What do you students think about Cheerleaders? Does Bethel need a Cheer squad? The school is seriously considering adding Cheerleading as another option for athletic participation at Bethel College.
Would you, or do you have friends who would be interested in trying out? Do you know of high school students who are looking to make a college decision based on the opportunity of Cheerleading?
Post your thoughts on this subject!
Does Bethel need a cheerleading team? Would that accomplish anything for us?
ReplyDeleteNo, this would accomplish nothing for me. This would be nothing but a drain on the Bethel budget and would only annoy spectators.
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteI love the old man in the crowd but he could use some help. He shouldn't have to be our cheerleader. (sorry yell leader) Cheerleaders and a little pep band would bring some much needed atmosphere to Saturday nights. The football team is going to win. Cheerleaders and a band would make it that much better. a little more school spirit is what it would accomplish.
(drain the budget? wouldn't cheerleaders equal more students therefore more income??? $28,000 a year per student should get somewhere no??)
THIS WOULD BE SUPER AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Not only would it help bolster spirit in the stands but also for the football team! I know of several people who are sort of interested in Bethel but don't think they will come because there is no cheerleading and thats thier sport. So yeah, This is an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteI say yes! Cheerleaders rock!! =)
ReplyDeleteTo Daniel.
ReplyDelete..."accomplish nothing for ME." its not about YOU. why would you be annoyed at some cheer leading? does the guy in the crowd annoy you too?
it has been weird to me that we dont have cheerleaders...
ReplyDeletei think you can go to any high school in the region and find cheerleaders willing to go to the next level to be a cheerleader. it may start off slow but it could be something really good in the end for bethel. just recruit hard and this will be awesome!
ReplyDeleteWe need cheerleaders! And of course, it's not about what's best for any one person, but about what's best for Bethel as a whole....a large percentage of all other schools in the nation (high schools and colleges) have cheerleaders. Why not Bethel? It gets people to *actually* cheer and gives us some spirit!
ReplyDeletecheerleading would be nice to have bring more girls to campus and mr. hammond would enjoy some help cheering
ReplyDeleteNo. I am happy that Bethel has a unique community where we don't have/need cheer leaders. I also find that cheerleading often objectifies women, and I think not having cheerleaders makes a(n)(in)visible statement to the community of attendees at games that at Bethel we don't see women as just "cheerers" for the sport participants. Here women are athletes and academics just as men, and not just a sideshow to a football game.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Austin!
ReplyDeleteJerrell says: I played football for a big high school in Texas and when the cheerleaders cheer the fans really got into the games. I would really Enjoy cheerleaders and I believe that it would bring some much needed energy to a very dull campus.
ReplyDeletei say yes because it would be good for the school and would draw more kids to the school so it would get more money for the school so everyone wins in the process i am against wat one person said about the girls being presented wrong but thats like saying the volleyball shorts on girls make them look wrong and all their doing is playing their sport and most of those boys go to the volleyball game to look at them so all im saying is that i would nice to spice the school up with both cheerleaders and a band
ReplyDeleteCheerleading would be awesome to have here!! I was a cheerleader in high school and wanted to continue in college. Thats why I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to come to Bethel because of the fact they didnt have it. Cheerleading is most deff my sport and what I am good at. I suck at everything else sport wise. I personally know girls here that are super interested and would bring great spirit to Bethel. I also believe that if we had cheerleaders and a pep band we would have a happier crowd and prob more wins.I think it would also get more people involved with Bethel and have more students want to come here. More money is always better and doesnt the college want more money? Thats what I thought. Yes they do. And I think the students here want cheerleading and a pep band. I mean we pay so much to come here.Cheerleading and a pep band, thats not much to be asking for.......or is it????????
ReplyDeleteYES!!!!! I LOVE CHEERLEADING!!! I WAS ONE IN HIGH SCHOOL. I WOULD BE TOTALLY INTERESTED IF WE START A SQUAD UP! :)
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Austin and what Daniel have said on cheerleading. I think we should have cheerleading. It would be a great change for Bethel. And didnt Obama even say change is good????? I think we should respect our presidents wishes and take change for Bethel to the next level.....which would be starting up Cheerleading.
ReplyDeleteI agree that cheerleading is a good idea. I also see no reason why it should be limited to females only. Many colleges have a co-ed team. I know it's hard for people who have never done it to understand, but cheerleading is not only a sport, it's a REALLY hard one. If we get a dedicated coach who knows what s/he is doing, this could really rock campus.
ReplyDeleteFact: Bethel is the only school in the KCAC that does NOT have a cheer squad.
ReplyDeleteOpinion: Bethel sporting events are often times more quiet than a church service. A pep band or cheer squad would greatly benefit the atmosphere at sporting events.
I agree with Austin. I appreciate the uniqueness of Bethel in that they do not have cheerleaders.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jerrell - "a very dull campus?" It is what you make of it.
Having cheerleaders at Bethel would be a great thing. Only idiots feel that cheerleading objectifies women and degrades them. Cheerleaders are athletes as well austin. I'd like to see you do some of the things real cheerleaders do. I cant believe what I am reading on here. Only at Bethel....
ReplyDeleteI would love to see cheerleaders on campus, but only if they were to be to the caliber of larger colleges and universities. I remember watching a Friend's game and seeing five cheerleaders on the side mostly standing around and doing beginner stunts. I think it is important to distinguish our program as not just for women, but also for men. This would allow for more challenging stunts and make the squad a more legitimate presence. For a squad to make it on campus they need to more than just cheer, the members should be able to tumble and preform challenging stunts on top of facilitating crowd involvement. I love the idea, but fear the execution.
ReplyDeleteI think if we get a cheerleading squad, we should be allowed a Marching Band as well.
ReplyDeleteAll these comments about Cheerleading being beneficial to "team spirit" or whatever can be doubly applied to a marching band.
Most other big schools have both, and I think you would find a lot of student interest in participating in such an organization, especially with the growth of the Wind Ensemble in recent years.
Also, Marching Bands tend to be better about NOT stimatizing females and are less likely to create a sexist environment (both concerns raised in previous posts).
Just for the record, I'm not really for or against the addition of cheerleaders at Bethel, but as long as we're having the discussion, we should attempt to create a more open game-day environment generally by the addition of other traditional elements.... such as a band.
ReplyDeleteI am against bringing a cheer squad to Bethel for two main reasons:
ReplyDelete1. The fact that it DOES objectify and stigmatize women. It really does. Especially with the trends in college and professional sports these days to have them be basically wearing their underwear, and go through "stunts" which resemble risque hip-hop music videos.
I'm not saying that is what Bethel would start out as, but that is the trend, and it is quite popular.
I would also like to point out that presently, some of the most well respected teams in professional sports (as well as the teams with the highest female fan bases) are teams that DO NOT have cheerleaders; very specifically because of this trend.
And I would hate to see us add cheerleading because the recruitment would bring us more money. I mean, isn't that basically just selling out?
2. IF we are concerned about school spirit, the I think a marching/pep band would be EXPONENTIALLY more appropriate. This would help raise energy in the stands, without raising the controversy of cheerleaders.
Also, I think it should be noted that Bethel's musical community is remarkably competitive and high caliber in comparison to other groups in the region. So most likely it would represent Bethel well.
Cheerleading may or may not be able to achieve this same level of representation. Obviously, one cannot accurately judge this without seeing the cheer squad in action, but there is a much greater chance that if we assembled a cheer squad, it could be sub-par, and represent the school poorly in its performance in comparison to others.
This is a risk would be far less likely to occur if we decided to utilize band as our school spirit tool.
--Guy who doesn't like cheerleaders.
To clear up a little confusion. 1st if Bethel added cheerleading, it would be treated like any other varsity sport. A cheer coach would be hired, they would compete in outside competitions as well. So don't worry, we aren't talking about just starting a club here, this would be a legitimate athletic team. The fact that it would be a serious addition to our athletic department is precisely why we need to have in-depth discussion about it.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to a pep band, this is something the senate had suggested as a precursor to cheerleading. Students have tried to start a pep band in the past, but many of the instrumental students feel like they are already over-committed and that pep band would be too much for their schedule. So this puts the music department in a weird situation: do we recruit students just for pep band? Even though we already have instrumental musicians? Or do we just add another music faculty who only deals with pep band and try to convince the students we do have to participate in that?
Adding a pep band might be a little more complicated. Do you have any suggestions? I agree, pep band could do A LOT for the game-day atmosphere!
- Julia Huxman
I would like to point out that "stunts" are not dances as suggested by that "guy who doesn't like cheerleaders". Stunts are essentially acrobatic lifts. I have the same worry about cheerleaders dancing as certain dance move can quickly degrade the respect felt for these athletes. I don't know that I think a dance routine with hip-hop elements would be bad, in fact I think if done properly it would add entertainment. I, again, agree that "risqué" moves would only inhibit the squad's legitimacy on campus.
ReplyDeleteI understand that if the Bethel established a cheer team, they would hire a coach, and try to ensure that it was a legitimate athletic group.
ReplyDeleteHowever, most of the cheer squads which have become 'less than' started with similar intentions and structure.
It is definitely something Bethel (the coaches, members of the squad, and fans alike) would have to pay close attention to.
I'm not saying yes, or no, I'm just saying we should be careful.
As far as the Pep band: I think a separate faculty member who just focused on Pep band would be a great idea. I do know several people in the music department who told me they would like to play in a pep band or marching band if we had one.
Maybe that wouldn't be enough to fill all the needed slots to form a complete band, but if we added one more faculty person, and recruited a few more students, I'm sure we could get the rest from the musicians we already have here.
While I doubt we could assemble an entire band out of the musicians we already have, I also doubt we would have to start from scratch.
--Wishy Washy, maybe/maybe not, who doesn't always vote strictly on party lines person.
First of all let me clarify. When I said "for me" I did not mean that I got no personal benefit. i meant that in my eyes it does no good for the Bethel Campus. I'm sorry if it came off as me being selfish.
ReplyDeleteA couple of things. Our gym is not a facility that can handle cheerleaders. Plain and simple it would make basketball games more dangerous for the players, the cheerleaders, and potentially fans. We don't even let fans sit in the front row, how would cheerleaders on the floor be better.
Secondly, I am an open book. I do everything I can to help Bethel succeed and be as fantastic a school as possible. If you have a problem with what I said on here, come talk to me in person, 7C room 4, the door is always open. Hiding behind an anonymous name on a blog is disrespectful.
Also, disagreeing with someone does not give you the right to call them or their ideas stupid. You don't have to agree with Austin or me, but that does not give you the right to insult us. If we're going to have a conversation it needs to be respectful.
I would like to point out that "stunts" are not dances as suggested by that "guy who doesn't like cheerleaders". Stunts are essentially acrobatic lifts. I have the same worry about cheerleaders dancing as certain dance move can quickly degrade the respect felt for these athletes. I don't know that I think a dance routine with hip-hop elements would be bad, in fact I think if done properly it would add entertainment. I, again, agree that "risqué" moves would only inhibit the squad's legitimacy on campus.
ReplyDeleteSightline Payments Kirk Sanford
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