The Cheerleading Worlds was held April 23-25, 2016 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Twelve divisions make up the elite championship for all star cheerleading for Level 5 and Level 6 athletes from around the globe. Continue Reading
The Cheerleading Worlds was held April 23-25, 2016 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Twelve divisions make up the elite championship for all star cheerleading for Level 5 and Level 6 athletes from around the globe. Continue Reading
The National Advisory Board is democratically elected to support athletes and members by addressing emerging issues of broad potential impact and developing policies for the organization when needed.
Who is eligible to serve: All USASF Professional Members.
Membership: Members are nominated by their peers and voted in by the USASF membership.
Term: Two years.
Commitment: Members must comply with the NAB Code of Conduct and attend both semi annual meetings.
Cheer Coach Elected Representatives
Terms expire in December 2017
Joe Dunn – Dunn’s Findlay Cheer Elite & Gymnastics
Flo Iman – FCA Gems
Jessica Moltisanti – Zone Cheer All-Stars Inc
James Whitaker – Twist & Shout All-Stars
Derick Patterson – Cheergyms.com
Terms expire in December 2016
Lance Stoltenberg – Elite Cheer
Cora King – HotCheer All Stars
Brandon Roberts – ACE Cheer Company
Craig Tatum – United Cheer
Lisa Golden – Vegas Cheer Authority
Competition Event Producer Elected Representatives
Terms Expire in December 2017
Tres LeTard – Varsity All Star
Brandi Matthews – The JAM Brands
Darrell Bagby – The American Championships
Teresa Barbiere – Greater Midwest Cheer Expo
David Hanbery – Deep South Cheer and Dance, Inc.
Terms Expire in December 2016
Amber Koster – Champion Spirit Group
Chad Lemon – The JAM Brands
Scott Bouchard -Advanced SPIRIT Association
George Carillo – World Spirit Federation
Meagan Fiscella – CHEERSPORT
Affiliate Member Elected Representative
Terms expire in December 2017
Angela Robbins Hull – Rebel Athletic, Inc.
Carmine Silano – CheerSounds Music and Training, LLC
Terms expire in December 2016
Andrew Dean – Xtreme Shots Photography
Shelly O’Brien – Inside Publications
Shane Womack – Cheer Media
Many of the significant initiatives and programs that define the USASF originated or were developed through the work of the NAB, including:
A legend of the cheerleading world has passed away. Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer is known today as the father of modern day cheerleading. He was born in 1925 and is credited for creating the Herkie cheerleading jump, which was named after him, and also received a patent for the pom-pon which he created alongside the spirit stick. Herkimer passed away on July 1, 2015.
Herkimer was a cheerleader at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and started his first cheerleading camp in 1948. Herkie is the founder of the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) which began with just 53 participants. The following year, enrollment in his camps had soared to over 350 participants. By the 1950s most high schools had created a cheerleading squad. Before long, he gave up his teaching career with Southern Methodist and took up cheerleading full time. His camps employed about 1,500 instructors teaching cheerleading across the U.S. along with his company – Cheerleader Supply Company that was started to supply cheerleading teams with uniforms and camp clothing.
In 1986, Herkimer sold his cheerleading company for $20 million to the BSN Corporation. In June 1988, BSN Corporation sold NCA to the Prospect Group with Herkimer staying on to run the company which was bringing in approximately $50 million in revenue by 1990.
With the invention of color television and a need for a visually appealing device for cheerleading, Herkimer invented the pom-pon and was granted patent 3,560,313 from the US Patent and Trademark Office in 1971. Herkimer is also credited as the inventor of the spirit stick after awarding a spirited team at one of his camps a piece of a tree branch that would later become mass produced as the infamous Spirit Stick that teams and camps across the world know and are still awarded today.
NCA was later acquired by Varsity Spirit Corporation and became a part of the Varsity Family which was started by Jeff Webb, the founder of UCA, who was at the time a general manager for NCA.
The sport we know as cheerleading today was largely influenced by the efforts of Lawrence Herkimer. Without his ingenuity and influence in the industry, we wouldn’t have the sport that we know of cheerleading today. Herkie was a true legend and pioneer of the sport of cheerleading.
If you are involved in cheerleading at all or are interested in trying it, you’ve probably seen multiple “best places to cheer in college” rankings. This, however, is a little different. Instead of ranking by who wins the most or who has the coolest uniforms or whatever criteria you have seen before, we decided to check out all aspects of various programs, give them points, then let the numbers do the ranking. Continue Reading