13 Things Today’s Cheerleaders Will Never Know

by TheCheerBuzz
todays cheerleaders will never know

Get ready for a huge cheerleading throwback!

Our amazing followers sent in their answers to “Fill in the blank: Today’s cheerleaders will never know…” and it resulted in this list of the most popular responses.

This post contains the word “iconic” a lot. Sorry, but these were truly iconic times.


HAIR & MAKEUP:

1. Trying to get the perfect poof

“How to make the perfect poof”, “The pain of poofs…” Many people commented about the poofs, which was no surprise.

Thinking back to when I spent such a long time in the bathroom before my first competition, trying to make the poof look decent… it didn’t.

cheerleading poof spirit of texas

2. How bad the makeup was

Probably the most talked about subject in the comments – the old makeup looks. They were, well… different from today.

“How painful glitter on your eyes was”

“How the world looks sparkly for a week after a comp when you had glitter eyeshadow”

“Two words… glitter.lips.”

“The star stickers you put next to your eye”

“Blue glitter eyeshadow up to your brows with the little star off the side”

todays cheerleaders will never know cheerleading makeup

Yikes…


ICONIC ATHLETES:

Sidenote: no one makes a team by themselves, everyone on the team is equally important & everyone should be appreciated for their hard work, not just a few people. However, some become more well-known/famous & remembered than others.

3. The cheetah icons & the hardcore abs

Throwback to when everyone wanted the iconic Cheer Athletics Cheetahs abs!

There were posts on Tumblr & Instagram of workouts to do, what to eat… those were truly the days people.

cheer athletics cheetahs Jamie Andries Reagan West Peyton Mabry
Middle photo: (left to right) Jamie Andries, Reagan West & Peyton Mabry

4. “The fab 5” and the “OG senior elite”

If you don’t know who the “Fab 5” girls are, you have some Senior Elite homework to do!

In between the era of Maddie Gardner (around 2010) and Ryan Cummings & Kenley Pope (today), everyone was obsessed with these icons.

Below is a clip from the Nfinity Champions League movie where they talk more about the girls and their stories.

5. Carly Manning

The queen of baskets who was the first one ever to do a “kick full kick full” basket! See it in the beginning of this routine:

She was 8 years old when she got her double full, was on CA Panthers & Wildcats, did the kick full kick double, was featured on ABC News, did an interview with Teen Vouge… the list of things to remember her for is long!

6. “The Smoed twins”

smoed twins

These 2 best friends were already on Smoed back when the “Cheerleaders” show started.

People thought that they were actual twins, but in fact, they were 2 years apart and not even related.

It was heartbreaking to see Jenee (left) leave the team and later see Madi (right) age out since they were both such a huge part of the team and that era of cheer.

Jenee cheered again for a while on Cheer Extreme Senior Elite and won Worlds 2019 with The California Allstars Reckless. Madi cheered for her school team after doing all-star cheer.


THE SPORT:

7. How different 2013 hit

2013 was THAT year. Almost every single team you can think of had an iconic routine and things were just so different!

8. “Actual cheer music”

When everyone had real songs in their mix! What do you prefer?

Did you know teams can actually still use original songs in their music? Read about it here: Why Can Gymnasts Use Music in Routines but Cheerleaders Can’t? Here’s a Solution!

9. “When cheerleading was about the teams and not the people on the teams”

“Cheerlebrities” have been around for a long time but still. Tea.

10. The real meaning of OO5

The team name of Top Gun OO5 (now just “Double O” because of the level changes) has a greater meaning than many realize. It stands for “Omar’s Open 5”, so it’s two O’s and not two zeros.

They named the team after Omar Moreno who was a Top Gun Athlete who sadly passed away in a car accident.


UNIFORMS & SHOES:

11. Soffe shorts

Before Nike Pro’s, everyone was obsessed with these shorts! Who else had these?

Even greater than the shorts was the text on the butt…

12. Switching out the shoe colors in the logo

Forget the light cheer shoes, the bubble laces, the extra ankle support… when you needed new shoes you wanted ones with changeable colors.

cheerleading throwback soffe shorts nike shoes

10/10 practice outfit

13. Old uniforms

“The uniform material”, “That uniforms had no sparkle.”

Uniforms looked nothing at all like they do today. It seems like there is a “conflict” today between those who think uniforms are getting too sparkly, extra & unathletic and those who love it.

Where are you on that scale? What are your opinions?


What are your overall thoughts about cheerleading then vs now? Are we moving in the right direction or was it better before?

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1 comment

Mallie August 1, 2023 - 22:33

I was born in 2011. But I know about the smoed twins so cute. You can still watch that now.

Reply

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