Cureless

We grew up in the world where cheerleaders and the pep squad appear like a miniscule part of the whole sports industry. I had almost the same perception of the cheerer, in general, as these people who dance, shout and wave their pom-poms during a game. In college one of the loudest sound that can be heard comes from the Blue Babble Battalion. Sure, I loved their cheers - the Halikinu!, Blue Eagle Spelling, Fabilioh. Obviously, however, I didn’t think they contribute much to the success of the Blue Eagles. For me, they were merely entertainers for the audience. And their effect on the players? I didn’t know until I became one of them - the player and the cheerer.

The cheerers exist for the players. During the game, it is really morale boosting to hear someone shout your name and encourage you to shoot the ball. By some physiological effect that I cannot explain, the heart pumps faster, the eyes widen and suddenly you are even more willing to play for the win. I experience all that even in the fast 8-minute basketball game I played.

Moreover, my brief stint as a cheerer has disproven my opinion. In our second game, the team was more than 10 points behind the other team’s score. But due to our persistent cheers, shouts and encouragements, our team was able to bridge the score gap and on top of it, they won. The third game was more likely same as the second one, except our team didn’t have too many points to catch up. Cheering affected our players’ game indeed. Our team’s wins are attributed to the fact that we cheered louder than our opponents.

Next time that you eagerly wanted to let your team win, cheer for them, wildly.