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。那么你知道美國啦啦隊是怎么來的嗎？
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，啦啦隊的背后也頗有一段歷史。在古希臘第一次奧林匹克運動會所舉辦的賽跑比賽中，古時的觀眾們就曾為賽跑者歡呼喝彩。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，隨后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(chuàng)造體育比賽刺激氣氛的)活力俱樂部誕生了，他們發(fā)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于1898年。當時明尼蘇達大學正經(jīng)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《埃里厄爾》寫信發(fā)發(fā)牢騷。他寫道：“每個人都在吶喊：‘你們要振作精神！我們遲早會成為一支勝利之隊。’而我要說，賜予我們一支勝利的隊伍，那么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!"
所有人一致認為需要為此采取一些措施，不久后，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，大學里的一位教授就球迷的支持作用做了一番極為精彩的論述，他指出集中數(shù)百名學生的激情全心為球隊的奮斗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(zhàn)勝麥迪遜！戰(zhàn)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(jié)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，因為吶喊口號實在是不順口。看來必須采用其他辦法來讓明尼蘇達隊的球迷興奮起來。此時一位名叫杰克?坎貝爾的醫(yī)學系新生加入進來，他成為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。于是，在接下來的比賽中，坎貝爾帶領(lǐng)大家進行的歡呼為啦啦隊的發(fā)展寫下了新的歷史篇章。就這樣，啦啦隊在美國誕生了。
Cheerleading, believe it or not, was dominated by men in its early years. However, when large numbers of young men went off to fight in World War II, the tables turned. More than 90 percent of cheerleaders were female from that point on.
信不信由你，早期的啦啦隊以男性為主。然而，隨著第二次世界大戰(zhàn)中大批青年男子奔赴戰(zhàn)場，這一局面也隨之轉(zhuǎn)變了。自此以后，超過百分之九十的啦啦隊員由女性擔當。
The evolution of cheerleading to a sport, again led by The University of Minnesota, started in the 1920's with the inclusion of gymnastics and tumbling routines. This helped cheerleaders to become known for their athletic ability. The 1930's brought on the growth of showmanship in cheerleading, and cheerleading became more entertaining to watch. Widespread use of the megaphone started in the 1900's and the famous pom pon was introduced in the 1950's by Lawrence Herkimer.
啦啦隊發(fā)展成為一項運動也是由明尼蘇達大學發(fā)起的，從20世紀20年代開始，他們將體操和翻滾動作融入到歡呼吶喊當中。啦啦隊員也開始因自己的運動技能而為人所知。20世紀30年代，啦啦隊運動開始向表演性發(fā)展，變得越來越有娛樂觀賞性。擴音器于20世紀開始被廣泛使用，而著名的彩球手搖花也于20世紀50年代被勞倫斯?何其莫用到啦啦隊當中。
Herkimer has done so much for cheerleading in the United States. He founded the National Cheerleading Association at Southern Methodist University after the holding of the first and second cheerleading clinics in 1946 and 1947. He also taught at the first cheerleading camp at Sam Houston College. The first year fifty two girls attended and by the next year the size of the camp had grown to 350. Herkimer had no idea that he would end up with 20,000 girls attending cheerleading camp in the summertime. Herkimer also was the inventor of a very popular cheerleading jump which was named "the herkie" after him.
何其莫為美國啦啦隊的發(fā)展貢獻頗多，他于1946年和1947年分別開設(shè)了第一、第二屆啦啦隊培訓班之后，又在南衛(wèi)斯理公會大學成立了國家啦啦隊運動協(xié)會。他還曾經(jīng)在山姆?休斯頓大學的啦啦隊營中授課。第一年有52名女生參加，到了第二年人數(shù)便增加到了350人。令何其莫萬萬沒有想到的是，到了鼎盛時期，竟然有兩萬名女生參加啦啦隊營。同時，他還是一種非常流行的啦啦隊跳躍動作的創(chuàng)始人，這一動作也以他的名字命名為“何其莫跳法”。
（來源：網(wǎng)絡 英語點津Danny編輯）
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