It was all about height yesterday at the Greater Baltimore Cheerleading Open.
Dozens of ponytailed girls in short skirts flew through the air, flipped and tumbled across the Calvert Hall College high school gymnasium yesterday, only to land with two feet firmly planted on the ground and a smile stretched from ear to ear.
The higher the jump, the louder the screams.
The louder the screams, the bigger the smiles.
This was, after all, the regional championships where acrobatics, precision and personality racked up major points. Qualifying here practically guarantees a trip to the International Cheer and Dance Championships in March.
"It's a sport," said Robin Vahle, mother of 17-year-old Brian, who lifted his red Calvert Hall uniform's shirt at the end of an almost flawless routine to reveal a Superman shirt. "You don't think of it that way. You think it's more rah rah rah, sis boom bah. But it's really a sport."
`Got to look good, too'
The athletes in yesterday's competition can attest to that. Eight teams from the mid-Atlantic region -- made up of 5-year-olds to 18-year-olds from as far as Vienna, Va., and Seaville, N.J. -- took part in the event at the Towson high school.
They came armed with enough hair gel, curling irons and hair dryers to stock a small boutique.
Thinking of college
"This is a tough sport, but there is still that beauty pageant quality to all of this," said Beth Kenney, coach for both the Calvert Hall team and the Viper All-Stars from Harford County. "To win this, they've got to look good, too."
After all, many of the competitors want to win cheerleading scholarships for college. To do that, many practice three times a week year round for a couple of hours a day. They stretch and jump, dance and cheer. They perfect back flips and somersaults.
Then they take all those stunts and squeeze them into a 2-minute, 15-second routine that involves midair twists, double-base extensions and basket tosses.
`A manly thing to do'
This is ESPN-style cheerleading, not that pompom swishing that your mother knew. This cheerleading can cost hundreds of dollars a year to hire the best choreographer. This is cheerleading done strictly for competition, not to boost the spirits of a losing team.
"I played football before this until one of my friends told me to try out," said Ryan Rojek, 18, co-captain of the Calvert Hall team, which performed an exhibition routine after the competition. "It's really hard to convince the guys that it's a manly thing to do. But I dare them to come out and try it."
