" (Torgovnick 17). However, because cheerleaders were elected and chosen, the position soon became associated with popularity and rank. Women began cheerleading as a result of WWII, because most men had joined the war effort and women were filling the male voids both in factories and on the sidelines. (Torgovnick 17). .
A gentleman by the name of Lawrence Herkimer, who had cheered at Southern Methodist University, returned from war and came back to his Alma matter to coach gymnastics and work with the cheerleaders. Soon, other schools began calling him and asking him to work with their squads, and he had the idea to start the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) (Torgovnick 17). The Herkimer's were also responsible for the pleated skirts, the spirit stick, the pom-poms and the lighter cheerleading shoes that eventually replaced the heavier saddle oxfords. In the 1970's, Mr. Herkimer added more gymnastics into the NCA's curriculum, which drew more men. He also recruited Jeffrey Webb to help him transform the activity and make it more athletic (Torgovnick 18). "That first summer we had fifty-two girls sign up for a summertime course," said Herkimer. "The next summer we had 350." Within a few years, the NCA was running 750 camps around the country." NCA is now one of the largest competitions held, hosted in Dallas, TX, with over 1,143 teams and 25,484 athletes competing. Webb was the person who envisioned men lifting women, women sailing upwards to extreme heights, and also invented the huge multi-person pyramids. 1n 1974, he started the Universal Cheerleaders Association in Memphis, Tennessee (Torgovnick 18). Although the UCA grew steadily it was still a regional program after five years, and Webb had plans to take it national. In 1981, Webb created the first competition by inviting twenty teams from around the country to participate in the first-ever National High School Cheerleading Championship (Torgovnick 18).
