Beyond the Pom-Poms

Thirty cheerleaders are leaping across mats in a dizzying blur of motion and power. A double back handspring whips by, making room for another and another. Then, as Queen blares over a CD player, three groups interlock hands and hurl three tiny teammates 30 ft. into the air. Like fireworks, the girls' bodies hang, open, then descend gracefully into the arms of waiting teammates.

What's missing from this frenzy of teenage motion is any cheers for the high school football squad. These girls are themselves hard-working athletes, members of the World Cup Shooting Stars, an extracurricular, all-star team of 12- to 18-year-olds from Freehold, N.J. They travel up to four hours three times a week for practice and take part in a dozen competitions each year. Many have turned down spots on their high school softball or basketball team to hone their skills with full twists and backflips.

This summer's sleeper hit movie Bring It On, about a San Diego high school cheer team competing for a national championship, was not just Hollywood fantasy. Cheerleading has come a long way from the days of busty, baton-twirling quarterback groupies. Many cheerleaders, of course, still serve primarily as perky high school spirit rousers. But 14 states now call cheerleading a sport, and all-star teams--strictly competitive groups run by local gyms--are exploding in popularity. Some 40 groups organize regional and national competitions, most of them between December and April. "Competitive cheer" has become the fastest-growing high school sport for girls; about a third of U.S. high schools have competitive teams, sometimes in addition to more traditional spirit squads. Nearly 200 colleges offer cheerleading scholarships.

And if you think the world of cheerleading is as simple as sis-boom-bah, think again. At big-time competitions held by groups such as the Universal Cheerleading Association and the National Cheerleading Association, teams are judged on how cleanly and creatively they perform original 2-to-3-min. routines. Most include tumbling, stunts and dance; at NCA events, the all-stars don't even have to chant a cheer. "It's not really what they're about anyway," says American Cheerleader magazine senior editor Alyssa Roenigk. "So in many cases, they'd prefer to compete just to music."

All-star cheerleaders point out that their skills are a far cry from the usual high school variety, in which the focus is on rooting for the football team. "I hated sideline cheering," says Nicole Pelillo, 15, who cheered for a Pop Warner team before joining the all-star Shooting Stars in lieu of her high school cheerleading squad. "We only got to compete a few times. And, naturally, the fans were there to see football, not us. What we do is so intense, it's a sport unto itself."

Increasingly, it has the risks of big-time sports too. Such injuries as broken noses, knocked-out teeth and ankle sprains are common. According to recent data, the rate of cheerleading injuries, caused in large part by increasingly elaborate stunts, was six times as high as that of football injuries among high school kids. Advocates of the sport insist that the number of injuries simply reflects growing participation and that safety guidelines and certification programs are closely followed. In any case, it's hard to dampen a cheerleader's spirit. Fourth-grader Ashton Smith, 10, of Austin, Texas, has been practicing twice a week for five years and has already rebounded from two injuries, including a broken wrist. Is it worth it? "Cheerleading is my life," she says.

High school cheerleading, however, still has to fight to be taken seriously. Coaches range from qualified instructors to history teachers talked into volunteering. Elaine Pascale, founder of World Cup Gym, started the program after being frustrated by high school coaching. Cheerleading got so little attention at her school that she was forced to practice in the hall.

The boom in high school cheerleading has been spurred in part by a reduction in gymnastics programs. Enthusiasts say competitive cheer offers the challenge of gymnastics without the austerity. And it's not just for girls anymore; the number of high school male cheerleaders nearly doubled last year, to 1,200. "Throwing a girl up in the air, having to know dance moves, is great," says New Jersey senior Ehrin Jannell, who gave up wrestling to cheer on an all-star team. "And it's serious, man. I've played football too. Cheerleading is harder."