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? Only twenty-two states …show more content…
Cheerleaders are usually referred to as dumb, skinny, and un-athletic. The most commonly known cheerleaders are scholastic cheerleaders, or cheerleaders that cheer for school functions. Girls that cheer for their schools are often ridiculed for wearing too much make-up, or being stuck up. A large number stereotypes are given to cheerleaders through movies. Several people say that the typical cheerleader is skinny, and un-intelligent. Not all cheerleaders have a specific image, they’re all unique. Cheerleaders can come in a multitude of different sizes and shapes. To be a cheerleader being skinny is not a requirement. An innumerable amount of schools have cheerleaders who are bigger, these cheerleaders are the base of the pyramid-literally. Not to mention most cheerleaders are actually smarter than everyone thinks. Many cheerleaders are placed in honors classes and in advanced placement classes. Another stereotype introduced to cheerleading is that boys can’t be cheerleaders, and if there is a boy cheerleader, he’s often called gay ("Omni Cheer Blog"). Uniquely, boys are the sole reason that cheerleaders exist. Boys invented cheerleading to raise awareness and support for sports teams. Likewise, not all cheerleaders prance around in a short skirt, like everyone thinks. There are athletes who take the sport seriously. As of right now the odds are against competitive cheerleading to be considered a sport. People and schools refuse to accept competitive cheerleading as a confirmed sport because the “new” sport will require new guidelines and rules ("Competitive Cheerleading
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
School set regulations and the coach then make their own rules. An important part of the "cheer look" are, of course the uniform, cheer bows. Hair, nails, and make up are required to be natural on most squads. The uniform is school color except on special occasions, such as Breast Cancer Awareness month. White, athletic, cheer shoes are on every foot ("Cheerleading Uniform Decoration"). Pom-poms, different sizes and color for different squads, are a part of almost every routine. School that have a historically black culture can be seen with slouch
“They’re snobs.” “They’re ditzy.” “They are just brats.” Cheerleaders. There are many problems with stereotyping, and cheerleaders are no strangers to it. Every cheerleader could probably tell you a time when someone stereotyped them, whether that be them as a person or an athlete. While on some occasions cheerleaders really do fit the stereotypical vision of a cheerleader off of a movie, most are not your typical “cheerleader”; intelligent, polite, and athletic are all characteristics of these individuals. Making judgements about a person based on what sport they played is not deserved. Most people in high school would say they knew, or thought they knew how cheerleaders were, but if taking the time to get to know the kind of people they are, then people’s opinion would change.
Before I get into “why”, you must first hear my story. You must understand how I began cheerleading, where cheerleading has stood in my life, and what it has meant to me before you can understand why I do it and why we, cheerleaders collectively, do it.
To stay on the JMU cheer team or to quit was a very hard decision that I had to make this past month. Knowing I had leadership responsibilities as a third year veteran on the team made this decision extremely difficult for me. I had to consider all the parties involved which consisted of myself, my teammates, and my coaches. Several factors fell into play when deciding what was best not only myself but for my team as well. The first and most important factor I had to consider was my physical health as I have back problems that requires annual back procedures in order to be able to cheer. A relatively new factor in my decision making progress was the hiring of the new JMU cheer coach, which was extremely difficult for the upperclassmen to adjust to. My last few personal factors that played a role in my decision consisted of getting a job and focusing more on my school work. Next I had to consider what was best for the cheer team. I knew as an upperclassmen I needed to support the cheer program to help keep it strong and consistent during the coaching transition. This was hard to do when several other upper classmen were quitting the team due to this change. I also knew I had a responsibility to teach the incoming freshman new skills the same way the juniors and seniors taught me when I was a freshman. Not only did my team need me but I also took into consideration the contract I signed when making the team my freshman year. After taking everything into consideration
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.
Many think of cheerleading as just an activity which is nearly mindless. They do not recognize the hard work and skill that is crucial in becoming a first-class cheerleader. They believe that there is no ability or athleticism that is needed. They almost demean cheerleaders as unintelligent. They believe that cheerleaders are only out to look pretty and to entertain a crowd.
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
Cheerleading is a controversial topic when it comes to being classified as a sport. Cheerleading has been around one hundred plus years. Cheerleading was not always as developed as it is today— just like many other sports into today’s culture. Some of today 's celebrities, such as George Bush, started their glory days being a cheerleader. The definition of cheerleading is in the name itself-- to lead cheers. There are different types of cheerleading such as spirit basketball, spirit football, high school competition, and competitive club cheerleading. All of which have different skill levels and qualifications. Most high schools offer many different types of cheerleading and not all classify as a sport in some people 's eyes. Spirit cheerleading
Cheerleading is one of America’s oldest activities. Cheerleading started in the late 1880’s by all-male “pep clubs.” During a football game in 1898, Johnny Campbell was the first “cheerleader” to grace the field by leading the crowd in a now popular University of Minnesota chant. Afterwards, squads began to start up in colleges throughout the country as “yell leaders.” Although cheerleading is a considered a female sport, women didn’t show up on cheer squads until 1923. Female cheerleading became more frequent due to World War Ⅱ (Purvey). Many famous people are known to have been a part of a cheer squad, including George W. Bush who was “head” cheerleader at Phillips Academy in 1968 (Tho...
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.
Why should 12-14 year old girls be able to wear their school provided cheerleading uniform to school? You open the closet trying to find something to wear to school, but then you remember that tight, uncomfortable outfit that you have to wear to school that day. Your cheerleading uniform! You want to run away but you already know that you have to wear it or face the consequences (even if that means getting kicked off the team!). Twelve through fourteen-year-old girls should not be able to wear cheer uniforms to school. There are many complaints about the uniforms that girls are forced to wear. Some complain that they are very uncomfortable especially during the cold and windy weather. It’s like they are in prison! Students have clothes that express them in detail, color, or even style. People should never be separated from what they like, and schools should definitely
“It’s the oldest story in the world. One day you’re 17 and planning for someday. And then quietly and without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” - One Tree Hill
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.
Are high school sports beneficial or not for students? I personally believe if a student is in a high school sport they’re forced to prioritize between school and their sport, and at a young age I believe the student would decide to use his time to improve in his sport instead of school. Which in the long run would affect his academics, unless they decide to stay up late and work on their homework to keep up with both school and their sport. But, even like that in time the lack of sleep would catch up to them, and cause them to do even worse in both academics, and sports. High school sports are like the lotto in my opinion, many play but only a few get rewarded for their work. Therefore, high school sports cause more negativity than positivity.