NYC Public Schools Athletic League And STUNT Announce Partnership In Support Of STUNT

MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Public Schools Athletic League for the New York City Department of Education (PSAL) has announced that it plans to introduce the new sport format of cheerleading, "STUNT," for the 2014 season.

A new competitive team sport that was derived from traditional cheerleading, STUNT removes the crowd-leading and focuses on the technical and athletic components, which include partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, jumps and tumbling skills. Originally designed to be considered for NCAA Emerging Sport status, STUNT has found fans at the high school level who realize the value of a viable new sport for female athletes at a younger age.

"Because of the overwhelming popularity of cheerleading, we are confident STUNT will be able to increase the number of female athletes participating in sports at the high school level in NYC public schools," said Douglas Donald, Executive Director of the Public Schools Athletic League for the New York City Department of Education. "STUNT provides an exciting opportunity for female athletes to participate in a team sport environment."

Bill Seely, President for USA Cheer said, "We are thrilled to have such an incredible partnership with the NYC Public School Athletic League. As the largest school district in the country, NYC Public Schools is a perfect partner in building cheer's newest sport."

About USA Cheer
The USA Federation for Sport Cheering is a not-for profit organization and is the national governing body for all disciplines of cheerleading. USA Cheer exists to serve the entire cheer community, including club cheering (All Star), traditional school based cheer programs and the new sport of STUNT. USA Cheer has three primary objectives: help grow and develop interest and participation in Cheer throughout the United States; promote safety and safety education for cheer in the United States; and represent the United States of America in international cheer competitions. 

About the STUNT format
Each STUNT game will comprise four quarters in the following categories: Partner Stunts, Group Jumps and Tumbling, Pyramids and Tosses, and Team Performance. Within each quarter, teams will perform skill sequences of varying levels of difficulty, technical execution and synchronization.  Anyone who follows sports will be able to follow Stunt. Teams compete simultaneously, and the head-to-head format simplifies the scoring process, allowing fans to track the results of the competition as each round is completed. Because of the new format, teams will have records and national rankings, which will determine their post season play, much like other sports. In addition, post season play can be tracked by the fans, much like "March Madness." For more information on STUNT, visit http://usacheer.net.

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SOURCE USA Cheer