This guide is meant to introduce beginners to the basic steps of a Heel Stretch, but should not replace the training and consultation of a cheer professional.

These steps will help a flyer get comfortable with the basic movements of a Heel Stretch on the ground, before attempting the stunt in the air.

To prepare to perform a heel stretch, a flyer should work hard on increasing her flexibility and improving her balance.

How To Perform a Heel Stretch for Cheerleading

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• Stand facing forward with your legs together and straight. Raise your arms above your head in the High V position.
• Begin to raise your left leg, while simultaneously dropping your left arm slightly to prepare to catch your left foot when it reaches near your face.
• Catch your left foot at the heel with your left hand. Your fingers will wrap under your foot. If you are a beginner, you may need to grab your leg and pull it up while you are practicing.
• Pull your leg up and in (do not pull to the side), extending it as far as possible.
• As you extend your leg, you should be extending your body as well (which may have dipped some in the prep) so that when the move is complete your body is stiff and your right knee is locked.

Brianna has never let her sight loss dampen her spirit or slow her down. Most everyone that knows her describes her as special. She is currently a freshmen at one of the largest New Haven high schools.

Hear her story below, then leave a comment letting us know what challenges your cheerleading team has helped you overcome!

(source www.wtsp.com)

“Secret Diary of an American Cheerleader” is the first original webseries produced specifically for cheerleaders, with REAL cheerleaders cast as actors, dancers, extras and stunters. The world premiere of Secret Diary will have its debut exclusively on the Cheer Channel on Monday, May 21, 2012.

“Secret Diary” is a scripted, dramatic Web series consisting of six webisodes that will air on the Cheer Channel and “Secret Diary” Facebook fan pages and YouTube channels, and has locked in distribution deals with some of the largest distributors of Web series on the Internet, including Vimeo, Hulu and iTunes.

“Secret Diary” tells the story of a high school all-star cheerleader who must move to a new town with her father and little brother and fights not only to be accepted by her new squad, but to keep a secret that could threaten her chances of competing in Nationals and a romance with the gym owner’s son and stars real cheerleaders and will feature eight “Superstars of All-Stars 2012” that will make special appearances. The “Superstars”, including Maddie Gardner, Kiara Nowlin, Gabi Butler, Whitney Love, Kelsey Rule, Erica Englebert, Cami Branson and Bianca Treger, will be cast as themselves, playing former all-star teammates to the main character of the show.

“Secret Diary” is written and produced by Aaron Mendelsohn, who has written the screenplays for the multi-million dollar film franchise, “Air Bud,” and will be directed by Jared Seltzer who has directed and edited award-winning Web series, documentaries and reality shows for major studios.

“Secret Diary” is sponsored in part by Chassé® and Glitterbug Cosmetics®.

Chassé® Releases New Online Only Items For Spring 2012
Chassé released a new line of cheer hoodies and shorts as part of their Spring 2012 Cheer Fashion and Accessories Line. These items were not included in the Spring 2012 Omni Cheer or Campus Teamwear catalogs, but you can purchase any of these items online from the Omni Cheer website or the Campus Teamwear website.

All the new items are limited editions, and will only be available as long as supplies last.

The new cheer hoodies, from Soffe, feature an original cheer print screen design from Chassé. Each hoodie is $15.95.

Also released were black velour shorts from the Soffe line that feature a free, Chassé original rhinestone cheer leg design. The shorts are available in limited quantities for $9.95.

Cheerleading Uniform Blog Library hits 500 downloads


The Cheer Resources Library from Cheerleading Uniforms Blog, which launched early in 2012 and features completes guides for everything cheer including tryouts, uniform ordering, fundraising, living a cheer lifestyle and more, hit 500 downloads in May 2012.

The top 5 downloaded guides are:

#1 The Complete Guide To Tumbling for Cheerleading
#2 Introduction To Stunt Groups For Cheerleading
#3 Tips and Tricks for Cheerleading Tryouts
#4 Introduction to Motions and Stances for Cheerleading
#5 Conflict Resolution Tips For Cheerleading Squads

Here are some positives and negatives for co-ed teams to help obtain their fitness needs:

Advantages

• Co-ed teams can result in male and female teammates to push each other further. Females may be influenced to participate in more strenuous activities and workouts if the males that they are conditioning with are doing harder programs.
• Male members are often viewed as leaders, which can come in handy for workouts and fitness ideas.
• Conditioning will be more dynamic, allowing room for innovative conditioning ideas that involve the whole team working together.
• Co-ed interactions force teams to work on a whole different level using various methods; this ultimately pushes their boundaries making teams more dynamic.

Challenges

• With each gender’s body type, different areas of focus are necessary for the muscle groups and workouts which means twice as much thought and effort needs to be applied to the conditioning program. It might be difficult for a smaller team with only one coach to handle.
• Adolescent female tend to naturally feel self-conscious around adolescent males, focusing more on how they look then their workout and fitness goals. If their insecurity lingers, they may not work to their full potential and ultimately lose confidence, which could effect their performance when they hit the competition mats.
• Fitness goals for males and females are different when it comes to reps, amount of weight, or the various exercises. This might mean that the team will have to split up during conditioning and miss out on valuable co-ed bonding time.
• Communicating with each other could sometimes be difficult because men and women can display different mentalities in stressful or intense situations.
• Fitness needs conflict at times: men workout more to bulk up and build muscle, women usually want to tone their natural strengths.

Tips

• Find workouts that work for both genders, exercises that are universal and require the co-eds to team up.
• Teammates may need to be reminded that they are all there for the same reason: to achieve the team goals and come out strong during performances!
• Conditioning is important! Find ways to do it in a fair and creative way that builds team unity and involvement.
• Don’t be afraid to separate males and females when needed to avoid awkward situations.

Either way you look at it, co-ed teams who overcome diversity and find methods for workout regimes usually have stronger outcomes. Maintaining fitness needs is important; with a little hard work and dedication any co-ed team can do it!

When cheerleading first began, the main goal was all about building team spirit. When stunting was incorporated into sideline chants and cheers as a new way to entertain the fans, it also allowed cheerleaders to show a new level of talent and be recognized in a different and innovative way.

Lawrence Herkimer is one of the important figures that can be credited with making stunting in cheer popular. The clinics he held in the 1940s, now called cheerleading camps, served as a place for new stunts to be developed and taught, and these stunts eventually spread throughout teams all over the US.

During the 1970s, cheerleading stunts really took off and began progressing from thigh stands to fulls. Pyramids debuted, which involved a large part of the team and and demanded strength and synchronization. As basket tosses and pyramids started appearing as standard cheer routine stunts, it was clear that the skill level and athleticism expected from sideline and competition cheerleaders was changing.

By the 1980s competitive teams, now known as All Star teams, were created in the United States. These teams focused on competitions exclusively, and combined gymnastics, stunting and dancing. When ESPN began broadcasting cheerleading competitions nationally, it was these All Star teams that helped usher cheerleading and its stunting element into main stream America. As the popularity of cheerleading spread, All Star teams created more cutting-edge stunts; the skill level these teams reached was phenomenal.

In the 1990s, other areas of cheerleading were being manipulated. Spring floors were introduced, and the competition mat size increased which made room for bigger and better stunts. Basket tosses now involved twists and flips. The simple liberty had transformed and now a flyer showed off her flexibility by performing scales, bow-and-arrows and scorpions.

Since cheerleading was still growing, and was not a sanctioned sport, there were no regulated rules and guidelines that restricted the devleopement of new stunts. Each cheerleading team had the freedom to branch out and use any moves they wanted to create new stunts. While this allowed cheerleading to progress with innovation, it also put the athletes in danger.

Rules and Regulations of Stunting

As stunting became part of the competitive aspect of cheerleading, so did the pressure to reach a certain level of creativity and difficulty. Although these advancements made stunting that much more entertaining and breathtaking, they also became more dangerous. Injuries were becoming more likely with stunting and cheerleading was labeled as one of the most hazardous activities for young athletes. Since cheerleading is not a sanctioned sport yet, individual governing organizations are responsible for creating and annually revising rules and regulations. While there is a general acceptance of the rulings from these organizations, it isn’t uncommon for competitions to have their own set of stunting regulations – banning some stunts and limiting others so that tossing, twisting and flipping can only be done in a certain way and at a certain height.

One thing is for sure; cheerleading would not be what it is today without the inclusion of stunting. New stunt trends and techniques debut annually, along with new regulations, which keeps the platform of cheerleader on a constantly changing path.