The Hidden Side of an Attractive Sport - Cheerleading
Modern day cheerleading has undergone a drastic evolution since its first recorded appearance at the University of Minnesota in 1989. Originally cheerleaders remained on the sidelines at male athletic games and competitions and their purpose was to promote and maintain a positive atmosphere during the game. In recent years, there has been a fundamental change in how and why cheerleading is used. From providing support for other athletes, cheerleaders themselves have begun to be appreciated as the athlete.
Cheerleading is recognised as a growing global sport with its own high ranking world championships, where teams from around the world demonstrate highly skilled, technical, and dangerous routines in order to be pronounced the winner. Cheerleading has a constant battle to eliminate old stereotypes and to prove the extent of its physicality, the athletic abilities and skill levels of the participants. There are clear results from injury records that show the dangers of cheerleading and the risks taken to compete in this sport. The National Centre for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) reported in 2019 that 2.64 female cheerleaders and 3.21 male cheerleaders per 100,000 of the American school population experienced a direct catastrophic traumatic injury. A catastrophic injury is defined as fatalities, permanent disability injuries, serious injuries even if there is a full recovery, temporary or transient paralysis. This clearly demonstrates the physical nature of cheerleading and the courage of cheerleaders to complete high risk stunts and routines. Cheerleading has an ongoing mission to be recognised as a sport in some quarters, with cliched images of cheerleaders as entertainers rather than athletes persisting.
There is a limited amount of research into the sport of cheerleading. Research that has been conducted about cheerleaders, mainly consists of investigations into eating disorders and body image due to the aesthetic nature of the sport and its heavy emphasis on appearance and presentation of self. Findings from these studies show that there is greater concern in athletes where visual appearance is evaluated, compared to non-aesthetic athletes, around their body image, which is more likely to affect eating habits. Cheerleading is underrepresented in sport psychology research and therefore this sport provides an unfamiliar and fresh population to investigate. This research aims to explore the psychological relationships that cheerleaders possess, focusing on their perceived motivational climate, achievement orientations and perfectionism levels. Investigations will provide more insight into the athletic mindset of cheerleaders and reveal if there is an interaction between perfectionism in the motivational climate, achievement orientation, relationship. Cheerleaders have been reported to be more accepting of pressure with regard to appearance and have positive interpretations of perfectionism, because they are natural characteristics of the sport that cannot be removed. Therefore, cheerleaders are useful ideal subjects of research that considers elements of perfectionism as well as the perceived motivational climate, ultimately impacting their achievement orientation.
To sum up, the nature of cheerleading presents a high-pressure environment, heavily focused on successful execution of routines and skills, ultimately leading them to achieve champion status. This environment provides the prime opportunity for research to develop the understanding of the role of perfectionism in athletes situational and dispositional traits.
