History of Cheerleading

In the book Cheerleading by Ellen Rusconi, I found some interesting facts of the history of cheerleading. Did you all know that cheerleading didn't even start in the United States? It started in 776 b.c. in ancient Greece. People would cheer on their favorite runners in the Olimpic games. A medical student named Johnny Campbell organized cheerleading in the U.S. He thought it would be interesting to see if crowd support helped a team to victory. Campbell got 6 other boys to join his Yell Captains (what cheerleaders were first called) Girls didn't become cheerleaders until the 1920's. They let women onto the squads because they decided to add gymnastics and stunts, because women are easier to lift than men. Females started taking over the squads when WW II came along and the men were drafted. But it is important to remember that in todays cheerleading there are both men and women on the squads.

-I just thought it would be interesting to post some info on the history of cheerleading. I thought it was strange to think that men started cheerleading just on a hunch to make the game more interesting for both fans and the players. It gives me giggles thinking about men yelling out of a megaphone with cheerleading labels on it. I also wondered if they had pompons, because that would be a laugh visualizing the men using them!