Karli Galione

9-22-15
ENC 2135
Professor BradleyMs. Bradley
Project 1
December 5, 2015
Cheerleading and Genres
The cheerleading community is an extremely large community with
many different sub-communities. In it, there are bboth current and former
cheerleaders who are actively involved. Members of the cheerleading
community include current and former cheerleaders, coaches, and cheer
companies. To be considered a member of the cheerleading community, one
must currently cheer, have been a former cheerleader a former coach, or a
current coach. Coaches are usuallyOften times, coaches are former
cheerleaders who still have a love for the sport and the girls participating in
it. still have a passion for the sport but are too old to continue participating in
it. Within this community, there are two main subcategories. This includes
are the smaller all-star and school communities. These two communities
often intermingle, as many all-star girls are also members of their schools
team. Current cheerleaders are the most prominent people in the
cheerleading community for obvious reasons.Of those involved, current
cheerleaders are the most involved group. Coaches are also extremely
involved in their community, as they communicate with cheerleaders, other

coaches, and cheerleading companies. Cheerleaders must often

communicate in various ways. Some forms are expected, The cheer
community uses many genres to communicate with each other, such as in
person, through social media, YouTube videos, and even musiclike speaking
to each other and through social media; other forms are not expected, such
as through watching YouTube videos and music specific to tthe cheerleading
is community.
The cheerleading community is not only involved within itself, but it is
a great way to get is very involved in many other communities. In high
school cheer, the girls are required to be extremely involved in their school.
They often prove this by participating in fundraisers to help improve their
school as a whole. It may be through something as simple as a pep rally to
encourage school spirit and convince more students to attend games. Other
times, it is extremely complex and we they must sell items. The girls also
support various other communities, such as football and basketball, and
sometimes volleyball, soccer, and wrestling. Because of their involvement in
so manythe communities, coaches hold their squad to an extremely high
standard. The girls are to be examples to anyone else that observes them. If
they do not adhere to this, they will be removed from the team. All-star
teams often participate in fundraisers for various charities and for their gym.
Both All Star and high school teams support the Breast Cancer Awareness
community in October. All-star teamsgirls will have pink out practices, and
high school teams have practices and games with a pink theme.

The main forms of communication, or genres, the general cheerleading

community uses is social media; although not through specific pages,
forums, or groups.. Instagram seems to be and Twitter are the most common
forms of communication between cheerleaders. On Instagramthis, All-star
and high school cheerleaders will find well known cheerleaders, known as
cheerlebrities,, and follow their profiles. There are entire accountspages
dedicated to cheer gossip and other news that pertains to the cheerleading
community. In general, this information will be about all-star cheerleaders,
rule changes, and similar things pertaining to cheerleading. As small as it is,
it brings the community together in unimaginable ways. On Instagram, those
running the cheerleading accounts also let each other know when
competitions will be playing on television and if there willould be an online
live stream of large competitions. The girls let each other know what website
the stream will be on and what time the most famous teams will be
preforming. There are many different Instagram pages regarding
cheerleading. Often times, a cheerleader will be following multiple accounts,
each serving a different purpose. She will probably follow between twenty
and one hundred various accounts on Instagram alone. cheerleaders follow
hundreds of accounts. It sounds excessive, but cheerleaders have a strong
passion for their community. The Twitter accounts are very similar to the
Instagram accounts. Most popular Instagram accounts also run a Twitter
account to reach a broader audience. These girlsy dedicate so much of their
lives to a sport, i. It consumes who they are and defines them.

High school cheerleaders generally do not talk to other schools

cheerleaders except for face-to-face communication at competitions. If
feeling adventurous, they may find other friends we they make at games and
competitions on social media. Usually, they will use Instagram, as it is a little
bit less involved. While games are very fun for the girls to cheer at, its not a
very social thingvery social. The cheerleaders rarely have any form of
communication other than the occasional cheering and taunting each other
from across the field or court. Girls may mingle with the other team before
and after games, but only briefly. This does not allow for relations to be made
unless they see each other in multiple sports over many years and at
competitions. Competitions are where friends and memories are made. Not
all high school teams compete, although competition cheerleading is
becoming much more popular with the school teams at all levels. The teams
will cheer each other on as rivals take the stage and preform their hearts out.
During awards, girls chatter nervously with the teams surrounding them as
they wait for their team to be declared the champion.
All-star cheerleading may not be the largest community of
cheerleaders, but they interact with each other far more than school
cheerleaders do. Those on the outside may not understand why they
communicate so frequently, but when girls travel across the country just for
two and a half minutes of fame, friendships are developed quite easily. For
larger competitions, girls will come from various countries around the
worldthe UK and Australia. Most countries are from Europe and Asia, but they

also come from the Caribbean and South America. This allows girls to learn
about each others cultures and form friendships across the world.
The girls that cheer together are not just friends, they form a sister-like
bond. They spend three hours a day, six days a week practicing together.
During this, the girls are constantly talking to each other and enjoy each
others presence. They also will talk in group text messages quite often. It is
usually things like practice wear, what bow to bring, or a reminder of practice
days and times. It seems that the face-to-face communication at practice
was just about enough for the girls. Face-to-face communication is the most
common communication between teammates.
Focusing specifically on high school cheerleading, most coaches will
generally relay necessary the information to the team as a whole. Girls
willmainly receive group emails and text messages regarding practices,
games, competitions, fundraisers, and the occasional charity work. Some
girls will print out their calendars, but most will just rely on their technology
to digitally tell them when practices are. Actual phone calls are not
commonly used. It iswas very rare that a coach willould call one specific girl
unless she iwas in trouble or the captain. When a captain is called, it is often
to talk to her about ideas regarding practices, competitions, and other
various events. Sometimes, the coaches will even text captains individually
to remind them of specific things they wanted the captain to talk to the team
about.

In summers, cheerleaders and coaches attend cheer camps, and

coaches will go to meetings about rule changes, how to make teams better,
stretching and conditioning methods, and other subjects of interest to
coaches. This is done face-to-face and enhanced with videos, PpowerP
points, and pictures. They are often ll be in a meeting-like setting and give a
very casual presentation. There is always usually a PpowerP point, usually a
handbook we coaches read from, an occasional handout, and videos
demonstrating what we they were learning about. In the beginning of the
weeklong camp, coaches receive a handbook filled with stunts, cheers,
information regarding rule changes, schedules, and other papers pertaining
to the week. The media used in presentations iswas dependent on the
subject we they were being informed on. For example, if the meeting isit was
regarding illegal versusand legal stunts, pictures and videos arewere used to
demonstrate what grips made a stunt legal.
Coaches usually find out about competitions by checking cheer
company websites and subscribing to emails from various companies related
to the cheerleading industrytheir emails. Some competitions are initially
found out about through word of mouth between coaches. Sometimes, this is
done through face-to-face communication between coaches at other
competitionsThis is usually done through face-to-face, emails, or texts.
Coaches must sign their teams up online or send emails to the companies
hosting them.The initial sign up process is done online. Coaches will fill out
forms and email the companies more specific information. The coachesy

relayed this information to their team usually through email, and reminders
are given at meetings after practices.
After games, coaches will give feedback to their team based on how
the girls led the crowd. They were not allowed to leave until after a meeting
discussing the night. The teamey usually will usually receive a text that same
night that further express the coachs feelings that game. Each week, when
updates are given, they also are praised or told to learn from their mistakes if
the crowd was not responding well. The team also gauges the crowds
response to judge how they are doing during the games. They know that if
the crowd is yelling along with the team, they are doing their jobs. In
competitions, the team watches their fans to see how well they are
preforming. If the crowd is standing, clapping, and screaming, the girls know
they are rocking the stage. Coaches will also have a meeting after
competitions with the team to go over how the girls preformed. The same
procedures are often were taken after competitions and games by the
coaches as to their response.
Getting fans to come to competitions is almost completely a word of
mouth modethrough word of mouth. The cheerleaders will encourage friends
and family to support them. At some high schools, website called
Schoology.com is used to make school-wide announcements. The athletic
directors will give the cheerleading squad shout outs, encouraging their
classmates to support the supporters of every varsity level sport. Smaller
competitions will advertise larger competitions because they are often only

preliminary rounds. Some competitions are advertised on social media. There

arewould be hundreds, sometimes thousands, of fans at competitionsthere
supporting teams for their two and a half minutes of fame.
After competitions, coaches make their team watch videos of their
routines, like football players watch team film. Girls would watch themselves
to see how they can improve and what they did well. More serious teams will
also sit around and search all forms of social media and Facebook just trying
to find a video of their competition in the next round. Some girls watch years
worth of material just to see if a team was improving or gradually getting
worse.
Cheerleading also has its entire own genre of music. For competitions,
mixes and mash-ups are made of various songs the girls will perform their
routines to. Not only do the individual teams listen to their own music
thousands of times during practices and competition, but individuals will also
listen to other teams music for pure enjoyment. This is extremely common
to go on YouTube and listen to a playlist of cheer mixes. Most songs in this
genre of music are encouraging and sassy, as this is the point of
cheerleading. It also advertises the team whose music it is through
voiceovers.
When the teams speak within themselves, it is usually showing a form
of pathos. The team argues and shows its love for each other quite often.
When the coaches give out information regarding practices, competitions,
and games, this is logos. It is all based on fact. Coaches are backed up by

ethos. They go through training and certification courses every few years
and must learn the rules and its changes each year. Many coaches have
been doing their job for years and have won championships, making them
credible.
In Write Now, genres are defined as categories used to organize texts
(Anderson 7). However, they are not limited to only text. Genres take on
various forms of modes and medias. A mode is how a composition is viewed
by an audience according to The Bedford Book of Genres (Braziller 11).
Modes may be text based, audial, or visual. In the cheerleading community,
the main mode of communication is text based. It is Calendars and social
media are electronically text based. The cheers and performances
themselves are visual. Cheerleadings genre of music and all in person
conversations are audial. Media is defined as the delivery mechanism of
the composition (13). Medias may consist of print, digital, or face-to-face
means. The most common form of media is digital; although, the calendars
may also be printed. Face-to-face is also put in to practice quite often. This is
one of the main ways girls find out important information. All forms of modes
and medias are utilizedsed in the cheerleading community.
The cheerleading community is extremely large and well connected.
Many genres are used to achieve this. Any communication done
electronically seems to be popular with cheerleaders. The most common
genre used between cheerleaders is social media, and specifically,
Instagram. YouTube is often used to watch other routines and listen to other

teams mixes. Within teams, text messaging and face-to-face communication

is the most common. Coaches will usually use emails to communicate with
the members of their team.

Works Cited

Anderson, Daniel. Write Now. Boston: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.

Braziller, Amy. Elizabeth, Kleinfield. The Bedford Book of Genres. Bedford/St.
Martins: 2014. Print