MoveU: Challenge the Cheerleaders

The Cheer Team was being invited to participate in the annual MoveU carnival on January 10th, 2019 at the Meeting Place in UTSC.

MoveU is a tri-campus initiative housed under the Athletics and Recreation Department. At MoveU, the goal is to encourage physical activity and promote a healthy active lifestyle while allowing students to explore their environment and interact with their peers. For more information, please check https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/programs/moveu/

A variety of sports teams were invited to participate and encouraged to think of activities that aimed to promote healthy living and a more active lifestyle.

< Ellen Eshenko promoting our activity to our peers holding our scoreboard in hand

The Cheer Team decided to host the Challenge the Cheerleaders: Strength and Endurance interactive physical activity at the carnival.

Participants can choose one of the physical activities from a cheerleader's workout routine and either challenge each other, or the cheerleaders!

Volunteers won by doing the chosen activity longer than their peers, or the cheerleaders.

We run, we stretch, we tumble, we stunt, we jump, we dance, and we run our routine multiple times.

The challenges included various physical activities, but not limited to: bridge hold, splits, plank position, hollow body hold, V hold and handstands etc. All of which are always included in the regular conditioning routine of cheer practices - the cheerleaders are fit and conditioned, thus it is not an easy task to defeat the cheerleaders!

V hold endurance challenge between Chris and Michelle from the cheer team. Michelle won by holding her V-fold for 3:04 mins. Chris said he was impressed by the strength of the cheerleaders, and would consider coming to tryout!

Plank position hold between rep from Emerge at UTSC, and Alexis from the Cheer Team. Alexis won (1:35mins)!

Another rep from Emerge at UTSC challenged Alexis (the record holder of plank position hold). Alexis managed to not only win the challenge,but also refreshed her personal record by plank hold for 2:50mins!

Headstand challenge between Lotte and Nittya from the cheer team, Lotte won with her perfectly perpendicular position!

Nittya was being challenged by Emerge at UTSC, yet again, but V-hold this time. Nittya won but the record holder for V-hold was still Michelle.

The janitor is into the challenge too!

Nora decided to do some bridge stretch while waiting for the next challenge

^ Volunteers challenging the cheerleaders! The game is tough!

Nittya (in front) and Elaine (the back) were dancing to some pop music!

Elaine (flyer) stunted with Michelle, Nittya, Peyton and Krystal trying to grab the attention from the crowd!

Apart from the Strength and Endurance Challenge, we also flipped our hair, shook our poms, and also stunted sporadically to grab attention from the crowd with some pop music in order to spread school spirit, encourage people to join cheerleading.

Cheerleading is an official sport. We may make it look easy, but like all sports it takes hard work and dedication. Author Shawna Fox, Manchester, USA

Cheerleading indeed is an official sport, just because we don't get tackled to the ground or chase after pucks on ice doesn't mean it's not a sport, and also doesn't mean we don't work just as hard. We throw people in the air for God's sake!

Though the opportunity of participating in MoveU and designing physical interactive activities, the team not only aid in the promotion of healthy active lifestyle and encourage sports, but also to correct some misconceptions regarding cheerleading!

#cheerleading #WeBleedMaroon #UTSCCheer #UTSCcheerleading #UTSCMoveU #MoveU