Sportspress Northwest published Infighting Complicates Cheerleading’s Future Status.
Traditional cheerleading is alive and well – replete with hair ribbons, high kicks and pom poms – but a new version of the activity threatens the conventional definition of “sport.”
Every once in a while I’ll look at what people search for that leads them to Spirit Post. The top result is always some variation of Spirit Post, but ignoring that here are the top 5 topics for the last 3 months, with a little information to point searches in the right direction when possible.
1. NCATA, including NCSTA & John Blake
The National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) was the most searched for topic over the last 3 months. This was likely due to the attention brought by the Quinnipiac trial and the NCATA website not being complete at that time. Now most information is available on the NCATA website.
2. Jeff Webb
Jeff Webb was the next most searched for topic. This was primarily due to the Quinnipiac trial, our letter to Jeff Webb, and his response to us.
3. NCA College Nationals 2010
There were several searches specifically about NCA College Nationals 2010. I have to assume readers are looking for Results.
4. Searching for Specific Events
There were many search looking for events, such as “cheer competitions in atlanta ga” or “cheerleading comp on Feb 12″ spread throughout the searches. Right now we don’t have an easy to use, comprehensive listing of competitions, but I think people are starting to realize the need for one. Now we just need to find someone to create it. In the meantime we list several major events on the Spirit Post Calendar.
5. US Finals 2011
US Finals 2011 rounded out the top 5. Dates and locations are now available on the US Finals website.
The Liveshots blog on Fox News published Cheerleading a Sport?.
When asked whether they’ve had contact with these two groups, the NCAA responded: “We have had conversations with both groups about how the emerging sports proposal process.” And they went on to say: “Whatever model is adopted would have to be voted on by NCAA membership to be added to the emerging sports list. It is difficult to predict what the membership would decide, and too early in the process to speculate.”
The Associated Press published Groups competing to make cheer a recognized sport.
“We’re trying to provide schools with a format that will work at the collegiate level and will help satisfy Title IX for many of the universities,” said Bill Seely, the executive director of USA Cheer. “One of our priorities is to make sure that it does not come at the expense of traditional cheerleading.”
“What we are doing is creating a separate sport that is apart from cheerleading, and we’re very excited about that,” said John Blake, the executive director of the NCATA.
A SPIRIT Roundtable Special Episode with John Blake was just released. John Blake, the Executive Director of the NCATA, talks about the recent news that USA Gymnastics will be sanctioning NCATA events.