Competitive cheerleading is a sport that has received very little research attention yet was of great interest to the researcher who has coached this sport for over six years. This research asks, "What is the impact of a competitive cheerleading experience on the development of female athletes?" The literature surrounding cheerleading, the sports environment, psychology of coaching, sociology of sports, and feminism in sports is reviewed. A case study approach using both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data collection was used. Participants were five females who had been involved in competitive cheerleading for a mean of 4.4 years. Each participant completed a questionnaire as well as an interview with the researcher. Seven themes were found in the narratives: athleticism, team dynamics, unique aspects of competitive cheerleading, social skills, negative impacts of competitive cheerleading, involving male athletes and peer perception. Within each theme, there were key findings. This study filled some of the gaps in past research by using female participants, qualitative research methods, and the analysis of one sport.

This study was designed to investigate carbohydrate supplementation during cheerleading training and its effect on performance. Seventeen participants in four trials; one to gather anthropometric data and 1-repetition maximums, one familiarization trial, a carbohydrate trial, and a placebo trial. The exercises used were power snatches from a hang position, push jerks, front squats, and box squats. The exercises most mimicked a standard strength and conditioning practice for cheerleaders. Performance was measured by calculating the difference between pre- and post-training values in vertical jump repetitions, peak power, average power, peak velocity, and average velocity in a power snatch, and a 200-m shuttle sprint. Performance values for carbohydrate and placebo trials were analyzed using a paired sample t-test, which found no significant difference between the carbohydrate and placebo trials.

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Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2002. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-352). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71566.

Bakgrund: Cheerleading är en relativt ny, snabbt växande lagsport i Sverige där alla medlemmar i ett lag tilldelas en speciell position. Många riskfyllda moment förekommer inom sporten och skador är vanligt, vilket leder till att utövarna därmed vilar från träning. Vi ville undersöka vilka känslor som uppstår hos de cheerleaders som tvingats vila i minst fyra veckor på grund av skada; på vilket sätt blir de påverkade av frånvaron från träningen och hur upplever de sedan återupptagandet av träning? Förhoppningen är att på så sätt vägleda fysioterapeuter i möte med skadade cheerleaders. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att öka förståelsen för hur cheerleaders upplever återgång till träning efter en längre tids frånvaro till följd av en långvarig skada. Metod: Studien utformades enligt en kvalitativ design med semi-strukturerade intervjuer där totalt tre deltagare medverkat, för att besvara studiens syfte. Vi granskade sedan materialet utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Innehållsanalysen från de tre genomförda intervjuerna resulterade i två huvudkategorier: “Ångestfylld återgång till träning” och “Bristande kunskap om cheerleading försvårar rehabiliteringen”, samt sju subkategorier. Konklusion: Resultatet av studien antyder att fysioterapeuter besitter en viktig roll i cheerleaders rehabiliteringsprocess efter en långvarig skada. Studien visar att cheerleaders önskar en bättre förståelse från fysioterapeuter för att återgången till träning ska kännas tryggare. Fortsatta studier rekommenderas.

Mental tumbling blocks are a problem in sports such as cheerleading where the athlete has an unexplained fear related to performing a skill that has been previously executed successfully. The current study compared participants with and without a mental tumbling block on self-report measures of anxiety and on vocal analysis data indicating if anxiety or fear is present. Participants were female cheerleaders who ranged in age from 10 to 16 years old. The Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2; Smith, Smoll, Cumming & Grossbard, 2006) and the Cheerleading Fear Inventory (CFI; modified from Cartoni, Minganti, and Zelli, 2005) were used in addition to vocal analysis measures assessing pitch and intensity. These vocal analysis measures were taken under two conditions while the cheerleader was interviewed (1) about tumbling and (2) about school. Results indicated that athletes with a mental block reported higher somatic anxiety, concentration disruption, and overall anxiety on the SAS-2 than participants who did not have a mental tumbling block. Similarly, athletes with a mental tumbling block reported higher scores on the CFI than athletes without a mental tumbling block. In addition, athletes with a mental tumbling block showed higher pitch on the vocal analysis measure than athletes without a mental tumbling regardless of interview condition. Finally, several significant correlations emerged between scores on the SAS-2, the CFI, and the vocal analysis measures. These results are discussed in terms of the existing literature, and practical suggestions are offered that may help coaches understand how to effectively handle mental blocks at practice.

Opinions about Linguistics and Phonetics extrapolated to think about art and object-making, followed by an exposition of titles of recent work, including discussions about: stunting in All Star Cheerleading, rainbows, offset halo patterns, the common corn disease Crazy Top, failure, humility and the profound.

6 Abstract Title: Creating a new concept of cheerleading as a sport in the Czech Republic Objectives: Creating a comprehensive overview providing a complex information about the sport discipline called cheerleading. Clarifying the character of the sport of cheerleading. Gathering and submitting a comprehensive description of the sports discipline, a set of rules, mandatory elements, and methodologies of cheerleading. Preparation of a material for Czech Cheerleading Association and Institute of Czech Cheerleading as a base of metodology of cheerleading that will be helpful for cheerleading coaches in the Czech Republic to improve their skills and expending the number of members of the association. Taking photos that will facilitate understanding of issues and eliminate incorrect understanding of theoretical bases in various methodologies. Methods: A comprehensive classification of sports cheerleading industry required a consistent and detailed approach, a through content analysis of foreign literature, including knowledge and experience from my own practice and practice of other personalities involved in cheerleading from Czech Republic and abroad. Finding analogies between sports industries with rich history and newly forming sport industry of cheerleading I have come to an analysis of Czech literature...

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { color: rgb(0, 0, 255); Special needs sport literature is narrow-focused and generally focuses on the different disabilities of athletes (Howe & Jones, 2006). Additionally, cheerleading is generally researched in terms of disordered eating and body image (Thompson & Digsby, 2004), high injury risk (Jacobson, Hubbard & Redus, 2004; Jacobson, Redus, & Palmer, 2005), and over-sexualization of youth (Adams & Bettis, 2003). While several websites and resources for coaches of special needs athletes provide information for how a coach should feel, there is a lack of empirical research to support these claims (www.specialolympics.org; www.usasf.net). In the present study, a phenomenological interview approach was taken for eight coaches of special needs cheerleading squads. The interviews were thematized to reveal figure themes of: (a) enthusiasm; (b) parents; (c) us vs. “them”; and (d) improvements vs. struggles. Additionally, there were two sub-ground themes of the athletes and outside help. All of the figure themes and the sub-ground themes were encompassed by the ground theme of community. Connections to previous research, practical implications, and future directions of the present findings are discussed.

The thesis deals with an issue of healthy lifestyle, focusing especially on the young population. The project is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the theoretical solutions and defines in detail the concepts related to the topic. It deals with important areas of healthy lifestyles, especially nutrition and physical activity. Presents the principles of rational nutrition and describes the influences on young people today. It describes the consequences of improper diet and the current situation regarding overweight and obesity. The second part is focused on detailed analysis of selected institution, which is a sports club JNS Cheerleaders. This part is trying to determine whether a candidate institutions fulfill their public mission in a healthy lifestyle and whether has for this purpose sufficient funds. The final section contains a summary of the whole problem, interpret the results and submit proposals that could improve the functioning of sports club and help lead the young population to a healthy lifestyle.