In this article there is a debate on deciding if competitive cheerleading is a sport or not. This issue was brought up because a volleyball team in Connecticut was going to be replaced with a competition cheerleading team due to budgetary reasons. They have decided under Title IX that cheerleading does not qualify as a sport. Once the coach and the team members had complained about what was going on, they decided to keep the team. The school also decided to add a women’s rugby team to keep everyone satisfied.
Within Title IX the article says “It must have coaches, practices, competitions during a defined season, and a governing organization”, competitive cheerleading follows these guidelines. Most people would say that all cheerleading is the same, but they are very wrong. In competition cheerleading there is more to it than just jumping up and down with pom poms cheering on the boys/girls that attend your school. When you are at a football or basketball game we all know that the cheerleaders get on your nerves, but when you’re at a competition it is all about them.
At a competition the cheerleaders are required to do many stunts and they vary in difficulty. Some of them the girls are required to be held 6-7 feet in the air and rely on their teammates to insure their safety. Adding to the excitement of everything going on, while they are doing these routines they are sometimes thrown up to 12 feet in the air doing various flips, tricks, etc. Anyone who wants to say that competition cheerleading is not a sport needs to attend one of these events.
There are probably more injuries in cheerleading than most sports. If you want to know the pain that the cheerleaders feel, then you should jump straight down from something 7 or 8...
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...hat in high school no one that is not a cheerleader will understand because they have their mind set on what they believe and that will most likely not change. On the other hand, if you would like to know how many deaths, injuries, or other things happen to cheerleaders in juts one season, then take a few minutes away from your time on Facebook or any other website and look it up. Others will agree that if you truly knew what they went through you would see it as a sport also. Maybe one day it will be considered a sport world-wide and there will not be any more debates on this subject.
Works Cited
“Is Cheerleading A Sport?” Omaha.com. Burbach, Christopher, 29 July 2010. Web. 23
August 2010.
“US Judge In Conn.: Cheerleading Is Not A Sport.” SI.com. SI, 21 July 2010. Web. 5
August 2010.
“Famous Cheerleaders.” About.com. About, n.p. Web. 23 August 2010.
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
Each tumbling pass and stunt is judged on difficulty as well as technique. Dance, cheer motions, and jumps are judged on technique and sharpness. The more difficult a pass or stunt the more points awarded. It takes hours every week to practice and perfect a three-minute routine with these in it. There are specific divisions when competing. Divisions are specific groups that cheerleaders are broken up into based on age, the number of people on the team, and skill level. Within these divisions are rules that the team must follow to be in the running to win. Just like any other sport, there are rules you have to follow and if not, you can get disqualified. Additionally, in competitive cheerleading, cheerleaders must also jump a specific height, throw girls in the air at a specific height, their voices must sound a certain way if they’re doing a cheer, and they also must tumble and dance in unison, all to prove themselves to the
Cheerleading isn’t a sport. Loads of cheerleaders have faced this controversial statement. An image of peppy girls, twirling in short skirts for the football team fills most people’s minds when considering the topic of cheerleading. The truth is, we are a strong team that works together to lift each other up, literally. Although we work day in and day out to perfect our stunts, tumbling, and routines, our talent still goes unnoticed by our peers. Negative stereotypes often surround cheerleaders. In my high school, we constantly battle to gain the respect of our classmates not just as athletes, but even simply as people. Some of the most involved and highest ranked students in our school make up our cheerleading squad, but those traits are forgotten
Clifford, Sarah Jane. "WOMEN IN SPORTS: There’s No Debate — Cheerleading Is a Sport." MPNnow. Daily Messenger, 02 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
“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.
While the definition of a sport may vary by the person, the dictionary definition for a sport can be best described as, “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment” (Oxford Dictionary). Cheerleading has been a topic of an ongoing controversial debate as to whether or not it should be recognized as a sport. Players that engage in sports, such as, football, basketball, and baseball all display a genuine liking for their sport, which generally emphasizes why they take part in the activity. Similarly, cheerleaders have this same mindset, but society tends to overlook their passion through the generation of the argument that cheerleading does not require
When it comes to the topic of whether cheerleading is a sport, some of us will readily agree that it is. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question whether cheerleading is a sport or not. Whereas many are convinced that it isn’t a sport, other maintains that it is a sport because cheerleaders are athletes, they need to train and be in shape in order to be able to do all the complex maneuvers safely. I agree that cheerleading is a sport because cheerleaders compete against other teams and competition is part of every sport.
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 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 a regular athletes, and sometimes cheerleading isn’t the only sport or activity the girls are involved in. When these athletes commit their time and efforts to something they are so passionate about, like cheerleading, and then people don’t recognize it it gets very
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.
From an outsiders perspective one may see brainless and beautiful robots, which scream and perform neat tricks. This is not the case from the inside; cheerleading is so much more than that. Many people are under the impression that cheerleading is not a sport. I am the voice of reasoning that will let you in, and I will show you that cheerleading, in fact, is a sport. Cheerleading requires much physical demand from the body just as any other sport would. Cheerleading, in general, is a team effort. There are many sides to cheerleading, which make it a versatile sport. When it comes to cheerleading there’s more to it than what meets the eye.
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.
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.
There are millions of cheerleaders in America and all around the world today. They stand in front of hundreds of fans and try their best to get the crowd pumped up. They stand outside braving the cold as they are rained, sleeted, and even snowed on. It’s probably the only sport I can think of where you would have to wear hardly any warm clothing and still have to pump the crowd up. How can you not call that a sport?
There are organizations for the sports at a national level as well. However, there are certain sports that have not been accepted into these organizations. Scott Hensley, writer for NPR.org states. “The NCAA hasn't recognized cheerleading as a competitive sport. Last August, a federal appeals court ruled that Quinnipiac College in Connecticut couldn't count cheerleading as a sport under Title IX as a way to offset disbanding women's volleyball.” If a national organization can not recognize a sport without wanting to affect another sport, then maybe it should be working on strengthening the program. By accepting a sport to a national organization, it can help the sport by giving it more recognition that it deserves. “Obviously I would absolutely love to see cheerleading in the Olympic Games, it would be the best kind of publicity that a sport could receive, but as it stands, I'm not sure that it is developed on an international scale to the extent that enough countries would truly be able to represent cheerleading at the highest level.”(Argent pg.3, paragraph 3). To have cheerleading in the Olympics would be a major boost in pushing the image of the sport. This would result in the public acknowledging the skills and strength that the athletes possess. By doing so, the backing of the sport will increase and could gain more recognition from national and worldwide