and collegiate cheerleading. The characteristics of a discourse community relate to collegiate and competitive cheerleading because they have a common goal to work and win cheerleading titles and the community shows empowerment of individuals and a sisterhood. They also use a form of communication to get this done. The types of communication used specifically by this discourse community are verbal, written, and physical. These communications take place in practices, in-person meetings, via text message and email, and also paper form such as evaluation sheets and cheer list. During the communication between the cheerleaders they discuss topics such as routines, practice times, learning material, and constructive criticism (Cannady). The most important form of communication for this community would be inperson meeting and practices. These in-person meetings and practices help the team practice the routines and skills to work towards their goal of being the champions at competition. This source of communication also helps the community with any discrepancies or confusion about certain expectations or skills that need to be demonstrated during competition and even at the sport events. This group has a very

Logan 5 peculiar lexis associated with it. Vocabulary is broken down into the various components of cheerleading such as movements, tumbling, and stunting. Common terms used for motions would be a high V which means that the cheerleaders arms are in the shape of a v, touchdown which means the cheerleaders arms are extended by their head in the shape of a goal, and also left or right diagonal which means the cheerleaders arms are in the shape of a diagonal and the orientation left and right depends on which arm is up and which arm is down. Common terms used for stunting which is described as the most strenuous part or cheerleading are basket toss which implies that a cheerleader is being thrown into the air to perform some type of action and also extension which means that one of the cheerleaders is being extended into the air by other members of her team. The last source of the lexis for cheerleading is also a part of a sister sport called gymnastics and they use the same phrases and words. The common terms for this part of cheerleading are back tuck which means that the cheerleader is jumping backwards with a lot of force into a tuck position and also front roll which means the cheerleader is on the ground rolling forward in a ball position (Cheerleading Definitions). This lexis is used constantly throughout the community and it is seems to be quite impossible for members of this discourse community to not know what these terms mean. Starting off in the lower levels such as youth league and middle and high school this lexis is taught and practiced to be more close to the actual discourse community. Practicing the lexis and some of the values of the discourse community is described as a community of practice. According to Dr. Ann Johns a community of practice are seen as complex collections of individuals who share genres, language,

Logan 6 values, concepts, and ways of being (Johns, 500). The youth leagues and school system cheerleading organizations do not necessarily have a common goal but they learn and practice the values and lexis of the discourse community in order to eventually join. It can be considered mushfaking because these individuals are imitating competitive and collegiate levels that they would like to be welcomed to in the future. In order to become a part of the discourse community individuals must realize that they must be convincing and that authority figures will be watching to choose the best of the best. If these individuals do not realize this they will not be welcomed into the discourse community by the authority figures. In the community practice there seems to not be a lot of power because it is looked at as hobby not necessarily something that is serious and needs structured authority. As an individual goes through the motions of becoming a member of the discourse community conflicts and power struggles will be present. As a newcomer in this community experts say they have to earn their spot and its not easy (Cannady). Although the goal of the discourse community is to work together and be in unison it also has leaders in place. The coaches and senior members of the team are looked at as the authority figures. Authority in this discourse community comes from titles and years of experience. If newcomers come along and try to jump right into being a leader they will be shut down because they have not earned their spot (Cannady). Once newcomers figure this out the conflicts decrease because everyone knows his or her respective place. Members of this community are very serious about their perception and who represents them as leaders because they are criticized a lot. The public sees

Logan 7 cheerleading as an activity instead of a sport so the members of the community are always trying to prove themselves in the public eye. Cheerleading might be considered a less serious activity by some individuals but is actually one of the most intense. Cheerleaders seem to pay the most for their community and sustain the most injury but because of their goals and reasons for being together they continue to strive and push forward. They want their leaders to represent them well and accurately based on their principles. Johns and Swales define these two categories very well and similarly in their works. To realize the difference between a community of practice and a discourse community is a hard concept. In order to label a community correctly there has to be some form of research and insight. Being a part of this community has given some insight into the fact that all levels of cheerleading are not a discourse community. These different levels of cheerleading are in two categories as a discourse community and a community of practice. The public fails to realize this and until they do they will never know the truth about the ultimate crowd pleasers.

Logan 8 Works Cited Cannady, Ryanne. Personal Interview. 1 November 2013. Cheerleading Dictionary. Cheerleading Info Center. 2011. Web. 3 November 2013. Downs, Doug, and Elizabeth Wardle. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print. History of Cheerleading. International Cheer Union. 2009. Web. 3 November 2013. Johns, Ann M. Discourse Communities and Communities if Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 498-519. Print. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. N.d. Web. 3 November 2013. Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 466-480. Print. What Is All Star Cheerleading? Allstar Cheerleading Blog. N.d. Web. 3 November 2013.