Cheerleading is more than pom-poms and pyramids

Being a cheerleader has transformed Ariel Vargas, the co-captain of the John F. Kennedy cheerleading team, into a flyer, not only as an athlete, but as a person as well. 

There is likely no extracurricular activity offered on the high school docket that is more demanding and varied than cheerleading. No other endeavor requires its athletes to tumble, stunt, hoist, dance, choreograph, Mastering the key position of flyer on JFK’s cheerleading team has been every bit as challenging and life changing for Ariel as her personal epiphany.

In practice and during games, she is routinely catapulted 10 or more feet in the air, her arms and legs doing the splits, or in other gymnastic poses. 

As she begins each descent to the hard gymnasium floor — her smile affixed, still cheering on the team — Ariel knows that her safety lies solely in the arms of her teammates. 

“I can’t get up there, or down, unless I trust my back,” said the 17-year-old senior, referring to the three fellow-cheerleaders entrusted with catching the free-falling flyer. “I have learned to trust people a bit more.”

There is likely no extracurricular activity offered on the high school docket that is more demanding and varied than cheerleading. No other endeavor requires its athletes to tumble, stunt, hoist, dance, choreograph, and simultaneously display flourishes of strength and agility.  

Most observers would be also be surprised to learn that the list of injuries cheerleaders suffer reads more like that of a football team than the cliché “delicate girls waving pom-poms.”

Cheerleaders on the Kennedy squad spoke of injuries to their wrists, necks, knees and backs, swollen ankles, and “busted lips.” to name a few. 

“When we are performing, the hardest thing to do is keep smiling when you are hurt,” said Jacqueline Miller, a junior, and one of the cheerleaders responsible for catching and cushioning the team’s flyers. “But when it becomes a passion, it doesn’t matter. You just have to do it.”