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In Great Britain Cheerleading is becoming more and more popular. There is a British cheerleading association which holds national competitions every year. The majority of squads tend to focus on competing but there are several sports teams that have a cheerleading squad to support them. These are usually rugby league teams such as leeds rhinos. Cheerleaders in Britain can range from the age of six or seven, up to university students and they all mix together and compete in competitions consisting of cheer, dance and stunt categories.

1 History

Evolving in (all-male) colleges in the late 19th and early 20th centuries purely as attempts to encourage crowds at their sporting competitions to cheer, the practice spread and became largely a female activity as time progressed. A significant factor was limited availability of female collegiate sports. Organised cheerleading contests were formed; most high schools around the U.S.A. had formed cheerleading squads by the 1950s. Today cheerleading competitions are a ubiquitous feature of American public schools and universities as well as American professional football. State and national championships for school and college teams are common, and top squads take their routines extremely seriously.

While cheerleaders regard their sport as a serious endeavour, this is not a universal opinion. Cheerleaders are stereotyped in numerous television shows and movies in a sexist way as vacuous, sexuallySexual behavior is a form of physical intimacy that can be directed to reproduction (one possible goal of sexual intercourse) and/or to enjoying the body of someone else. This article concentrates on physical activity. Social and psychological issues are attractive and vainVanity is similar to pride, but it involves an excessive admiration of oneself because of one's real or imaginary skills, talents, accomplishments, or appearance. Pride in physical appearance can border with narcissism. Somebody who boasts much or spends. In this view, cheerleading performances are purely showing off of the cheerleaders' bodies rather than a "real" sporting competition. Cheerleaders point to the athleticIn the most common meaning, athlete is a person possessing above average physical skills ( strength, agility, and endurance) and thus seen suitable for physical activities, in particular, contests. An ancient Greek word for "contest" was athlos and those and aesthetic qualities of their routines, and the extensive physical training and rehearsal required to win competitions - or, more often, simply ignore this reputation.

2 Performance elements

2.1 Motions/Jumps

• Common cheerleading motions are high V, low V, half-high and half-low Vs, diagonals, K's, L's, T's, broken T's, touchdowns, low touchdowns, tabletops, and punches.

• Toe-touch is a jump with legs split sideways while touching both toes simultaneously.

• Hurdler The free leg is either forward (a front hurdler), or sideways (a side hurdler.)

• Pike is among the most difficult jumps. Both legs are straight out, knees locked. Arms are stretched forward to create a folded position in the air. This is often performed at a ninety-degree angle to the audience in order to show off the air position.

• The most common approach to a jump is the "prep" jump. On counts 1-2 arms are clasped, knees are together and bent. On 3-4, stand up on toes and raise arms in high V. Swing arms around in front and jump on 5-6, stand stationary and stand up on 7-8. Other approaches include power, banana, and double whip (actually two or more jumps.)

• Quite a few moves are borrowed from dances ( Breakdancing/Hip HopBreakdancing also known as b-boying is a form of acrobatic dance that is part of hip hop culture. Breakdancing is one of the four elements of hip hop. History Breakdancing is probably connected to Urban Street Jazz or more likely capoeira, an Afro- Brazil) and acrobatics (e.g., CartwheelA cartwheel is the movement where one moves sideways (in the motion the wheel of a cart would follow) in a straight line keeping the back straight placing the hand of the same side on the ground followed by the other hand as the legs are passed over the b). Others are made up by the cheerleading coach or the cheerleaders themselves.