<div><p>Over the decades, cheerleading has evolved from a sideline activity at a sports game into a televised main event. Audiences see smiling and exuberant faces, incredible acrobatic maneuvers, and talented, high-spirited teams showing their stuff. David Gauvey Herbert’s deep dive into the cheer world, however, reveals a dark side: a culture that encourages families to overspend; very alarming injury statistics; and toxicity and sexual abuse. At the heart of it all is a billion-dollar company, Varsity Spirit, that controls the cheer industry, and one man, Jeff Webb, who “pioneered the gravity-defying acrobatics of modern cheer” and grew the sport into what it is today.</p><blockquote><p>Sports-medicine experts have routinely proposed making cheer a sport in the remaining states and at the college level, which would mean improved access to certified and qualified coaches, athletic trainers and medical care, limits on practice time, improved facilities and inclusion in injury-monitoring data. “There is no question in my mind that if cheerleading was declared a sport under the control of an athletic department, the number of injuries would be reduced,” Frederick Mueller, the former director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, who was among the first to draw attention to the cheer injury epidemic, wrote in 2009.</p><p>By the late 2010s, it was not unusual for a family to spend more than $10,000 annually per child in All Star cheer, including competition fees, uniforms, plane tickets, hotels and meals. Parents complained bitterly about rising costs. Fathers now attended competitions with a new T-shirt: “My bank account hit zero.” (It was a double entendre — to “hit zero” means to perform a cheer routine without any point deductions). Mothers worked as couriers for DoorDash and Uber Eats during their daughters’ practices. If that wasn’t enough, they were ready to pay with their blood, sweat and tears: In Crazy Moms of Cheer, a Facebook group that today has more than 46,000 members, hundreds of mothers began posting about selling blood plasma. “Can someone help a mama out and explain to me this plasma donation situation I see being commented about?” one mother wrote recently. “Who what when where why and how much? #TheStruggleIsCheer”</p></blockquote></div>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular

Over the decades, cheerleading has evolved from a sideline activity at a sports game into a televised main event. Audiences see smiling and exuberant faces, incredible acrobatic maneuvers, and talented, high-spirited teams showing their stuff. David Gauvey Herbert’s deep dive into the cheer world, however, reveals a dark side: a culture that encourages families to overspend; very alarming injury statistics; and toxicity and sexual abuse. At the heart of it all is a billion-dollar company, Varsity Spirit, that controls the cheer industry, and one man, Jeff Webb, who “pioneered the gravity-defying acrobatics of modern cheer” and grew the sport into what it is today.