Our cheerleaders did us proud. Twice in the academic year past. They won the nationals, then went on to represent Singapore in Japan where they got third. Or second.
Forgive me, because I can’t be bothered with details. I’m rather sure I remember reading they were in top 3 though.
I watched Cheerobics ‘06 where the ACES first snatched the championships from Magnum Force, who previously dominated local championships. They won because they were functionally flawless on the day, while Magnum Force screwed up that year in an uncharacteristic manner. Perhaps Magnum Force weren’t the force they used to be, perhaps it was just one of their off days. Maybe Murphy had a hand in it. Aces won because they didn’t make a single (major) mistake while Magnum Force had better stunts but screwed up the execution.
I’m not taking anything away from the Aces, as that’s what competitions are about – you do your thing, minimize screw ups, and the case of cheerleading, you probably go on to hope everyone else screws up. The Aces deserve their win, their trip to Japan and whatever placing they got there. I’ve seen them train, and they work really hard.
Still, all of this is old news. So why am I dredging this issue up?
Because I’ve yet to see them at a single non-cheerleading event cheering for the school in their eye catching uniforms. Not IVP, SUNiG, nor any of the ad-hoc invitationals. Take the recent SUNiG (Singapore University Games) for example. It was the last major sporting event of the semester. No attention grabbing skirts. No poms poms. No paper cones. No girls encouraging the athletes. No body leading cheers. No one egging the crowd. Hell, there wasn’t a soul wore a ACES t-shirt within sight. And guess what? SUNiG was held in NTU.
If not for the fact they actually won something, I’d doubt anyone unfamiliar with the cheerleading scene would know we have a damn cheerleading team.
Cheerleading probably started out as a bunch of people trying their school on. Eventually they got organised, and some bright spark thought of the brilliant combination of skimpy uniforms, girls, stunts. Add testosterone-filled guys playing competitive spectator sports into the mix, and we have a winning formula for school spirit.
Let’s get a few definitions.
From Dictionary.com
cheerleading
-the action or skill of a cheerleader.
So a cheerleader cheerleads. Let’s look at the defination of “cheerlead”.
Aggregated from Dictionary.com:
cheerlead
1.to act as cheerleader for.
2.to encourage by or as if by cheerleading.
3.to act as cheerleader.
4.To lead organized cheering, as at sports events.
5.To express or promote automatic or servile praise: We want someone not just to cheerlead but to help us revamp our organization.
Let’s see how the collective wisdom of t3h internats defines cheerleading.
From Wikipedia:
Cheerleading is a sport and a 109 year old institution that uses organized routines made from elements of tumbling, dance, and stunting to direct the event’s spectators to cheer on sports teams at games and matches and/or compete at cheerleading competitions. The athlete involved is called a cheerleader.
It’s a 109 year old tradition according to Wikipedia. In the years since inception, it has evolved into a competitive sport in itself. The Aces wear fancy uniforms, hold up huge placards, stack human pyramids, dance to music and literally fly in the air for the judges. In a strange reversal, the crowd cheers for them in these competitions.
The Aces got into the pages of the Tribune/Chronicles by virtue of their achievements, and even had their exams deferred because they needed to fly to Japan to compete. Evidently, the school holds them in a high regard. Yet, they fly into the face of tradition and somehow not cheer for the school at any event. Kind of ironic if you ask me, considering they are called “NTU Aces” and use the NTU facilities to train. Granted their training schedule is really hectic, but is it too much even to come in 2s or 3s in a t-shirt that only the ACES possess to shout a few words of encouragement for the athletes?
I’m not asking them to come out in full force in every time, but to appear in small numbers at major sports events like inter varsity basketball. I’m not even asking them to perform. Not even to lead the cheers. They could just stand amongst the crowd and cheer as a group for the athletes. It can even be treated as a form of training for the juniors as they would need to have the guts to cheer in the middle of so many people.
Where cheerleaders are, crowds will gather, slowly but surely, they will build up the school spirit. It can only benefit the school in the sporting arena. From there, it can only get better for the Aces. They gain experience, potential recruits, exposure, and most importantly, a sense of mission and purpose.
Cheerleading was meant to build up school spirit during sports events. It has since evolved into a competitive spectator sport, but should its original roots be chucked aside as worthless and redundant? Sure, the Aces deserve all the plaudits, medals, trophies they win because they’ve worked for it. But in light of the above, these victories seem somewhat hollow.
