All Star Cheerleading: Its Origin And Features
All Star cheerleading first emerged in the United States in the 1980, when teams that were unassociated with colleges, sports leagues or schools, and whose main aim was to have fun and compete, began to appear on the scene. There are conflicting claims on which was the first squad to call itself an All Star squad and enter competitions, but some say the Q94 Rockers from Richmond, Virginia were the first such squad. This All Star squad was started by Hilda McDaniel in 1982. It is worth nothing that the divisions in which All Star teams competed before 1987 were the same divisions as those that applied to colleges, schools and sports leagues. As early as 1986 the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) started to take the situation serious by creating the All Star division. This was designed particularly for teams without any institutional or sport group association. The first official All Star division competition took place in 1987 at the NCA competitions.
The NCA could probably not have envisaged the level of interest that all star cheerleading would elicit from participants, their supporters and the general public. The upshot was that the popularity of All Star cheerleading led to more squads forming, many with sponsorship from companies and organizations. The rules, regulations and divisions were not always the same, and gym owners were confused and felt the situation needed to be remedies. The differing requirements of various competitions kept coaches on their toes to the point of exhaustion. Routines were continually changing, which did not leave teams much time to hone their skills and enjoy personal attention from coaches. Also, with different companies competing among themselves, safety standards had become lax, with amateur coaches and inexperienced cheerleaders trying dangerous stunts in an effort to fit in with the rules.
After much debate and planning, the US All Stars Federation (USASF) was formed din 2003 as a kind of joint venture between the various competitions companies, such as elite cheer and Dance, to act as the umbrella or overseeing body for all the All Star cheerleading in the US. One of the first and most important tasks of the USASF was to create an overall set of rules and judging standards suitable for all competitions sanctioned by the USASF. The all star cheer season was constructed so that it culminated in Cheerleading Worlds, the major national competition. The first Cheerleading Worlds competition was held on April 24, 2004. On this occasion, a conference of coaches from across the US organized themselves into a rule-making body called the National All Star Cheerleading Coaches Congress (NACCC). The following year the NACCC was incorporated into the USASF as their rule and regulation body. In just a few years All Star cheerleading had so grown in popularity that the USASF expanded and assisted in the creation of the International All Star Federation (IASF) the governing body for cheerleading worldwide.
At the moment, All Star cheerleading as recognized by the USASF involves a squad of six to thirty-six females and/or males. The most interesting part of All Star performing is that although squads travel far and wide to participate in many competitions (usually from eight to twelve per year) , the actual routine is a maximum of only two and a half minutes. There are local competitions, which are generally held in school gymnasiums and the nationals, which are mounted in major venues all over America. Traditionally, Cheerleading Worlds takes place at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. A competition routine includes stunts, tumbling, jumping and dancing to special cheerleading music which has often been custom-mixed for the squad. Routines are created to an eight-count beat and applied to the music. This allows teams to achieve precise timing and synchronization, which greatly adds to the visual effect of the routine.
These competitions include locals, which are normally taken place in school gymnasiums, nationals, hosted in big venues all around the U.S. with national champions, and the Cheerleading Worlds, taken place at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. During a competition routine, a squad performs carefully choreographed stunting, tumbling, jumping and dancing to their own custom music. Teams create their routines to an eight-count system and apply that to the music so the team members execute the elements with precise timing and synchronization. Within the All Star cheerleading sport are divisions based on the age of the cheerleaders, the team size, the gender of the participants and the level of ability. Age levels vary from under four years of age to eighteen and over. The USASF/IASF divisions currently used are Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Junior International, Junior Coed, Senior, Senior Coed, Open International and Open.
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