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Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Gianna Antico and the rest of the Twinkles compete in a local competition, the Cheersport Philadelphia Grand Championship on Dec. 11. 2011, at the Liacouras Center at Temple University.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Andrea Lipkus doesn't wait till she's at practice to start her stretching exercises as her mom, Valerie, drives her to the World Cup All Stars Gym in Freehold in October 2011.
Below is an excerpt from a 9-month project by New Jersey's Star-Ledger on the Twinkles - Chasing perfection: A tumble into the world of competitive cheerleading
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Andrea Lipkus, Gabby Cignetti, Camryn Sycoff and Samantha Santaniello pass the time giving massages as the Twinkles wait to perform on Nov. 20, 2011, at the Universal Cheerleading Association Northeast Championship in Toms River, NJ.
Jackie Freidman / The Star-Ledger:
The Twinkles, ages 8 through 12, train at the World Cup All Stars Gym in Freehold, where they are redefining what it means to be a cheerleader. Forget right now about what you see on the sidelines at football games. This is cheerleading as a high-flying sport whose soaring participants work like professionals, often devoting six or seven days every week to training.
They attend formal practice on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, take private lessons and flock to the gym for open tumbling sessions. Not even the slightest flaw is tolerated — they will repeat their 2-minute, 25-second routine with mind-numbing devotion for six months before performing it in front of an audience.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
During the second day of the Athletic Championships on Jan. 29 in Providence, R.I., Gianna Antico and her stunt group take their turn practicing stunts in a small convention hall room.
But the Twinkles also act their age, chatting about "Toddlers & Tiaras," how much they hate hair spray and how blueberries turn their teeth purple — all while doing backflips.
"Cheerleading’s taken over the world," World Cup co-owner Elaine Pascale says. "It’s on TV. It’s in magazines. Our community has really grown to be very, very vast as far as encompassing a lot of lay people that never knew such a thing existed."
The girls are aware they are phenoms, devoting their unnaturally chiseled bodies, their time, their emotional capacity and their parents’ money — some more than $10,000 a year — to being the best. Because when you’re a Twinkle, nothing else matters.
Read the complete story -- Chasing perfection: A tumble into the world of competitive cheerleading
Related links:
- nj.com/twinkles
- Photo gallery: Twinkles at practice - Part 1 & Part 2
- Photo gallery: Twinkles in competition - Part 1 & Part 2
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Lauren Preston gets some help stretching from her mother, Lori, as other Twinkles look on and her teddy bear sits nearby at the Rebel Classic Cheer Championship at Howell High School on Jan. 15. The teddy bear, which she has had since birth and goes everywhere with her, was always close by, until she lost it on a competitive trip to Florida later in the season.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Gianna Antico hugs Andrea Lipkus to cheer her up after Andrea had a "mind block" and wasn't able to tumble during Twinkles practice in February at the World Cup All Stars Gym.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Brighid Gibney reacts to the cold spray as she is spray-tanned by cheer mom Dorn Stephenson in a hotel stairwell the night of Jan. 27, before the Twinkles compete at the Athletic Championships in Providence, R.I.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Nikki Ryan kills time by throwing her American Girl doll into the air while waiting for all the World Cup cheerleading teams to finish on the first day of the NCA All-Star National Championship on Feb. 25.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Bella Matrone, center, and Brighid Gibney carry the NCA All-Star National Championship trophy and banner offstage after the Twinkles won in Dallas on Feb. 26.
Saed Hindash / The Star-Ledger
Alexis Adamo couldn't wait to go to sleep in her NCA All-Star National Championship jacket after the Twinkles placed first in Dallas on Feb. 26.
Leave a Comment:
I can't help but wonder why such negative comments about super involved parents. These parents along with their children have found an enjoyable hobby. In my opinion, these parents are on top pf their game and raising wonderful productive youth. Maybe we all should become more involved with our children that did not ask to be born and remove our kids from the marathon television shows and get out there with them participating in an activity and making memories. My girls are not into cheering. They like music and hence that is what my husband and I do with them. The point is there is nothing wrong with being an involved parent, and the only people complaining are the lazy parents.
Hear, hear!
My eight-year-daughter watched this film with me and had some reactions. She thought the name "Twinkles" was an embarrassment. She was appalled by the midriff outfits and the makeup, far too revealing to her taste. In fact, while she was watching she applied her drawing skills to the creation of a couple of more appropriate uniforms: athletic but modest. She shared with me her opinion that two-piece outfits may be OK for swimming, but not for public performance. She thought cheerleading is a more appropriate activity for high school girls. She felt the parents were fat and pushy.
You go, girl. I can't wait for the day I see you walking the aisle at Stanford.
Cheerleading fits hand in glove with sexism and the war on women. Cheerleading has all the traits that men want women to exude: I'm so pretty, I'm so petite, I'm so submissive, on and on. Competitive cheerleading in which LITTLE GIRLS are dressed as near clothesless tramps with their parents' consent is disgusting and utterly sexist.
Pedobear seal of approval. For shame NBC!
there is a lot of benefits to experiencing sports teams and athletics when you are young, you learn teamwork, tolerance and often times you learn many things that help you as you get older in life.
there are some really fantastic and hate filled comments on this discussion board, some of them quite revealing about those that have written them. but with all due respect, there is nothing wrong with the fun and adventure of being a kid, without a care in the world.
oooo my....you are correct....if your goal is to be a whore
To Parentsrpathetic: You are pathetic.
And this whole article is newsworthy because.......???????
Wow...this whole scene of preteen cheerleaders is like a Whore Starter Kit. Way to go Mom! What? Sunny D wasn't enough
The parents are really stupid - oh well
By reading some of these comments, I could swear most of you never get out of the mental GUTTER. Hey beefjerky, maybe it's time you switched careers into law enforcement...you already qualify for disregarding individual liberty of others, without probable cause. Seriously, who let you out of the special ed class? Onto my comments though...
Ah, to be young again. There are many merits of learning things at a young age, in addition to being able to build a network, which will influence how far you go in the future. I see cheering as no different. As a matter of fact, just in case someone doesn't like it, that person is less likely to develop an injury they cannot recover from by trying this stuff out pre-teen. When a person is young, they generally recover from injury a lot quicker.
You probably wouldn't find me at such a thing unless I were an official judge, but I'm all for it. Active sports do wonders for a growing person's self esteem, in addition to everything else...and sometimes, that makes all the difference.
I waded through the pictures and the comments. This is exploitation of these 'children'. The parents, me included, should not allow this to go on any longer. I'm really concerned about the joint problems some of them may develope later in life. Doctors want to comment? Someone mentioned the photo angles already and I agree the photos would be a prize possession for a pervert wanting masturbation material. I have also witnessed when a little girl is not 'good enough' to make the team how devistated they are and it has to affect their self worth. I say stop the sexually inviting clothing and let them dress modestly and lead cheers instead of twisting and turning their bodies and jolting their joints. Its sick and not healthy.
wow, ok, tell that to every sport in the world that it is not healthy for them! Get a grip!
Honest question? If a man had these photo's downloaded and stored on his P.C. How many Police Officers and Prosecuters and District Attorneys would call it child pornography? My bet most would and they would be right to do. This is child porn and it is being promoted by the schools and supporters of showning children in such attire and in 'spread positions'. Congratulations to the photographers, your under arrest.
's another "spread" picture of a 16 year old.... you may know her Gabby Douglous... US Gold Medalist. Did you think "Pervert!" when you saw this picture? I know I don't I think ATHLETE! Maybe you are the pervert for thinking that way
Clearly non of you watch the video with an open mind. Clearly non of you have a clue of how hard it is to be a competitive cheerleader. These kids are AMAZING! You may not agree with the uniforms but that should not discredit their talent! Did you watch the Olympics? Did you all think "OMG! THE GYMNASTS UNIFORMS ARE WAY TOO REVEALING!!!! THEY are only 16!!! COME ON NOW!" Probably not! and their uniforms are WAY smaller than the Twinks. When you watch a dance recital and you see all the ballerinas make up do you think, OMG TOO MUCH!?? Probably not because it is part of the production, just like all star cheer. I think this team is amazing. I think they have such heart! I personally know two parents that have wonderful children on the team, and they are not pushy at all! Their children do it because it is what they love!
To all you losers complaining about the Twinkles' uniforms, would you rather they wear burqas? Like those would be easy to move in.
And those commenters complaining that this is sideline, sexist puffery: Clearly, you have never seen competitive cheerleaders of this caliber perform. They are better athletes than most of us could ever hope to be. These girls should not be discouraged. They should be celebrated and supported. And that is what these photos, article and documentary do.
As for those of you who see sex when you see these photos, I think you need psychiatric help.
wow!!!!!! now i have something. what a fd up column,alot of repressed sexual deviants.@!$%#,there just girls having fun.leve em alone you pathetic,jelous,perverted fux!
What we have here are mothers, whose dreams of grandeur have all but burned to the ground. Unhappy in marriage if married at all, too much makeup, no careers and tons of cheap perfume... trying to relive their ridiculous dreams through their daughters. These poor children will not grow up to be anything other then a psychiatrist’s next appointment, hooked on anti depressants, wondering WHY ME???? Good work moms. The only glimmer of hope is that FINALLY, fathers are fighting back and snatching custody from these head cases. There is a chance for these children, if we as fathers fight for our kids. I have two kids I raise solo, boy and girl... both doing exceptional in school and socially without team sports and the retarded parents who hover over the children who participate. Get your own lives and let the children live theirs.
Future strippers of America! Sadly.
Twinkies=future teen mothers of America.