Over the years it has been debated many times whether or not cheerleading is a sport or a club so what is the verdict? Is cheerleading a sport or is cheerleading not a sport? Truthfully, there are two types of cheerleading, sideline cheerleading and competitive cheerleading. There are multiple distinguishing factors of competitive cheer and sideline cheer. The hours of practice, the level of skill, and the end goals of the two types are what set them apart. While there is a lot of heavy debate on the topic it is obvious that competitive cheerleading is a sport and is one of the most difficult sports to do well and sideline cheerleading is not. One big distinguishing factor between competitive cheerleading and sideline cheerleading is the hours …show more content…
Competition cheerleaders and school cheerleaders come from two different worlds with different goals and aspirations from their sports. In the world of competition cheer the members of the team work for hours and hours during the weeks for competitions on the weekends. At the competitions there is an abundant number of teams that are all in competition for the exact same goal, to get a bid for worlds. Worlds is the biggest cheer competition in the country and takes place in Walt Disney World every single year. More than 150 teams from 32 countries go to Disney World and compete to try to come out on top and win and get the trophy for their gym (Flocheer). They practice for hours on end for the biggest competition in the world to only compete for two and a half minutes in front of the biggest judges in the cheerleading business. Sideline cheerleaders practice during the week for hours all week and they put on their uniform every Friday night or every gameday to get to perform their practiced routine. Every gameday they get the chance to practice their main routines and sometimes they put on a half time show. Obviously, cheering during the halftime of a football game or a basketball is not the same as competing in front of the best judges in the country but it does give the cheerleaders a taste of what competition is like. Sideline cheerleaders get a chance to compete every week compared to competitive cheerleaders who only compete every once and
For competitive cheer you have to athletic if you want to be good. The cheerleaders are non stop tumbling, stunting, jumping, or dancing for more than two minutes. They never have a break in the routine that is pushed to the max with all the difficulty you can make and all of the legal things you can do in a routine. The sport
Unlike gymnastics, you must rely only on yourself to do what you need to do to win. Relying on the rest of your team, cheerleading is a much harder team sport. Gymnastics does have a team score but it only takes the top three scores form each event for the team score. Gymnast must perform wonderful but if they do not then they are the ones to blame. Cheerleading, the most team oriented team sport, relies on multiple people to get one job done.
Ever experienced cheer camp a famous college? Surround by its famous color orange and blue? Well, I did! A tremendous amount of people have their different ideas an exciting experience in their life. Although out of all of the exciting experiences I’ve ever experienced , I would have to say my favorite is when I visited The University of Florida for cheer camp my sophomore year. I was overly excited about spending four days at The University of Florida; I stayed up all night the night before packing and getting ready to finally stay at a college for four days with my fellow cheer sisters. From that experience I learned a lot about sticking together as a team, and friendship! But, most importantly, I learned that bonding together as a team is what got us to finish strong at the end. Those four days really opened my eyes to a lot of different things and I’m glad I can say that I really enjoyed myself.
Cheerleading is a big part of high school and community culture. For many young girls, and sometimes boys, cheer is a way of life. Often pursued as a profession, cheerleading is a very serious sport. Like most sports cheerleading has different types and divisions. Scholastic cheerleading and All-Star cheerleading have many similarities and differences. Cheerleading similarities and differences include what they do, coaches, and appearance.
Ironically, cheerleaders get the name of a “snob” or a “brat”, however a cheerleaders job is to bring positivity and spirit to their school. To be conceited or a bully is the complete opposite of what a cheerleaders job is; which means their primary responsibility is to pump up the student body for the big game or to get others involved and support school functions. Aside from the stereotype that cheerleaders are snobby, another assumption is that cheerleaders only hang out with other cheerleaders, that they are very exclusive. In films, cheerleaders are seen as the girls that always sit at the same lunch table and no one else is allowed to sit with them, or the ones that walk the halls in the same cluster while they laugh and gossip about other girls. A cheerleader is taught to be inclusive and to get others engaged in activities throughout the school, and if cheerleaders are pushing others away by being exclusive they are not doing their
Being a cheerleader means setting an example. Cheerleaders conduct themselves in a respectable way and are very proud so that they can be good leaders on and off the sidelines. We are proud to represent our school and proud to be cheerleaders. We are the epitome of school spirit and we lead the other students in our school to be more spirited and show what it means so be enthusiastic in school. We lead the crowd and of course, we lead the cheering!
I know that cheerleading is a sport. Have you ever got asked if you think that cheerleading is a sport or not. That is what I am going to tell you today. Cheerleading is just like football and basketball it is a game where you compete and get points. But with cheerleading it is not about throwing the ball accost a field or making a basket. It is about how well it is performed. To do good they have to prates a lot and they also have to have a lot of upper body mussel.
Movies portray cheerleaders as the popular girls that everyone likes and aspires to be. But when reality hits at Salem High School, it’s a completely different story. Cheerleading was taken as a joke by the other athletes and even students. It was considered a hobby, but to me it was a passion and something I worked hard to be. Being on the cheer squad in high school was difficult to deal with in school because we were constantly being snubbed by the other athletes and students in our school ever since we were kids in junior high which should not happen because everyone has the right to do what they love and they should not be judged for it being different than everyone else. It was always us versus them up until my junior year of high school when we finally earned the respect of our peers.
“Cheerleading involves skills which require the strength of football, the grace of dance, and the agility of gymnastics” (“Sport”). Many categorize competitive cheerleading as just an activity without any skill needed: there is nothing further from the truth! Competitive cheerleading is a sport that is dedicated to competition, fits the definition of a sport, and possesses a goal.
For example, they have practices every day after school to practice their routines and stunts (Remnick). They have to make posters for all sport teams, go to all of the sporting events, and support and volunteer for the community. Also, everything they do represents the school in some way, so they have to be on their best behavior all the time. Sometimes they even have to cheer for more than one sport at a time, so they will be cheering for a game every night of the week, and they are expected to get homework done and get to bed at a reasonable time for school the next morning. They are more busy than regular athletes, and sometimes cheerleading isn’t the only sport or activity the girls are involved in.
Every sport has a strategy to win. On a competitive cheerleading team there is indeed is a way to keep score, therefore a way to win. There are many different score categories that make up a total score such as difficulty, style, tumbling, stunting, dancing, and sharpness of motions. When a squad messes up or makes mistakes, judges can deduct points from the overall score to make it known that a mistake occurred. This is similar to a foul or a flag on a play. There is a maximum amount of points that you can receive, but earning a perfect score is very hard to do. In the cheerleading world, the point system that can be so close and differ so little from other teams. Scores can differ as little as a tenth of a point to one hundred points or more. There is a winner and a loser just like sports that are classified as a sport or the ones that are competed on in the Olympics. Colleges are very biased when it comes to giving out scholarships and classifying cheerleading as a sport. It is very hard to attend college on a cheerleading scholarship. Most colleges make cheerleaders pay out of pocket for being on a cheerleading team. The college squads still compete for national titles and high school cheerleading teams still compete for state titles just like any other sports team would. It is all political when it comes to college sports due to the statistics of colleges and how the athletic department divides their money. Sports that are recognized as
Some states have accepted competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, but cheerleaders still have to fight for recognition as an athlete because of stereotypical views. Fellow athletes do not see why it should be considered a sport because “it is not as demanding as other sports” ("Competitive Cheerleading Fights"). The definition of an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina” ("Omni Cheer Blog"). As an athlete students must demonstrate their skills in front of a crowd. As a matter of fact competitive cheerleaders meet all the requirements to be considered athletes, so why do they have to continue fighting for recognition as athletes?
Because some cheerleading squads don’t compete, society thinks of it merely as a physical activity. Even though cheerleaders’ main purpose is to support other athletic activities, cheer squads whom compete, follow all physical criteria to be considered a sport. Cheerleaders put forth an incredible amount of determination. They practice tirelessly to show off their skills, with little or no recognition for their efforts. Cheerleading is a sport because it requires physical fitness, skill, dedication, and stamina. Cheerleading should be considered a sport globally.
Gutgold, Emi. "Cheerleading Is a Competitive Sport, Too." Morning Call. 17 Aug 2012: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
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