Cheerleading Should Be Considered a Sport What is a sport? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a sport is a "physical activity engaged in for pleasure"(www.merriam-webster.com). Does Cheerleading not fit that definition? Cheerleading is a physically demanding sport, that deserves to be recognized as such. People generally do not realize the difficulty of cheerleading, and how much effort and dedication actually goes into it. Cheerleaders practice as hard, if not harder than other sports to better themselves as athletes and a team as a whole. Not only is cheer a sport, it is a dangerous sport, just like any other athletic program. As a varsity athlete, and assistant cheer coach, I see every day the reasons why cheer should be considered …show more content…
During my time as a varsity cheerleader, I have seen multiple concussions occur from cheer, along with broken collar bones, broken noses, and many other types of injuries. “According to 2010 cheerleading data from the CPSC, head and neck injuries accounted for 19.3 percent of total cheerleading injuries. Additionally, in the 2010-2011 school year head injuries were associated with 1,579 concussions, 361 contusions and 2,292 internal injuries; neck injuries accounted for 118 contusions, 16 fractures and 1,301 sprains/strains” (aans.org). By making cheer an official sport, they could set in place more guidelines and safety precautions, therefore increasing the safety of participants. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported an estimated “36,288 emergency room visits [were] caused by cheerleading injuries”. When one thinks of cheer, oftentimes they do not think of danger, but that is exactly what it is. “Head injuries account for more than 36 percent of cheerleading-related injuries” (huffingtonpost.com), which is oftentimes a severe injury. Injuries can occur simply by over stretching, or can be as complicated as landing on your face during a roundoff back handspring double full whip double back handspring Arabian full whip front punch handspring triple full. Oftentimes, the flyer, which is the person in the air, is dropped out of the air and onto their …show more content…
To a cheerleader, this is very degrading to hear, and to an extent, offensive. To put in excessive amounts of work and literal blood, sweat, and plenty of tears, and then be told what you are doing is a sort of joke can make one wonder what is the point of doing this, if no one supports what you are doing. A common reason for believing cheer is not a sport is the lack of competition. This is false though. A cheer team can compete up to, but not limited to seven times in one season, and during these competitions, “…teams perform a 2 and a half minute routine with music that includes stunts, jumps, tumbling” (varsity.com). Others argue that cheerleading only includes yelling for other teams. While cheerleading does include this, cheer also involves “tumbling, dance, gymnastics, and stunting” (thoughtco.com). This is possibly the most frustrating claim, because if an individual looks at any cheerleading video this will be proven to be incorrect. The final argument is that cheerleading does not require any strength, like any “actual sport”. This, like other arguments, is false. “The greatest difference between football and cheerleading, is that football requires sheer strength while cheerleading also requires balance and body control. Balancing a top heavy 120 pounds in one hand takes much more coordination than running full steam into the guy facing
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
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
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.
By doing this, the school districts are portraying the message that cheerleading is a joke, and that it isn’t a real sport. It sets stereotypes for cheerleaders, and they have to work to overcome those stereotypes everyday. The school districts all over the US not classifying cheerleading as a sport are in the wrong. For several reasons, all school districts should recognize cheerleading as a sport.
Competitive cheerleading is most definitely a sport due to the athletic ability that is needed, the way that there can be a winner and a loser, and the teamwork that is essential. There are more ways that this sport can be classified as a sport than ways that it cannot be classified. Cheerleading has come a long way from where is started. The difficulty that has now been developed in this sport has made more and more people realize that it truly is a sport. The next step for this new and upcoming sport is to have more and more people able to get scholarships for all the hard work they put into training. Who knows one day cheerleading could be put into the Olympics as a true
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.
“Let’s go ladies! Push! That’s it!” All cheerleaders know these words and are probably used to hearing them from their coaches by now. Would you devote your blood, sweat, and tears to a hobby where you would practice twice a day, stunting, tumbling, jumping, running, falling, hurting, and keeping a smile all at one time? I would any day. Cheerleading is one thing I’m good at and enjoying doing when I have the opportunity. I would say cheerleading is the most misunderstood sport there is. It takes more than yelling and jumping around while smiling at an audience.
The New York Times states that cheerleading is the fastest growing girls’ sport, yet more than half of Americans do not believe it is a sport. A sport is defined as “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature” (dictionary.com). Cheerleading at a competitive level is physically demanding and requires team work to be the best. The misconception of cheerleaders being weak, nonathletic crowd entertainers makes people believe cheerleaders are not athletes and that cheerleading is just a hobby but cheerleaders that compete at a competitive level are in fact athletes because it meets the standards of what a sport is, which includes rules and regulations, and overcoming air resistance.
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.
Outsiders say cheerleading must not take up time or you do not have to dedicate to cheer and say cheer is not a sport. However, cheer does take up time and athletes must be dedicated to the sport, cheerleaders mean it when they say “I can’t I have cheer”. Some people who have cheered have been dedicated since they were young and have cheered for many years. The higher the level the cheerleader is the more time and dedication is put into cheer(Chasse Cheer). These teams will practice and some have classes almost every day of the week. The lower level teams have fewer practices a week, but these can still take up a big chunk of time(Chasse Cheer). From summer practice to mandatory ones during the year, and then competitions being dedicated is part of this
...ver the many past years it has grown at extreme rates and now includes both male and female participants. While I showed that there are two types of cheerleading: sideline and competitive, I know that cheerleaders like me have appeared on ESPN for a fact. Modern cheerleading squads perform athletic technique at there best and often are showcased at competitions for titles and awards. This and many other factors help negate the arguments that deny cheerleading’s recognition as a sport. Cheerleading has changed so much in recent years that it has become a booming industry that continues to grow as participation increases over time. Finally, cheerleading is an activity with athleticism that far outweighs that of many other recognized sports, but requires the technique and strength that nationally accepted sports are praised for daily and deserves this same respect.
Competitive Cheer is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the United States. Cheerleading isn’t always considered a sport, but Competitive Cheer should be. Just like athletes in any other sport, members of Competitive Cheer squads clock many hours of intense training and often endure serious injuries. As a society, we often think of cheerleaders as nothing more than pretty girls on the sidelines, but the rise of Competitive Cheer demands that we reclassify cheerleading as a sport.
A cheerleader has been and continues to be defined as an enthusiastic and vocal supporter. Cheerleading is something that I used to eat, breathe, and sleep. For four years, my weekends consisted of pom-poms, stuck up football players, and team rivalries. Before I was able to cheer on others, I went through a grueling tryout called life. I am the individual I am today because of my experiences growing up.
"Let's go generals let's go ". Do you think cheerleading is a sport? Get your Pom Poms and come along. I love to see people cheer. But I don't think it's a sport. People starting the first cheerleading squad in 1898. The university of Minnesota had the honour. This is huge debate, but these are my
Usually the NCAA would take control of the regulation of the traditional sport to create a safer environment for the cheerleaders. Since the court has already ruled cheerleading is not a sport, the NCAA has two governing bodies that have been asking that certain forms of cheerleading be classified as an emerging sport. Which basically says that “it is a women's sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for the institutions, and also help that sport achieve the NCAA championship status (NCAA)”. “For a sport to be considered for the NCAA emerging sports for women’s list, 20 or more varsity teams and or competitive club/teams must currently exists on college campuses and the sport organization must submit a detailed proposal including possible general competition rules, suggested NCAA regulations and the sport format,” stated the NCAA on the topic of emerging sports. As of 2016, the NCAA has not confirmed cheerleading as an “emerging sport”, yet the committee, the student and athletes are still fighting for