Cheerleading team formation based on general and special physical fitness levels

Objective of the study was to identify the initial levels of the general and special physical fitness of female students and form a cheerleading picked team in the "Performance Cheer" divisions: Cheer Freestyle Pom, Cheer Jazz, and Cheer Hip Hop. Methods and structure of the study. The study involved the first-year female students of People's Friendship University of Russia (Department of Mathematics and Physics and Department of Philology). Based on the interview results, a control training session was conducted with the involvement of those female students who, prior to entering the university, had been engaged in various dance styles and different types of gymnastics, acrobatics or choreography. Results and conclusions. Only 29% (n=320) of those involved in the control training session (n=90) passed the tests. These female students were taken on the cheerleading team in the "Performance Cheer" discipline. The assessment of their general and special physical fitness levels became the basis for their distribution by three groups: Cheer Freestyle Pom, Cheer Jazz, and Cheer Hip Hop. Thus, out of 100% (n=90) of the female students recruited for the national team, 33% (n=30) were comprised of the women of one group, 80% (n=24) formed the first team, and 20% (n=6)-the reserve one. The general physical fitness levels of the female students of all three divisions turned out to be heterogeneous, which was associated with the versatile sports or dance activities performed before entering the university. It was also found that the special physical fitness levels of the female students of the Cheer Freestyle Pom and Cheer Jazz teams did not differ statistically significantly, as these divisions consisted of the female students who used to practice gymnastics or classical dance. As opposed to the Cheer Hip Hop team, these dance styles had some significant differences resulting from their specificity. © 2020, Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta. All rights reserved.