02/06/2024 – 14:53
Traditional in North American universities, the cheerleading grows every year in Brazil. Present since the first edition of the Brazilian-Athletic University Games (JUBs Atléticas), the sport attracts attention with its music, movements, animation and even shouts of encouragement.
“It’s a very popular sport in the United States, which appears in films, despite being a little different from the sport we play. Furthermore, it is a very inclusive sport. In teams, there is not just one person’s body type. This group forms a very good team. It’s more welcoming”
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The explanation is from Evalter Tallyz, from Atlética Olímpia, from the Physical Education course at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), present in this second edition of JUBS Atléticas, in Natal. He practices cheerleading since 2022. He was a volleyball athlete, but within the university he found a family.
“The unity of the athletes is the difference. We really feel like a family. I’m from the interior of Rio Grande do Norte and, when I came to live in Natal, I felt like I had a family in the capital.”
Including, the Cheeas the sport is called, has space for everyone, but it still suffers from prejudice, especially towards men.
“Sport is known, let’s say, for being sexualized, when in fact it is Chee It is a sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee. I think it’s more of a lack of information than prejudice. If we are going to take the story, the cheerleading Initially it was practiced only by men. Many people here still don’t know the Chee, so every week someone asks me what I do, I need to spend about 15 minutes explaining what the sport is, that there are men and women, and that it’s not just a group of people next to a football field waving a pompom. There is a whole season of physical preparation for the competitions”, details the athlete from Rio Grande do Norte.
The sport requires a lot of strength and skill, as referees use evaluation criteria such as choreography, movement synchrony, pyramid formation and jumps.
“It takes two and a half minutes for you to show all your skills. We need to work all year round to present a series of movements that combine strength, concentration, balance, technique and physical vigor. We only breathe when everything is over, which is when we are relieved.”
Created in the United States at the end of the century. XIX, the sport arrived in Brazil in the early 2000s, and was recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2016. Now athletes, like Vitória Caroline, dream that it will soon be present at the Olympic games.
“Cheerleading still doesn’t have as much visibility as other sports. We need a sporting identity, space. The focus of Chee It’s more in the Southeast and we need more territorial strength.”
For this, the more competitions, the better. Like JUBs Atléticas, for example.
“The main point of the competition being here in the Northeast is for other states to see that there is a team of Chee This is where the teams are good, they can compete. Basically all the competitions we have are in the Center-South.
Flying high, with a strong base, the cheerleading wants to win over the young people of Brazil.
* Reporter Mauricio Costa traveled at the invitation of CBDU.
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