The sports magazine project was a great project to close up the year. We were given a certain sport and were required to make a magazine for it. We had a lot of writing and revisions to do in this project. Within each of the roles we were required to write a article about related to your role. The roles were, Editor, Public relations director, Research director, and Graphic designer. My role was the public relations director and I was responsible for arranging the personal experiences as well as the interview with a local athlete.
Below is the link to my article that was in the magazine.
Below is the link to my article that was in the magazine.
Iconic Cheer Ledgends
Cheerleading is a sport that many girls and boys around the world are a part of. It all began with a simple chant, and has evolved to consist of dance, stunts, tumbling, and spirit fingers. Thomas Peebles was the man who started it all; he took his idea of cheering on his college team, and turned it into an official activity.
Thomas Peebles began his passion for cheerleading while supporting his college football team at the University of Minnesota. He was originally the first college football head coach for the University in 1883, leading the team to a 1-2 record in his only season at the helm. He came to the University to teach philosophy and since he had played football with distinction at Princeton University, he was recruited to coach the football team. He was described as "having a twinkling eye, a moustache, winged collars and the bearing of a scholar.” After his term of being the football coach, his passion for cheerleading erupted when he felt the need to support his team.
Thomas Peebles has created a huge impact on the cheer community. To many, he is known as the man who started cheerleading. It was a way to show school spirit by giving support at football games, and an innovative way to get more physically fit. Without Thomas Peebles cheerleading would not be the same sport it is today.
Johnny Campbell
Although Thomas Peebles was the first person to think of the idea to cheer at football games, Johnny Campbell was the first person to take action and actually lead teams to cheer at football games. The cheers that he created went like this, “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!” Everyone caught onto Peebles’ and Campbell’s intentions and followed along, cheering with them too.
The official birth of cheerleading was on November 2nd, 1882 when Johnny Campbell confirmed the first college cheerleading team by organizing a "yell leader" squad of six male students. Cheerleading started out with Thomas Peebles and Johnny Campbell, making it an all-male activity. Females began participating in 1923, due to limited availability of female collegiate sports and because of the fact that men were being drafted for war. At this time, gymnastics, tumbling, and megaphones were incorporated into popular cheers.
Johnny Campbell was a great influence to the cheer community equally as much as Thomas Peebles was. They were both people who were very innovative in creating cheers and dance routines to use for their teams. If it wasn’t for Johnny Campbell cheerleading may never have became a sport.
Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer
In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, a former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). He started this association as a way to hold cheerleading clinics, making it the first professional cheerleading training organization. In 1949, The NCA held its first clinic in Huntsville, TX with 52 girls in attendance.
Herkimer contributed many firsts to the sport: the founding of the Cheerleader & Danz Team cheer leading uniform supply company, inventing the herkie, (where one leg is bent towards the ground and the other is out to the side as high as it will stretch in the toe-touch position) and creating the "Spirit Stick". Since retirement Herkimer has continued to be involved with the NCA through speaking engagements and making special appearances at the National Championships. He will always be revered and loved by cheerleaders, coaches, and former instructors nationwide.
People say that Herkimer was a person that was really known throughout cheerleaders, because one, he was a great inspiration to people and two; he invented the most famous cheer stunt, the herkie. Cheerleading had an impact on his life due to the fact that he was had made on of a commonly well known stunt and because it gave him a opportunity to go farther in his life.
Kris Shepherd
At the age of 19 Kris Shepherd joined Jeff Webb (who founded the Universal Cheer Association, UCA in 1974) to be one of the first 20 people to become instructors for the UCA. Kris, a former cheerleader for the University of Arkansas, has been an influential leader to multiple varsity teams for about 30 years.
Shepherd and Webb had the intentions of transforming cheerleading into a dynamic, high profile activity, and into the athletic sport that it is known for today. They both started with a vision of incorporating entertainment and athleticism to intrigue the enthusiastic, energetic crowd. To pursue this vision Webb started a cheer camp in the 1980’s. Soon after an idea sparked inside of Shepherd, which he then went on to pursue, the idea of adding a sleek and unique uniform concept. Jeff Webb and Kris Shepherd went on to create the first national competition for cheerleaders, making them some of the well-known cheerleaders most important innovators. Together they have both developed new stunts, as well as creating the format for modern cheerleading competitions.
Shepherd was one of the first few to create an original routine to the theme song of the 1976 hit movie Rocky. Kris organized and administered the first National Cheerleading Championship in 1980, along with the first College National Cheerleading Championship in 1983, and the first National Dance Team Championship in 1985. Shepherd was the leader of the Special Events division for her varsity team in the 1980’s. She developed additional performance opportunities, including the first all-stars trip to London for the New Year’s Day parade in 1985.
Local Athlete Kayle Johnson
Kayle Johnson is an enthusiastic 15 year old that attends High Tech High International in San Diego, California. Her cheer career began in 6th grade when she enrolled in Pop Warner cheer, which is a cheer team for local football teams. When asked about why she got into the sport she says, “I chose to go into cheerleading because it was something I’ve wanted to do and I really enjoy it. I wanted to get involved to be doing more extracurricular things.” By 8th grade she moved out of Pop Warner Cheer, and onto an all-star team. This led her to where she cheers now, which is for a local gym in El Cajon. When asked about how the gym is set up, Kayle says, “I cheer at a local gym in El Cajon and they have a lot of different teams within the different levels. We also have an international team that flies into the gym from places all over the country every week, places like Las Vegas and Florida. When asked if cheerleading has made a positive impact in her life and how, she says, “Yes, it has. Because with cheerleading there are so many things you have to do, like tumbling wise, and doing stunts. It also pushes me a lot to where I want to be in life. SO if I want to get my tuck in better it pushed me to try harder and do better. We asked if she thought cheer had an impact on our culture and society, and she responded by saying, “Well, a lot of people think that cheerleading is just like “Go team!”, and thinks that everyone is all preppy, but I think that cheerleading has a really positive impact on our culture and society. Kayle said she does a lot of bonding with her team. They go to a cheer cam every summer and they are placed into cabins by their cheer squads. She says she enjoys going every time because they get to decorate the cabin and make then all nice and pretty. She recalls one of her squad’s themes one year was star wars so she said it was fun to incorporate that with the cabin. Kayle’s favorite part about cheer is the stunts. We asked her why and she said “I like to do a lot of stunts because it is fun and keeps me energetic, I also try to do tumbling. Even though I’m not the best at it I like to try and get better at it.
Thomas Peebles began his passion for cheerleading while supporting his college football team at the University of Minnesota. He was originally the first college football head coach for the University in 1883, leading the team to a 1-2 record in his only season at the helm. He came to the University to teach philosophy and since he had played football with distinction at Princeton University, he was recruited to coach the football team. He was described as "having a twinkling eye, a moustache, winged collars and the bearing of a scholar.” After his term of being the football coach, his passion for cheerleading erupted when he felt the need to support his team.
Thomas Peebles has created a huge impact on the cheer community. To many, he is known as the man who started cheerleading. It was a way to show school spirit by giving support at football games, and an innovative way to get more physically fit. Without Thomas Peebles cheerleading would not be the same sport it is today.
Johnny Campbell
Although Thomas Peebles was the first person to think of the idea to cheer at football games, Johnny Campbell was the first person to take action and actually lead teams to cheer at football games. The cheers that he created went like this, “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!” Everyone caught onto Peebles’ and Campbell’s intentions and followed along, cheering with them too.
The official birth of cheerleading was on November 2nd, 1882 when Johnny Campbell confirmed the first college cheerleading team by organizing a "yell leader" squad of six male students. Cheerleading started out with Thomas Peebles and Johnny Campbell, making it an all-male activity. Females began participating in 1923, due to limited availability of female collegiate sports and because of the fact that men were being drafted for war. At this time, gymnastics, tumbling, and megaphones were incorporated into popular cheers.
Johnny Campbell was a great influence to the cheer community equally as much as Thomas Peebles was. They were both people who were very innovative in creating cheers and dance routines to use for their teams. If it wasn’t for Johnny Campbell cheerleading may never have became a sport.
Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer
In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, a former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). He started this association as a way to hold cheerleading clinics, making it the first professional cheerleading training organization. In 1949, The NCA held its first clinic in Huntsville, TX with 52 girls in attendance.
Herkimer contributed many firsts to the sport: the founding of the Cheerleader & Danz Team cheer leading uniform supply company, inventing the herkie, (where one leg is bent towards the ground and the other is out to the side as high as it will stretch in the toe-touch position) and creating the "Spirit Stick". Since retirement Herkimer has continued to be involved with the NCA through speaking engagements and making special appearances at the National Championships. He will always be revered and loved by cheerleaders, coaches, and former instructors nationwide.
People say that Herkimer was a person that was really known throughout cheerleaders, because one, he was a great inspiration to people and two; he invented the most famous cheer stunt, the herkie. Cheerleading had an impact on his life due to the fact that he was had made on of a commonly well known stunt and because it gave him a opportunity to go farther in his life.
Kris Shepherd
At the age of 19 Kris Shepherd joined Jeff Webb (who founded the Universal Cheer Association, UCA in 1974) to be one of the first 20 people to become instructors for the UCA. Kris, a former cheerleader for the University of Arkansas, has been an influential leader to multiple varsity teams for about 30 years.
Shepherd and Webb had the intentions of transforming cheerleading into a dynamic, high profile activity, and into the athletic sport that it is known for today. They both started with a vision of incorporating entertainment and athleticism to intrigue the enthusiastic, energetic crowd. To pursue this vision Webb started a cheer camp in the 1980’s. Soon after an idea sparked inside of Shepherd, which he then went on to pursue, the idea of adding a sleek and unique uniform concept. Jeff Webb and Kris Shepherd went on to create the first national competition for cheerleaders, making them some of the well-known cheerleaders most important innovators. Together they have both developed new stunts, as well as creating the format for modern cheerleading competitions.
Shepherd was one of the first few to create an original routine to the theme song of the 1976 hit movie Rocky. Kris organized and administered the first National Cheerleading Championship in 1980, along with the first College National Cheerleading Championship in 1983, and the first National Dance Team Championship in 1985. Shepherd was the leader of the Special Events division for her varsity team in the 1980’s. She developed additional performance opportunities, including the first all-stars trip to London for the New Year’s Day parade in 1985.
Local Athlete Kayle Johnson
Kayle Johnson is an enthusiastic 15 year old that attends High Tech High International in San Diego, California. Her cheer career began in 6th grade when she enrolled in Pop Warner cheer, which is a cheer team for local football teams. When asked about why she got into the sport she says, “I chose to go into cheerleading because it was something I’ve wanted to do and I really enjoy it. I wanted to get involved to be doing more extracurricular things.” By 8th grade she moved out of Pop Warner Cheer, and onto an all-star team. This led her to where she cheers now, which is for a local gym in El Cajon. When asked about how the gym is set up, Kayle says, “I cheer at a local gym in El Cajon and they have a lot of different teams within the different levels. We also have an international team that flies into the gym from places all over the country every week, places like Las Vegas and Florida. When asked if cheerleading has made a positive impact in her life and how, she says, “Yes, it has. Because with cheerleading there are so many things you have to do, like tumbling wise, and doing stunts. It also pushes me a lot to where I want to be in life. SO if I want to get my tuck in better it pushed me to try harder and do better. We asked if she thought cheer had an impact on our culture and society, and she responded by saying, “Well, a lot of people think that cheerleading is just like “Go team!”, and thinks that everyone is all preppy, but I think that cheerleading has a really positive impact on our culture and society. Kayle said she does a lot of bonding with her team. They go to a cheer cam every summer and they are placed into cabins by their cheer squads. She says she enjoys going every time because they get to decorate the cabin and make then all nice and pretty. She recalls one of her squad’s themes one year was star wars so she said it was fun to incorporate that with the cabin. Kayle’s favorite part about cheer is the stunts. We asked her why and she said “I like to do a lot of stunts because it is fun and keeps me energetic, I also try to do tumbling. Even though I’m not the best at it I like to try and get better at it.