Observation
The practice then starts with a crucial warm up consisting of crunches, push-ups, leg lifts, and cheer stretches (straddle stretches, splits, handstands). Two cheerleaders (usually the captains, unless they cannot attend) stand in front of the team and count out the warm-up so each cheerleader spends enough time on each stretch and everyone is on the same page.
Analysis
The warm-up is vital in running a cheerleading practice because muscles
and joints need to be worked before they can run a routine. Failure to warm up properly can result
in broken bones and strained muscles.
Observation
When the girls finally are ready to tumble, each cheerleader runs through his or her part in the routine throwing flip after flip. It is here where they encourage each other most. After each cheerleader goes, everyone claps and cheers them on. While a person is warming up their skill, most cheerleaders use phrases like “come on” or “you got this” to encourage them to do a great job and finish the skill strong. Once, again, there are side chats going on while the girls wait on line for their turn.
Analysis
Although tumbling is from the individual, the encouragement and cheering
makes the skill become teamwork.
Through the communication here, girls want to do better and perfect the
skill for the team as well as the routine. They care about one another's performance and want each other to do well. Just like G's responses in the interview, everything that has to do with the individual turns into a "we" and "us".
Observation
Once the coaches feel the tumbling skills are ready, they instruct the cheerleaders to get into their stunts so they can warm them up. The girls and boy walked like snails to their first stunt. It took a while for them to disburse from their tumbling groups. While warming up stunts, cheerleaders talk with one another to explain what is going wrong and what is going good. It is here they blame most of their problems on their “top girl” or flyer for falling out of her stunt. Some stunts hit perfect, others fell more than once. There was a lot of frustration on the faces of the girls who stunts were falling. They tended to make mean and rude comments to one another. The stunt just continued to fall because of the mixed frustration.
Coaches then tell the cheerleaders to move onto their next stunts. The mood from the previous stunt carries over and continues. All cheerleaders now have an attitude because their feelings rub off on one another. Eventually, everyone is giving attitude to everyone. Some girls yell to the team to "shut up". The coaches then become extremely frustrated and have to get involved. They exclaim to the girls that they volunteer their time here because they love it and they are being very disrespectful. The cheerleaders then continue what they have to do quietly but there is still a "bad vibe" of attitude in the air. The coaches tell the cheerleaders to get a drink and when they walk to their stuff, they talk, role eyes and check their cell phones.
Analysis
When under pressure, the girls become frustrated and angry. Instead of aiming their anger towards doing better and hitting what they need to do, they blame one another. They quickly get attitudes and are quick to blame one another. When one person in the stunt group becomes frustrated, everyone becomes frustrated. When one gives attitude, the rest give attitude, and then, with this team, rubs off on every individual and reflects the performance. It is really hard to get through a practice when attitudes are high because sometimes its like talking to a wall. The cheerleaders allow their emotions to take over instead of putting them aside and getting done what needs to get done.
***Although this is not mentioned in the observations, in a impersonal conversation, a cheerleader told me how her group gets through the frustration. They use something called the "Oreo effect". The "Oreo effect" is when a girl or boy says something they did great, what they need to fix, and how they can fix the correction in a positive way. The cheerleader said it is effective for the most part but it all depends on the person and the attitude as well as the moment it is all happening.***
The observations relate directly to the interview. The though of teamwork is there instead of the individual. When individuals are frustrated, everyone becomes frustrated like they are one person.
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