Cheerleading

　If you watch American football or basketball games on TV, you can see some of the best cheerlearders in America. The cheerleaders are the people who cheer for their teams by singing songs, and shouting. By doing this, they help their teams to win.
　Cheerleading may look easy, but it is really quite difficult. Today's cheerleaders must be able to sing, dance, and do gymnastics. Sometimes, cheerleaders at American football games have to sing and dance for more than four hours! So they must be very healthy and strong.
　Cheerleading first became popular in the United States early in the 1950s. Nowadays, most American junior high schools, high schools, and colleges have cheerleading teams. Every year, thousands of girls practice for a long time to become cheerleaders. Many of them practice every day after school, but only a few of them can become team members. After becoming cheerleaders, the girls have to practice even more. Of course, they have to go to all the games and work hard. But they also have a lot of fun.
　In 1972, one of the most famous professional football teams, from Texas, started the first professional cheerleading team. Sports fans really liked them, so teams around the country quickly began their own professional cheerleading teams. Now, cheerleaders are an important part of every game.