16 Things Only Cheerleaders from the 90’s Remember:

1) Tight ringlet curls for competition:
Cheerleaders would wear their curlers to school, with a homemade hair bonnet over them, to be sure those curls were bouncy and perfect!
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2) Cheer shoes with the colored inserts to match any uniform:
It was not an easy task to insert the colored tabs and inevitably they were lost in the shuffle or thrown away with the box.
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Photo: The Life Modifier

3) Fly away skirts with the knife pleats:
You were not cool OR talented unless your squad had this skirt. It made every full down cradle and basket toss look even more appealing to the judges, so we thought.

4) Competing on a hard floor and NO spring floors:
When spring floors were introduced no one believed there was any way all the competition companies and gyms would invest in the more expensive flooring…but spring floors have stood the test of time - thankfully.

5) Jogging to each position in your routine:
Colleges still do this but you rarely see it in All-Star cheerleading.


6) Soffe shorts:
Cheerleaders in the 90's had them in every color, rolled over not once, but twice with either “CHEER” on the backside or the name of their team. They were everything!
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Photo: UCA

7) Cheerleading camp outside:
This is difficult to fathom but there was a time when people actually got sunburns and sweated at cheer camp. There was no such thing as air conditioned resort camps! Cheerleaders would spend all day in the sun, cheering to their hearts' content and then walked from camp, to the dorms, to the cafeteria - without buses or transportation.

8) Velcro t-shirt sleeve holders:
These were for the fashionable athletes who might have been a little particular about their practice wear. They were usually decorated with little megaphones on them and held the sleeves up during a serious workout. To accompany this look many cheerleaders added a rubber band around the back of their t-shirt for a tighter fitting workout top.

Photo: Signlady

9) A personalized megaphone yard sign:
This was the pinnacle of being a cheerleader. When you had the sign you were officially on the team and the world knew it.

10) Music on actual audio tapes that would occasionally unravel:
Recording music from tape player to tape player was quite the project. When the tape broke, it was time for a nervous breakdown.
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11) Doing herkies:
The hardest jump of all time to synchronize!
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12) High top white reeboks:
Cheerleaders from the 90's probably still have these shoes in their closets.
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13) Wearing a store bought turtleneck under your cheer uniform:
These were bulky, they varied in style and were always quite ill-fitting under the uniform. Thank you Varsity for creating Motion Flex!

14) Megaphone socks:

Photo: Chassecheer

Every cheer squad had the little socks with the megaphone and their school’s colors and initials on them. You only had one pair...and who doesn't lose one sock? Smart moms bought two pairs.

15) Pom Poms - what are those used for?
The best use of pom poms ever was the pyramid pom pom pass. It started at the lowest point and for 73 eight counts you passed your team's poms one by one with a motion until they passed from the lowest point of the pyramid to the highest point and back down again. Creativity at its best.

16) Having your entire team wear french braids:

Photo: BraidandStyle

Without fail there was only one person who knew how to braid everyone’s hair so this process took hours and hours and never looked all that good. If you went to cheer camp outside you also managed to get a sunburn on your head since your braids didn't cover all parts of your scalp. Good times!