Cheerleading is a Sport

‘A game without cheerleaders is a world without spirit’ expostulates cheerleaders. When we cogitate on cheerleading, we visualize scores of colors invading our mind, dancing with unity and launching each other in the air while flapping their pom-poms like crazed lunatics. Cheerleading as an activity has always been considered as a means to garner support for a particular team galvanizing the crowd and the players to persevere and succeed in the game. However, as emotional support becomes more competitive with competitions being set-up for the activity, should cheerleading be considered a sport?

This question has brought a lot of controversy to the sporting world as many athletes question the legitimacy of cheerleading as a sport due to their perception that it is relatively lacking in adroitness and prowess. Unlike sports, cheerleading is about precision and unison. Sports ,like football, require skills mastered over periods of time such as dribbling, shooting and defending. This is hence why cheerleading is not considered a sport.

Cheerleaders get thoroughly offended when they hear these statements. Cheerleaders like dance groups put days on end practicing and ensuring that their performance is flawless and impeccable. Thus, to say that their activity is lacking in effort is mind boggling for them. Although cheerleading is seemingly lacking in skill, it takes a lot of conviction to encourage a crowd of people to be more open of their support of their team. This along with the need to be perfect ,thus, shows why the activity should be considered a sport.

Remarkably, there have been some cheerleaders who wish for the exclusion of cheerleading as a sport as it defeats it sports. In the accepted definition of sports, it mentions that there is a need for a competitive nature in the activity. The main objective of cheerleading is to spur crowds to be more invigorated and support the team with enthusiasm and not entirely to be better than the opposite teams cheerleaders. Some cheerleaders are forlorn that as time progresses after the consideration of it as a sport, the main objective of cheerleading may be lost into oblivion.

Despite all this, there was celebration in the cheerleading community as when the IOC, International Olympic Committee voted in favor of having the activity be considered as a sport ,after much deliberation, in the 2020 Japan Olympics (Now 2021 Summer Olympics) along with 3 other additions in the category of sports. With the consideration of cheerleading as a sport, more funds are able to be passed on to the activity causing people aspiring to be cheerleaders to finally have a future career as an athlete!

In conclusion, whether or not cheerleading should be considered a sport is up to debate but with major sporting events such as the Olympics accepting it as such, the answer seems quite clear.

When most people think about cheerleading, they most likely think about football games, pom-poms, and girls doing motions as they shout into the crowd. This, however, is not the only variety of cheerleading. In the newly released Netflix docu-series, Cheer explores the world of collegiate competition cheerleading, also known as all-star cheerleading. The show’s increasing popularity has drawn heaps of attention to the lesser-known sport. Those who are not committed followers may be unaware of what goes on once these athletes hit the stage, let alone the differences between the two types.

Sideline cheer is typically what comes to mind when people think of cheerleading. We can find these athletes on any football track or gym sideline. During the season, they use practices for learning and executing new pyramids and stunts that they perform at games and other sporting events. The overall goal is to keep the crowd and the players hyped up during the entire game. To achieve this, they entertain and engage by doing cheers, chants, various stunts, and possibly band dances.

Sideline cheerleaders normally do not travel remarkably far, the farthest being sports games at other schools or cheer camps. Sideline cheer can be found from recreational age teams up to junior varsity and varsity age teams. These cheerleaders do not compete and are not judged against other teams. The season for a sideline cheerleader can start in the summer and is as long as the sports they cheer for.

Rather than cheering for a high school, all-star cheer teams are affiliated with local gyms that may also teach gymnastics and dance. They can represent anywhere from twenty to two-hundred athletes who are split into teams based on increasing age and skill level. Unlike sideline cheer, there are no pom-poms and surely no yelling. Instead of working on multiple cheers and pyramids during practices, a team only learns one routine that is changed and perfected as the season advances. The two-minute thirty-second routine consists of standing and running tumbling, stunting, jumps, and occasional dance features.

In many cases, skills performed by all-star cheerleaders are much more difficult than sideline. All-star cheerleaders generally travel farther and more often than sideline cheerleaders. They take their routine to cheer competitions that can be local, regional, national and even worldwide. At these competitions, hundreds of teams of boys and girls perform their routine on a 42′ by 54’ spring floor.

A panel of judges then score the routines based on difficulty, technique, and execution. The goal of an all-star team is to offer their best performance and get the highest score to win first place for their designated divisions. An all-star cheer season ordinarily lasts year long. Members of the team can come from different schools and areas, while sideline cheerleaders are required to cheer for the school they attend.

What is a sport? By definition a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. But then what is a cheerleader? A cheerleader is a member of a team that performs organized cheering, chanting and dancing in support of a sports team. The definition given does not even put into perspective what cheerleading is.

Cheerleaders compete and do skills that not everyone can do, so why is it not considered a sport? This research paper is going to give you all the information and data on why cheerleading should be considered a sport, including the differences between high school cheerleading and all star cheerleading, as well as the injuries that are obtained, and if cheerleading were considered to be a sport what could be done to prevent many of those injuries. As to talking about the different viewpoint as to why people think cheerleading should not be considered a sport. This paper will also be include the law, law IX and what it means in the cheerleading world today.

High school cheerleading: people only look at cheerleaders as they are on the sidelines cheering for football or basketball being peppy and supporting the team. But they don’t see the competitions they do. In fact about 75,000 highschool cheerleaders take part in competitions each year. High school cheerleading (in the state of Massachusetts) is not considered a NCAA sport which leads it to be a MSAA (Massachusetts Administration Administrator Association ). The MSSA takes care of the honor roll, national honors society and then cheerleading, this makes cheerleading a club instead of a sport in schools.

Thirty states have already recognized cheerleading as a sport. There are many restrictions that are in high school cheerleading, such as having to ban certain skills, due to the risk they have to the cheerleader. Also because cheerleading is not considered a sport in some states, there are no rules saying that the athlete can’t work with a coach all year round, well cheerleaders can, they work with many different coaches to perfect different aspects of their skills. I fully understand that high school students do not truly see the other side to cheerleading, it is not just standing on the sidelines, if they do not think cheer is a sport. I would not want to consider it a sport either.

College and professional cheerleading: In high school cheer you don’t get scouted , no one comes out to watch you or try to recruit you for the team, unlike football and basketball. Also college cheerleading is not part of the NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA. If you don’t think high school cheerleading is considered a sport then at least consider professional cheerleading and college cheerleading a sport. Unlike high school and college cheerleaders, professional cheerleaders do not stand on a sideline and root for a particular team. They strictly train for Cheerleading Worlds in Orlando, Florida every April.

This event basically like the Superbowl, but you compete against more than one team. Another thing to point out is that there are all star teams made up from eleven to eighteen year olds. All star cheerleading or professional cheerleaders have to be the ultimate best. They have to be able to complete extreme stunts and tumbling passes. On top of being able to perfect their skills, they have three to four practices a week, plus school, and any additional classes they take to become better. No, I’m not saying that cheerleading is the only sport that practices all the time, football players are probably working out all the time to become stronger. I’m just saying cheerleaders work out and practice too, but football is a sport and cheerleading is not.

Cheerleading is deemed as one of the most dangerous sports for females. A study found that 37 percent of junior and senior cheerleaders have had concussion symptoms but have not reported them. The journal of pediatrics noted that an increase of hospital visits from cheerleaders have gone up over the years, 4,954 in 1980 to 26, 786 in 2007. In the p of the years 1980 and 2007 there has been 83 cases of severe or disabling injuries to high school cheerleaders. Also, three of those cases were fatal.

The study also says that cheerleading accounts for 66 percent of catastrophic sports injuries for females, but when it comes to all sports combined cheerleading is second too football. A fall out of a stunt is viewed as more impactful than being tackled by a professional football player. A flyer is usually held way above the bases heads at around six or seven feet depending on how tall your bases are, but then are thrown higher in the air to be able to complete a twist down or the necessary skill that was choreographed. It is always a risk when someone is in the air and you are responsible for catching them, sometimes things happen and the stunt falls but the bases have to put their own lives first to catch the flyer because they are trusting you with their lives.

In cheerleading you are hit most of the time, leaving you with scratches and bruises all over your arms and legs. In my high school cheerleading career there has been numerous injuries which include two broken noses, one broken ankle, one broken collar bone, two broken fingers, two concussions, one dislocated shoulder and many bruises and cuts. With all that being said about how cheerleading causes more serious injuries, it is viewed as more dangerous than any other sport, but it is still not considered a sport. The American Medical Association thinks cheer should be considered a sport, also the American Academy of Pediatrics says “school sports associations should designate cheerleading as a sport, and make it subject to safety rules and better supervision.

That would include on-site athletic trainers, limits on practice time and better qualified coaches,”(New York Daily News & New York Daily News, 2019).this means they want to make cheer safer so that less people experience injury, just like they are doing with any other sport that tries to find ways to keep injuries down. For example, in football they are always changing the rules and making equipment better, such as changing helmets so concussions are become less common.

The opposing view: many people argue that cheerleading is not a sport, due to the fact, that a Federal Judge said that cheerleading was to still to undeveloped and unorganized to be a sport. That is probably the main reason why people think it’s not a sport due to the fact that an official person has said it.Another reason that is said, cheer is not a sport, is because people believe it was created for cheering on the sidelines at football or basketball games, and that cheerleaders were there just for their look.

Many people see that the football cheerleaders in the nfl are used for there looks to make money for there team.they think cheerleaders are a specific stereotype look and how they act. In fact let me tell you there is all different types of people that do cheerleading not matter the size or ethnicity you are. Apparently stunting and throwing people around is not dangerous at all to some people. Risking other people’s lives I think is more stressful than guarding someone or tackling someone.

The title IX law is known as a federal civil rights law in the United States of America that was passed as part of the education amendments of 1972. It states that “no person in the United States shall , on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”(Title IX Frequently Asked Questions).

This is basically saying that for every female sports team there also has to be a males sports team. In articles that have been written they say that many men’s teams have had to eliminated due to the fact that there was not enough female sports. Since cheerleading is not recognized as a sport then it is not protected by the title ix law because its not considered a sport, they do not receive any funding by the government or the school.

Saying this cheerleading is extremely expensive and can coast about 1300 dollars just for high school cheerleading alone (at least that’s how much it was for me ). For all star cheer it coasts about 2145 for one season. This being said cheerleading needs to become a sport so the government can start helping the highschool fund it for the people that want to cheer but can not afford it.

During this research many points have come up to back up the fact that cheerleading should be a sport, while finding nothing but weak arguments against why cheerleading should not be a sport. Saying that cheerleading should not be a sport because cheerleaders are only seen in high school, standing on the sidelines, and cheering for another team is insulting to what we do and what we try to prove. By definition a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Cheerleading is that entertainment on the days of the games where they have to be peppy or enthusiastic for there team. On other days behind the scenes, we work so hard, and we become serious, trying to get everything done before a competition. Unfortunately some people will never see it that way, and only look at us as people on the sidelines that are supposed to be good looking and peppy. At some point in time there will be a day where cheerleading is considered a sport.

When the topic of cheerleading is brought most people bring up the negative aspect or they just simply make a face. For years a majority of the world’s population think that cheer is only just standing at the sideline jumping up and downs supporting players on other teams, but that’s not exactly it.

There are two types of cheer competitive and sideline cheer. Sideline focuses on engaging with fans and keeping them high spirited, competition cheer involves performing a routine in front of judges. According Dictionary.com a sport is defined as, an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of competitive nature. Although people argue that cheerleading lacks the inability to compete against opponents, I believe it is sport because the athletic ability, hard work & dedication, and determination.

First, I believe competitive cheer is a sport because you have to have athletic ability. For example, flexibility, endurance, coordination, and agility. It also involves high intensity cardio and aerobic activity, along with competition. Just like any other sport competitive cheerleading requires you to go against different teams for a title that everyone would like.

Not only do you have to uphold different criteria but also have to execute a performance. For example, your routine needs to be two and half to three minutes, have stunting/tumbling, and dance/cheer. In a lot of sports you are on a field or a court, but just like dance or gymnastic cheer is on a mat or on a stage .flexibility is another aspect of cheer not just physically but also mentally .During a routine you need to be able to adjust to whatever your coach or choreographer changes even if it happens multiple time throughout the process of learning .

Next, determination, the ability to continue trying to do something although it is very hard. In competitive cheer or any sport, you are going to through many obstacles, but you have to be strong. For example, in competition routines they have something called stunting, a building performance displaying a person’s skill or dexterity. There are basic stunts like a half up or a full up, but also there are twist downs and basket tosses. While stunting it requires teamwork because this is the most difficult part and sure you have precision.

You and your team have to make sure you guys are all are on the same page because you have to make sure yourself but mainly your flyer is safe at all times. One thing that’s always said in cheer is “never drop your flyer”, and all cheerleaders live by this because the person that is flying can get hurt the worst. A lot of times in cheerleading learning new skills are going to be difficult, but you have to always push yourself in order to achieve your goal.

Finally, the most important reason I believe competitive cheer is a sport is the hard work and dedication asserted into being a cheerleading. During competition season of cheer, you might practice more thirty hours a week and your life pretty much revolves around cheer. You have choreography, tumbling classes, multiply competitions, and on top of this you have to manage your time in order to do schoolwork. Outsiders might look at this as an inconvenience, but just like any other sport you have a commitment.

It is also hard work just like other sports there is conditioning, practicing and you have to be a team player .Just like basketball ,soccer, and baseball have plays cheerleaders have routines that they have to do over and over again until it, is memorized and you can accurately and precisely preform it .While cheering you will experience blood ,sweat ,and tears but have to smile through the pain and remember the end result.

March 15, 2010 Cheerleading is a sport Do you consider cheerleading to be a sport like football, or any other sport? In most cases, many people tend to laugh at the idea of cheerleading being called a “sport”. People sometimes laugh because they are use to seeing cheerleaders cheer, and doing basic jumps only on the sidelines of games. In reality, they should know that cheerleading can be as dangerous as most sports. In the following essay I will be telling you why I consider cheerleading is a sport.

Some part of the confusion on whether cheerleading is considered a sport or not; comes from the history of cheerleading. It all started during a football game at Princeton University. No one is sure about the date, but it is said to have started in the 1880s. At that time cheerleaders were limited to basic jumps. For example, back then they were only aloud to do cartwheels. Many years’ later competitions for cheerleading started. These competitions were not about what team can scream the loudest.

These competitions were about whom can do the best stunts, have the most solid pyramid, and lastly have the best tumbling Many cheerleaders, coaches, and others involved in cheerleading, know that what cheerleaders do is just as challenging as other sports, For example, like cross-country, they run. Football players toss others, they toss girls up in the air, and the girls expect to be catch by their teammates. Like soccer players kick, they can have high kicks. Lastly, they can jump and tumble like gymnast.

Cheerleaders also risk themselves building up pyramids. They are risking themselves because it can be dangerous when some one falls off or something might have gone wrong. Cheerleaders also have injuries through out the year and tryouts like all other sports. Cheerleading takes just as much dedication and skills as any other sport. Most people in this country would define a sport as an activity that pushes the individual physically and mentally to perform at their levels.

And also to have some competitive component involved. Today, the games that cheerleaders attend for their school are mostly practice compared to the competitive events. If people doubt that cheerleading is a sport, they can easily take a look at some cheerleading squads performing a routine. People can go ahead and look at them on ESPN (the cable sports network). ESPN officially declared cheerleading a sport.

They also began showing the national cheerleading competitions that were taking place around the country. In this show you will be able to see members of the squad leap across the matt’s. Also complete tumbling just like gymnast. Hopefully one day cheerleading will be considered a sport as football or any other sport to everyone in this country. Maybe even appear in the Olympics, since cheerleaders are just athletic and physically fit as those involved and accepted as sports.