If you’ve been paying attention at all, you know that youth cheerleading has been growing exponentially in the last decade or so. If you’re of an “older” generation, you may still think of cheerleading as activity involving girls with pom pons who lead the crowd in cheers from the sidelines of football or basketball games. But cheerleading has come a long way.
Today’s cheerleaders, especially those involved in competitive cheer, are now seen as elite athletes. Some might even consider them extreme athletes. Their routines involve complex stunts, adrenaline-inducing tosses, and the type of tumbling you only used to see in competitive gymnastics. It’s a full-fledged sport that’s exciting to watch. Cheerleading was even granted provisional Olympic status by the IOC in 2016, and could be an official Olympic sport by 2028, when the Olympics are held in Los Angeles.
The International Cheer Union (ICU), the world governing body of cheerleading, has more than 4.5 million registered athletes. They put on events like the ICU World Cheerleading Championships and the University World Cup. But the ICU isn’t the only organization putting on cheerleading competitions. There are many other regional and national competitions happening every weekend.
In the past, cheerleading competitions were held in hotel ballrooms and convention centers, but with the push to have more people recognize cheerleading as a sport, competition organizers are starting to see the benefits of holding their competitions in sports complexes. Not only do large sports complexes, like those in Orange County for example, lend credibility to cheerleading competitions, they also are typically better equipped to handle large groups of athletes. Facilities like Momentous Sports Center in Irvine offer amenities like low-impact floors, high ceilings, an on-site restaurant, and free WiFi.
Here at Stylehawk, we’ve helped several different cheerleading organizations find great venues for their Orange County competitions. We’ve worked with US Spiritleaders, Jamz, Universal Cheer Association, and Cheer Pros on venue sourcing. For the US Spiritleaders event, we also partnered with Chrissy Benson of Site Selection Services to source hotel rooms for out-of-town event participants.
Every cheerleading competition has its own set of unique needs when it comes to a venue. The venue sourcing experts at Stylehawk have in-depth knowledge of Orange County venues and can help you find the best fit for your event. For example, if you event is going to be televised or live streamed, there are definitely venues that are more suitable than others.
Contact us at Stylehawk if you could use help finding a location for your next cheerleading event. Not only can we help with venue sourcing, we can also help with other aspects of your event, including event management and administrative support. In addition, we have an extensive network of quality, dependable subcontractors that we can bring in for things like A/V production, equipment rentals, or athletic training.
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