Did cheerleading originate in Minnesota as a male activity?

Yes Although women account for about of cheerleading participants it began as a male activity with Minnesota as its birthplace At least two sources credit University of Minnesota aspirant Johnny Campbell with being the first cheerleader On Nov he reportedly jumped out of the stands at a football match between the Golden Gophers and Northwestern University to lead his home crowd in a chant Other students joined him while other schools took notice Seeing it as a way to energize crowds cheerleaders or yell leaders as they were first called organized on campuses across the country Squads gradually incorporated signs tumbles and stunts into on-field routines Women began joining cheer teams in the s and s Their participation took off during World War II when a large number of men were away serving in the military and has remained high in the decades since This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one MinnPost partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs bite-sized fact checks of trending suggests Read our methodology to learn how we check maintains Sources USA Cheer History of cheerleadingBritannica CheerleadingCBS News Almanac The st cheerleader The post Did cheerleading originate in Minnesota as a male activity appeared first on MinnPost