Cheering a weighted victory

   I always said weightlifting is just like cheerleading except that the dumbbells are heavier than pompons. Flies, tris, lunges. It's all the same. 
   People roll their eyes at me like yeah, sure. But when I said that to George Herring of Body by George in Lawrenceville, he told me that was pretty accurate.
   Along with the eleven world championship weight lifters he trains, Herring also works with 20-25 cheerleaders. They range in age and ability from high school students to members of the Georgia Force, a competition squad coached by Terry Jones in Lawrenceville. 
   "It used to be only football players who would lift, but now cheerleaders have a rigorous schedule where they have to lift, too," said Herring. "And Shiloh has the guys who are so good. They're one of the top squads in the state."
   Seven young men and women from Gwinnett County currently cheer on the Georgia Tech varsity squad: Tommy Levengood, John Gortney, Chip Wade and Shelly Piver from Parkview, Katie Alosio, from North Gwinnett, Zach Shay, from Brookwood and Lori Beth Morris from Greater Atlanta Christian. 
   "The physical training in cheerleading is very similar to other sports," said Gortney, who played soccer in high school. "Workouts consist of Monday-Wednesday-Friday weight lifting and running on the off-days. Practices on Sunday Tuesday Thursday are workouts of their own."
   Levengood, who played on the 2000 Parkview state championship football team, cheers at all the home games. 
   "The training isn't as rigorous as it is for football, but still it isn't a piece of cake to lift a 120-pound girl over your head."
   His mother, Peggy Levengood of Lilburn, says Tommy is more muscular now than he was in high school.
   Morris, from Snellville, cheered Varsity for four years at GAC. She says her coach, Eddie Lee Ivery, a former GT football player puts them through quite a workout with weightlifting, sprinting, distance running, and aerobics. 
   "Cheerleaders are recognized at GT as part of the athletic association and receive the same benefits that all of the other athletes do," said Morris. 
   A recent Must Read story in the GDP gave even more credence to how much more people value cheerleaders today. "Radical cheerleaders protest with pompons" related how cheerleaders use pompons and power lunges to support social causes. I remember back in the seventies when I cancelled my subscription to Ms. Magazine for bashing cheerleaders as sexist stereotypes. But now, feminist Aimee Jennings thinks cheerleaders are positive role models. She says,   "Cheerleaders are athletes. They're strong. They work really hard." Maybe that gives a whole new slant to that old cheer, "Lean to the left, lean to the right."
   Some may still roll their eyes at me when I compare cheerleading to weight training. But how uplifting to know that after 40 years, my opinion of my favorite sport is finally carrying some weight.

112603

Archive