Expert: James - 6/22/2007

Question
QUESTION: Ok my question is I want to be a cheerleader at the university of Kansas.  I know that being a girl cheerleader there you are going to need to be able to fly for pyramids and partner stunting.  And I am not experienced at being a flyer anyway because I am a base on my varsity squad and on my competitive cheer squad. So I am 5"3 and weigh 120 pounds and I am all muscle.  So I just wanted to know if I would be able to be a flyer at a college level or do I need to lose weight?

ANSWER: This is unfortunately a really difficult question to answer because it varies so much from coach to coach and squad to squad. For instance, on the squad I was on, your size wouldn't even be an issue if you could stunt and tumble. I had a partner who was 135lbs one year. On the other hand i've seen schools were at 120lbs you would definitely be on the all girls squad as a base. Muscle is so difficult to lose, i've seen boxers who are all muscle drop weight and they have no energy etc. so if you decide to go that route please be careful. I guess the best advice I can give is find someone who cheers there and ask them b/c they can tell you what their coach looks for. I apologize that i cannot give you a more concrete answer but feel free to follow up with any questions that you may have.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok it is me again, but I have another question do you know of any gyms or any classes that are designed for partner stunting so that I can start working on my flying skills now?

Answer
Once again I have to preface the answer by saying I am in West Virginia so not knowing your area I can only answer generally. What i've found (when i was learning to partner stunt as a male) is that most "classes" seem to involve tumbling. I found one gym that had a "stunt camp" but for the most part besides me and one other collegiate male cheerleader (we were hired on) it was all girls stunting.  I learned by simply walking into gyms and asking if they had any experienced girls that might be interested in teaching privates. Then I met girls who cheered and let me stunt with them for free. At my university i've had girls come up to us and basically just say "hey you cheer, can you teach me to stunt" or (less professionally) find us and do the same thing on facebook or myspace. So I guess what i'm trying to say is your best bet would be to call gyms or hang out at the gym where the cheerleaders go and ask around if there are any guys that could teach you.