Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer

In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, of Dallas, TX and a former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) as a way to hold cheer leading clinics. In 1949, The NCA held its first clinic in Huntsville, TX with 52 girls in attendance. "Herkie" contributed many "firsts" to the sport including the founding of Cheerleader & Danz Team uniform supply company, inventing the herkie, (where one leg is bent towards the ground and the other is out to the side as high as it will stretch in the toe touch position) and creating the "Spirit Stick". By the 1960s, college cheerleaders began hosting workshops across the nation, teaching fundamental cheer skills to eager high school age girls. In 1965, Fred Gastoff invented the vinyl pom pom and it was introduced into competitions by the International Cheer leading Foundation (now the World Cheer leading Association or WCA). Organized cheer leading competitions began to pop up with the first ranking of the "Top Ten College Cheer leading Squads" and "Cheerleader All America" awards given out by the International Cheer leading Foundation in 1967. In 1978, America was introduced to competitive cheer leading by the first broadcast of Collegiate Cheer leading Championships on CBS.


cited from wikipedia