美國啦啦隊發展趣史
每次看美國隊比賽，總有美女啦啦隊在一旁吶喊助威，風頭直逼場上比賽的隊員。那麼你知道美國啦啦隊是怎麼來的嗎？
Just as any anything else, cheerleading has quite a history behind it. In ancient times spectators cheered for runners in races held during the first ever Olympic Games in ancient Greece. In the 1860's students in Great Britain began cheering at competitive sporting events and soon the idea spread to the United States. At Princeton in New Jersey, in 1865 the first pep club was formed and they created the first-known cheer:
和其他任何事物一樣，啦啦隊的背後也頗有一段歷史。在古希臘第一次奧林匹克運動會所舉辦的賽跑比賽中，古時的觀衆們就曾爲賽跑者歡呼喝彩。到了19世紀60年代，大不列顛帝國的學子們開始在競技體育賽事中歡呼助威，隨後不久這一形式就傳到了美國。1865年，在新澤西州的普林斯頓大學，第一個(旨在創造體育比賽刺激氣氛的)活力俱樂部誕生了，他們發明了已知最早的歡呼口號：
"Tah rah rah
Tiger Tiger Tiger
Sis sis sis
Boom boom boom
Aaaahhhhh!
Princton! Princeton! Princeton!"
The history of organized cheerleading started in 1898. The University of Minnesota was having a pitiful football season. One fan decided to write a letter to the Ariel, The official paper of the university of Minnesota,and complain. He wrote "Everyone's been crying, 'Keep up your spirits, and we will have a winning team bye and bye.' I say give us a winning team and our spirits will take care of themselves."
有組織的啦啦隊活動始於1898年。當時明尼蘇達大學正經歷一個令人同情的橄欖球賽季。一個球迷決定給明尼蘇達大學的正式刊物《埃裏厄爾》寫信發發牢騷。他寫道：“每個人都在吶喊：‘你們要振作精神！我們遲早會成爲一支勝利之隊。’而我要說，賜予我們一支勝利的隊伍，那麼我們的士氣自然就會高漲。”
Everyone agreed that something had to be done and soon a meeting was called of all University of Minnesota students and faculty before the game with Madison Wisconsin. One of the University's professors presented a brilliant scientific thesis on fan support. He stated that the collective stimuli of several hundred students focused on sending positive energy in the team's direction would help the team win. The professor concluded with a rousing cry: "Go to Madison! Go to Madison! Apply the summation of stimuli!"
所有人一致認爲需要爲此採取一些措施，不久後，在與威斯康星大學麥迪遜分校比賽前夕，明尼蘇達大學召開了一次由全體師生參加的大會。在會上，大學裏的一位教授就球迷的支持作用做了一番極爲精彩的論述，他指出集中數百名學生的激情全心爲球隊的奮鬥目標注入積極的動力，將會幫助球隊獲勝。教授還歸納出一個鼓舞人心的口號：“戰勝麥迪遜！戰勝麥迪遜！拿出所有激情！”
The game came and went, and the Gophers got killed 28-0. The cheer didn't work. It just didn't roll off of the tongue the right way. Something different had to be done to get the Gopher fans riled up. This is where Jack Campbell, a then first-year medical student, stepped in and he became the first ever cheerleader. Someone needs to lead the yells with organized cheering, he explained. And there needed to be variety, not just "He's all right" and "They're all right." So, the next game, Campbell led the crowd in a cheer that marked history. Thus, cheerleading in the United States was born.
比賽很快就結束了，明尼蘇達人以0比28的比分慘敗。歡呼沒起到任何作用，因爲吶喊口號實在是不順口。看來必須採用其他辦法來讓明尼蘇達隊的球迷興奮起來。此時一位名叫傑克?坎貝爾的醫學系新生加入進來，他成爲有史以來第一位啦啦隊長。他解釋說需要有人引導大家有組織地齊聲吶喊歡呼，而且口號也應該是多種多樣的，而不能只是“他很棒”或“他們棒極了”這樣的話。於是，在接下來的比賽中，坎貝爾帶領大家進行的歡呼爲啦啦隊的發展寫下了新的歷史篇章。就這樣，啦啦隊在美國誕生了。
