Post by hudson058 on May 9, 2007 10:46:50 GMT -5
I moved here about 6 years ago from Louisiana and cheerleading was a big deal there. There were a lot of competitions and folks actually travelled to support their schools like any other sport. I remember one of our rival high schools went to compete in some sort of big competition in Florida, they actually got two charter busses to take fans and bring them back.
It doesn't seem to be a big activity in our area. Does Richmond even compete, or are they only for football and basketball games? I'll admit, I'm not a very big high school basketball fan, so I never attend those games. However, at the football games, they don't really do anything outstanding. Don't get me wrong, they throw a stunt in here and there, but there's nothing that really makes people want to stand up and... well... cheer. At my old high school, they'd put on a show. They were very in tune with what was going on in the game. Richmond does have the whitty banners for the team to run through at the beginning of the game, but those girls had signs, chants, and skit that went on from opening kickoff until the clock hit 0:00 in the 4th. They'd usually do something comical when the other team committed a penalty, or if our defense sacked their QB, or if the other team fumbled, etc. It was quite hilarious at times.
They had mascot beatings, special cheers and chants for each opponent, and often did complicated floor show like routines during timeouts. They also had superstitions. If we were down in the 4th quarter, they'd hold all their signs upside down during cheers. (go fight win signs, defense signs, etc.) They'd reverse the colors of their poms. (If they had one color in the left and one in the right, they'd switch them) Before the game, after the team came onto the field, each cheerleader would run by and pat the head coach on the head for good luck. Everytime a player would score their first TD of the season, the girls would kiss him on the cheek. If one player on the team ever scored 3 TDs in one game, it was a hat trick and the cheerleaders would go out into the stands and would each steal a hat from a fan and wear it the rest of the game. (Don't worry, they were returned at the end of the game)
I know a lot of this stuff sounds kind of silly, but by doing these things, they had our attention. When it was time for the crowd to really get into the game, the girls were actually LEADING the CHEERS. The fans would follow just about everything they started. In the really big rivarly type games when there were 15-20 thousand people in attendence, it was amazing to watch the girls on both sides remain in control of them. They knew what to do and when to do it. It wasn’t all about appearance a physical ability with them. There was a substantial amount of intelligence put into every Friday night’s routines. They made it all about us and not about them.
I'm not here to come down on our girls. I think our Raider ladies do a wonderful job. Just don't be afraid to take it to the next level. Kick it up a notch. You'll find that you'll have a lot more fun and will earn a lot more respect.
It doesn't seem to be a big activity in our area. Does Richmond even compete, or are they only for football and basketball games? I'll admit, I'm not a very big high school basketball fan, so I never attend those games. However, at the football games, they don't really do anything outstanding. Don't get me wrong, they throw a stunt in here and there, but there's nothing that really makes people want to stand up and... well... cheer. At my old high school, they'd put on a show. They were very in tune with what was going on in the game. Richmond does have the whitty banners for the team to run through at the beginning of the game, but those girls had signs, chants, and skit that went on from opening kickoff until the clock hit 0:00 in the 4th. They'd usually do something comical when the other team committed a penalty, or if our defense sacked their QB, or if the other team fumbled, etc. It was quite hilarious at times.
They had mascot beatings, special cheers and chants for each opponent, and often did complicated floor show like routines during timeouts. They also had superstitions. If we were down in the 4th quarter, they'd hold all their signs upside down during cheers. (go fight win signs, defense signs, etc.) They'd reverse the colors of their poms. (If they had one color in the left and one in the right, they'd switch them) Before the game, after the team came onto the field, each cheerleader would run by and pat the head coach on the head for good luck. Everytime a player would score their first TD of the season, the girls would kiss him on the cheek. If one player on the team ever scored 3 TDs in one game, it was a hat trick and the cheerleaders would go out into the stands and would each steal a hat from a fan and wear it the rest of the game. (Don't worry, they were returned at the end of the game)
I know a lot of this stuff sounds kind of silly, but by doing these things, they had our attention. When it was time for the crowd to really get into the game, the girls were actually LEADING the CHEERS. The fans would follow just about everything they started. In the really big rivarly type games when there were 15-20 thousand people in attendence, it was amazing to watch the girls on both sides remain in control of them. They knew what to do and when to do it. It wasn’t all about appearance a physical ability with them. There was a substantial amount of intelligence put into every Friday night’s routines. They made it all about us and not about them.
I'm not here to come down on our girls. I think our Raider ladies do a wonderful job. Just don't be afraid to take it to the next level. Kick it up a notch. You'll find that you'll have a lot more fun and will earn a lot more respect.