Bethany Houde

Campbell
UWRT 1101
November 5th, 2014
Mini-Ethnography: UNCC Cheerleading team
The group that I observed for the mini-ethnography project was the UNCC
cheerleading team. I observed the cheerleading team on Tuesday, October twenty-first at one of
their practices and Thursday, October twenty-third in the gym at an event called Midnight
Madness. After observing the team at two different times I decided to interview Samantha who is
a new member of the cheerleading squad and a freshman at UNCC. My outside research
consisted of looking up stereotypes and common misconceptions of cheerleaders. I also looked
up the purpose of cheerleaders, and life skills that can be learned from cheerleading. According
to dictionary.com a stereotype is giving a fixed form or name to a group of people or ideas. I
have a connection to the cheerleading team, because I am a member of it.
There is a place on campus called the student activities center, also known as the SAC
and this is where the basketball arena is found. The basketball arena at UNC Charlotte is very
large it almost seems to swallow oneself when you are found in there alone. There are doors all
around you and so many stairs you cant count them all. A basketball court is found on the
ground level and a track that circles around the whole second level. The gym is shaped like a
square where three mini basketball courts are found on each side of the second level and a fourth
side with a tremendous amount of concessions. On a day where people are found here it is very
loud you can barely hear and it has a very exciting atmosphere, but on any other given day its
just a gym. This gym that has a alternating personality is where most of my research consisted.

One time my observations occurred when it was quiet and empty and the other time where it was
so loud that you could barely hear yourself think.
My observation period consisted of two different days in the same week. When I first
walked in the gym on Tuesday October twenty-first I saw many tired eyes and sluggish bodies
moving the large blue mats upstairs. It takes about two to three people to get one mat upstairs
that are used to practice on for safety. The team must arrive to the gym at approximately six forty
five to put out mats and run a mile to warm up for practice. At the beginning of practice it was
very quiet, because everyone seemed to still be half asleep. One thing I noticed was that all the
cheerleaders had on the same t-shirt and cheer shoes. They are required to match every practice
and have assigned shirts for certain days of practice. At 7:00 the coach, Adam Thomas, arrived
and started discussion the pros and cons of the last practice. He said that overall they made a lot
of progress, but there are things the team needs to work on for the next performance called
Midnight Madness. From seven fifteen to seven forty five the team warmed up tumbling and
stunts that were to be performed in the routine. From seven forty five to nine the team did the
routine many times while Adam nit picked everything that was wrong. Many of the team
members seemed restless from practicing the same thing over and over again. I saw a lot of
dancing, joking, and laughing and the coach was not the slightest bit amused. He told the team
multiple times to stop talking and they didnt listen so he made them sprint two laps. One thing
the coach made the team do was mark through their routine and encourage each other while
doing the routine. As the team talked through the next routine the energy seemed to dramatically
increase and the routine was fun to watch. Although cheer teams do cool stunts and tumbling it is
not as cool to watch a team unless they look like they are having fun while performing those hard
tasks.

The next observation took place on October twenty-third at event called Midnight
Madness. Midnight Madness is essentially a pep rally for the basketball team also known as a
season opener. I got to this event at six thirty and the team had to roll out mats and start
warming up. All the cheerleaders had on a green uniform with white and gold trim that said
charlotte cheerleading. All the girls wore skirts and the men had the same uniform, but a pant
version. All of the girls had a UNCC tattoo on their face and a pink bow in their hair since
October is breast cancer awareness month. When their coach arrived there the team was already
stretched and warmed up and ready to do a run through. The team was not looking too good and
Adam was getting very angry. He exclaimed, this is not the team Ive been working with for
months. The team was very frustrated and finally pulled it together right before they needed to
perform. At eight p.m. the team had to roll up the mats and transfer them to the gym. After the
mats were set up there was a fifteen-minute down period to freshen up before people started to
arrive. People started arriving at eight forty five and the team was told to stunt and tumble. At
eighty fifty-two it was time for the cheerleading team to perform. Overall, they looked really
good. Only one stunt fell and the timing seemed to be almost perfect. The hard work and coachs
frustration seemed to pay off in the end. At the end of the night Coach Adam told the team that
they looked good and was happy with their hard work and cancelled practice for the next
morning. Needless to say this was the happiest I had seen the team during both observations.
There are many stereotypes that have been made up throughout the years. Some common
ones that you may have heard of are; blonde hair, stick figure, rich dad, dates the football star,
stuck up, etc. Although these can be true, they can be true for any girl. On the UNC Charlotte
team none of these are consistent throughout the team. Yes, there are blonde haired girls, some
do indeed date football players and most are skinny, but not everyone falls under these

categories. Many of the cheerleaders dont have rich dads and must pay for school themselves. I
asked Samantha how she planned on paying for her education and she said, My parents are
going to help me with books and thats about it, I have to take out loans for the rest. There are
about three girls that date guys on the football team, but one girl has a boyfriend in the military,
one played baseball at Charlotte and graduated, and I know this sounds crazy but many
cheerleaders dont even have boyfriends. Samantha doesnt have a boyfriend and says, its good
timing to be single since [shes] a freshman in college. Another common misconception about
cheerleaders is that they are all girls. In fact, according to cheerleading.isport.com the sport was
actually started for men, by men.
The cheerleading team uses spoken language, because there are many terms and phrases
that only cheerleaders understand. During both observations there were many repetitious words
used such as, back handspring, tuck, lib, heel stretch, pyramid, coed, partner stunt, etc. Back
handspring and tuck fall under the category of tumbling, which is essentially known as
flipping. Lib, heel stretch, pyramid, etc. fall under the category of stunting which is better
known as holding a small girl up in the air. The cheerleading team doesnt used written
language; because when they are together they are physically practicing. The cheerleading team
meets three days a week at minimum for practice from six forty five to nine a.m. The
cheerleading team also meets for football games, basketball games; competitions and pep rally
events such as an event called Midnight Madness. There are many things that one can get from
being part of the cheerleading team. Many life skills can be learned from being part of a
cheerleading team like; dedication, perseverance and teamwork seem to be of the most
importance. These skills can be used in the future, because they would benefit to any company
once the cheerleading team members graduate with a degree. These skills are also useful for the

jobs that the undergraduates currently have. The cheerleading team shares many tastes and
beliefs. Many of the cheerleaders value sleep, dont like to run and complain when things dont
go their way. I noticed a lot of complaining at my first observation period, but I think this was
mostly due to lack of sleep and how early it was. The cheerleaders treat each other very different
than they would treat others outside of the cheerleading environment. They seemed to form a
family unit. They got mad at each other when they were corrected, but at the end of the day were
appreciative of the help they were getting from each other. When they worked as a team instead
of individuals the routine seemed to look a lot better. The cheerleaders define their selves as an
important athletic program found at UNCC. Often cheerleading is underestimated and not
considered a sport. Ask any cheerleader especially a college cheerleader and they will tell you
that cheerleading is definitely a sport.
From my observations I learned that you cant judge a sport, club, organization or any
type of friend group based on what other people say. The best way to find out if you fit in and
like a group of people is to hang out with them. Although there are stereotypes about
cheerleaders that are true, most are false and exaggerated. Cheerleaders are just as hardworking
as any other sport and tend to form a family unit within the team just like any other sport.
Cheerleading is a team that is important to the athletic program at UNCC.