'Go orange, go black, go Horns, attack!' The cheerleading squad, made up of only four girls, attempts to shout this cheer to eager basketball fans above the echoing yells from the opposing team. After a couple of minutes, only a few fans have caught on and must now stop because the half time entertainment is about to begin. The dance team walks onto the floor and the three girls on the team get in formation and perform their new routine. With such few girls in both activities, many wonder why they don't just combine. The answer is simple: they are two different activities. The cheerleading squad and dance team should not combine.

A number of people think that joining the two teams together would solve the issue of low numbers. Yes, it would bring numbers up; however, both activities are completely different. Cheerleaders join the squad so they can attend games and encourage the crowd to cheer the school's team to a victory. It is for moral support (Omes). However, dance teams strive to create new and exiting moves and put them to a song to entertain a group of people, maybe during a long break, such as halftime at a football or basketball game.
If a person were to go to a dance competition, they would see that the judges look for a number of things. Each team is scored based on four areas of dance including hip hop, kick, jazz, and pom. In each category the judges look for the overall effect, technique, and group execution. Some of the subdivisions of scoring include creativity in choreography, projection or showmanship, appropriateness of the routine and costume, execution and sharpness, and also the difficulty (Universal).
On the other hand, if that same person went to a cheerleading competition, they would see that the judges generally look for five things. First, music; two pieces of music with a good beat should be included. Next, cheer; generally two cheers encouraging crowd involvement are used. Third, 'gymnastics should be incorporated . . . basic rolls and cartwheels to flicks and aerials.' Another thing they look for is jumps; anything from tucks to toe touch jumps. Lastly, stunts; this would include 'thigh stands, preps, full extensions, liberties, basket tosses, etc' (Omes).
As the style and music have changed, there have been many issues with appropriateness in routines. Jonesboro High School in Georgia has resorted to banning their dance team for performing the rest of this school year because of a scandalous routine performed in questionable clothing. The girls on the team argued that the routine was approved by school administration before the night of performance. If these issues continue to arise, it could pose as a problem for other high school dance teams. Every school could start urging cheerleading and dance teams to combine because of this, which could essentially cause many problems for those who wish to be in one of the two activities (MSNBC).

As you can see, cheerleading and dance team are two completely different activities with different goals in mind. So why should these activities be forced together to bring the number of members up? Would you combine a basketball team with a football team to bring numbers up? No. Dance team and cheerleading should not be forced to combine.


Works Cited
MSNBC. 'High School Dance Team Disbanded For Provocative Moves.' 29 Jan. 2009
MSNBC. 18 Feb. 2009. < http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28921860/ >.
Oms, Ales "Cheerleading and Cheerleaders." Cheerleading and Cheerleaders. 16 Jun.





2008. EzineArticles.com. 24 Feb 2009. Cheerleaders&id=1251338 >.
Universal Dance Association. 'UDA Rules & Regulations' UDA Rules & Regulations.
N.d.
UDA. 27 Feb. 2009. < http://uda.varsity.com/docs/0809rulesss_uda.pdf >.