Cheerleading is a Sport | Teen Ink

Cheerleading is a Sport MAG

By Anonymous

     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. In addition, they fail to distinguish between sideline cheerleaders and competitive ones. Sideline cheerleaders’ main goal is to entertain the crowd and lead them with team cheers, which should not be considered a sport. On the other hand, competitive cheerleading is a sport.

A sport, according to the Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors, is a “physical activity [competition] against/with an opponent, governed by rules and conditions under which a winner is declared, and primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants.” Because cheerleading follows these guidelines, it is a sport.

Competitive cheerleading includes lots of physical activity. Like gymnasts, cheerleaders must learn to tumble. They perform standing back flips, round flip flops, and full layout twists. Cheerleaders also perform lifts and tosses. This is where the “fliers” are thrown in the air, held by “bases” in different positions that require strength and cooperation with other teammates.

Just as basketball and football have guidelines for competitive play, so does competitive cheerleading. The whole routine has to be completed in less than three minutes and 15 seconds and the cheerleaders are required to stay within a certain area.

Competitive cheerleaders’ goal is to be the best. Just like gymnasts, they are awarded points for difficulty, technique, creativity and sharpness. The more difficult a mount or a stunt, the sharper and more in-sync the motions, the better the score. Cheerleading is a team sport so without cooperation and synchronization, first place is out of reach.

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, cheerleading is the number-one cause of serious sports injuries to women. Emergency room visits for cheerleading are five times the number than for any other sport, partially because they do not wear protective gear. While many athletes are equipped with hip pads, knee pads, shin guards or helmets, smiling cheerleaders are tossed into the air and spiral down into the arms of trusted teammates. The fliers must remain tight at all times so that their bases can catch them safely. Also, because cheerleading is not yet recognized as a sport by many schools, neither proper matting nor high enough ceilings are provided to ensure safety. Instead, the girls use whatever space is available. More recognition of competitive cheerleading as a sport would decrease the number of injuries.

So why do many Americans not think cheerleading is a sport? It cannot be because cheerleaders do not use balls or manipulate objects (if you do not count megaphones, pompoms and signs as objects). Wrestling, swimming, diving, track, cross-country, gymnastics, ice-skating and boxing are recognized sports that do not use balls. Some people argue that cheerleaders are just “flirts in skirts” with their only job to entertain the crowd, but cheerleaders today compete against other squads and work just as hard as other athletes.

Competitive cheerleading is a sport. It is a physical activity that is governed by rules under which a winner can be declared and its primary purpose is to compare the skills of participants. Hopefully, cheerleading will become as well-known a sport as football and basketball, and even appear in the Olympics since cheerleaders are just as athletic and physically fit as those involved in the more accepted sports.



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This article has 497 comments.


Riaaxo said...
on Feb. 12 2015 at 9:17 am
I believe that school cheerleading is not really a competition sport, unless you compete against other school cheerleading teams. Competiton Cheer is called All - Star Cheerleading because there are levels of diffuculty unlike school cheerleader , there are levels 1- 5 in All- Star Cheerleading, the higher level team, the higher the diffuculty. All - Star Cheerleading is done at seperate gyms in cities and towns, not at schools. It is more rigorous than school cheerleading, I am a school cheerleader and I don't think school cheerleading is as much as a sport as all star cheerleading and it is the truth.

mary said...
on Feb. 12 2015 at 7:35 am
Actually it is ave you ever tried it?

Maryk PLATINUM said...
on Feb. 10 2015 at 9:30 am
Maryk PLATINUM, Waterford, Michigan
22 articles 1 photo 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The ability to learn is greater than the ability to teach." - Arnold Jacobs
"He who slays monsters will become a monster himself"-Nietzsche
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better its not"-Dr.Suess
“They are poor, especially for the player, I think it is very difficult to have auditions and find a suitable way to judge, because we have a great many talented players to choose from. This means a lot of heartbreak for the people who are very capable.”-Arnold Jacobs, Teacher and Tuba Player

So does ballet and other forms of dance, you start out with your positions and then you learn the other steps. Also lots of timing is involved because you must fallow the time signature of the song or score. Imagine if they made ballet a sport,it would look and sound different than The Firebird, Nutcracker, or even The Rite of Spring. Same issue with marching bands, if you make it a sport you have to sacrifice the creativity, interpretation, and expression in the music itself to focus on points and profit. Dance and Music is an art, you learn the rules and then you creativity break them like in interpretive dance and jazz. There needs to be a balance between the guidelines and the creativity and if their are too many guidelines then creativity is eliminated and the art form becomes bleak and plain.

Cheer said...
on Feb. 10 2015 at 3:23 am
Cheerleaders do not think it's a sport just because its on a field or court but because it is a specific diversion that involves physical exercise with a set body and form. Also cheerleaders work harder than it may look many people that think of cheer as easy or not a sport wouldn't last a week in cheer

on Feb. 8 2015 at 7:05 pm
Go fuck u ourself cheerleading is damn motherfucking sport

Maryk PLATINUM said...
on Feb. 5 2015 at 7:11 am
Maryk PLATINUM, Waterford, Michigan
22 articles 1 photo 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The ability to learn is greater than the ability to teach." - Arnold Jacobs
"He who slays monsters will become a monster himself"-Nietzsche
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better its not"-Dr.Suess
“They are poor, especially for the player, I think it is very difficult to have auditions and find a suitable way to judge, because we have a great many talented players to choose from. This means a lot of heartbreak for the people who are very capable.”-Arnold Jacobs, Teacher and Tuba Player

I disagree, but just because I disagree does not mean I'am a narcissist. I feel the same way about marching bands, that they are more of an artistic endeavor than a sport. If these forms of art become a sport then there is no choreography,creativity,and no individuality in the art form. Cheer leading is very much like the role color-guards play in marching bands or ballerinas in a ballet. Dance is a constantly changing art form but it is not a sport

on Feb. 3 2015 at 9:33 pm
the definition of the word sport is a specific diversion, usually involving a physical exercise and having a set form and body of rules, cheer is a very physical activity and cheer does indeed have written rules.

on Feb. 3 2015 at 9:30 pm
I believe that cheer is a sport but sideline cheer is to entertain, however the definition of sport is a specific diversion, usually involving a physical exercise and having a set form and body of rules. In sideline cheer you still have physical exercise, you have to practice, and you perform during halftime also in school (which is usually sideline cheer) the cheerleaders still compete so wouldn't sideline cheer still be a sport...

ElleOnTop said...
on Feb. 3 2015 at 10:58 am
I obviously agree that cheerleading is a sport.... Ive been a cheerleader since i was 6 and i have competed and won most of the time.....

Kyleigh2001 said...
on Feb. 1 2015 at 10:11 pm
its actually 2 minutes and thirty seconds not 3 minutes 15 seconds for competitive cheer :) . but yes i am a comptetitive cheerleader and its ridiculous the amount of respect we lack. IT IS A SPORT, AND ANYONE WHO SAYS IT ISNT IS AN IGNORANT NARCASSIT. ;) thanks -Kyleigh, A competitive cheerleader ;P

Maryk PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 31 2015 at 9:06 am
Maryk PLATINUM, Waterford, Michigan
22 articles 1 photo 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The ability to learn is greater than the ability to teach." - Arnold Jacobs
"He who slays monsters will become a monster himself"-Nietzsche
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better its not"-Dr.Suess
“They are poor, especially for the player, I think it is very difficult to have auditions and find a suitable way to judge, because we have a great many talented players to choose from. This means a lot of heartbreak for the people who are very capable.”-Arnold Jacobs, Teacher and Tuba Player

If cheer leading becomes a sport what about ballroom dancing and ballet should they become sports?

on Jan. 31 2015 at 8:58 am
the only problem I have with this article is that competitive cheer isn't cheerleading. it just isnt. cheerleading is leading cheers, it's in the name, and in competitive cheer they don't lead any cheers. it is however cheer and they are in fact athletes. but that aren't cheerleaders.

Nikki2002 said...
on Jan. 26 2015 at 2:39 pm
I agree cheerleading is a sport and it is unfair that some people don't view it that way.It takes effort and determination to be a cheerleader and i think cheerleaders work as hard as any other players in any other sport.

Maryk PLATINUM said...
on Jan. 20 2015 at 10:00 am
Maryk PLATINUM, Waterford, Michigan
22 articles 1 photo 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The ability to learn is greater than the ability to teach." - Arnold Jacobs
"He who slays monsters will become a monster himself"-Nietzsche
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better its not"-Dr.Suess
“They are poor, especially for the player, I think it is very difficult to have auditions and find a suitable way to judge, because we have a great many talented players to choose from. This means a lot of heartbreak for the people who are very capable.”-Arnold Jacobs, Teacher and Tuba Player

I agree it's the same thing with marching bands too,it all depends on the attitude and tolerance of the director. I do not like directors that push emphasis on getting it perfect and winning at compositions. No one is perfect and to expect anyone to be perfect is a total fallacy. Creating groupthink in a marching band or cheer leading culture is a terrible thing that a director or coach can do, that's why Ohio State had to fire their director who would not let his students tell anyone about is hazing and degrading behavior.

on Jan. 16 2015 at 9:04 pm
For school cheerleading, I really believe it depends on the coach that makes it a sport. I previously had a coach who wouldn't let us do ANY cool stunts and we weren't allowed to condition! WHAT? But now, I have a coach (who owns a crossfit gym) and makes us work REALLY hard! Competitive cheerleading: definitely a sport! But for school, it really depends on the coach. A lot of times, it's more than just waving your arms up and down and clapping like so many think!

kinzie3 said...
on Jan. 5 2015 at 3:05 pm
kinzie3, Moore, Oklahoma
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"she didnt just fight the competiotion, she fought the sterio trypes."

okay let me tell you this, i am in cheer and i practice up to 10 hours a day and i go horseback riding on my horse and i have two brothers that play football who will say cheer is very hard. im not saying cheer is harder than footbal but give it a chance because sports are clasafied at one of the most dangerouse contact sports for a reason!

kinzie3 said...
on Jan. 5 2015 at 3:03 pm
kinzie3, Moore, Oklahoma
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"she didnt just fight the competiotion, she fought the sterio trypes."

praise the lord! somone understands me! oh and spellcheck!

kinzie3 said...
on Jan. 5 2015 at 3:01 pm
kinzie3, Moore, Oklahoma
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"she didnt just fight the competiotion, she fought the sterio trypes."

okay lets get this straight, competive cheerleading- you spend all year prepairing and going to small comopetitions to go to competivive NCA. the hard practices can end badly i have had many concussions and i know many girls who have broke bones and gone to the hospital for injurys resulting in cheer (i do both school cheer and competitive and competitive is harder in my opinion) school cheer- yes the girls will cheer on the side line of football games but they honestly hate it! plus the real work is behind the scenes. school cher has girls that have a hard mat that is like fliping on cement (competitive has a spring floor which has springs under the mat.) it is very bad for girls (and boys) ancles and wrists. also i know my school cheer team is forced topractice in the cafiteria and roll up our mats and put them against the wall where kids throw food in them. pkus today we had one girl go to the E.R. and another have a confirmed concussion after falling 10 feet down. but the point is school cheer also goes to NCA and they practice all year for it i hope this shows you cheer is not just girls that want to be poplular or wear the short skirts and the tite half tops because tbh winter is competition season and it is freazing! but cheer IS a sport.

kinzie3 said...
on Jan. 5 2015 at 2:53 pm
kinzie3, Moore, Oklahoma
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"she didnt just fight the competiotion, she fought the sterio trypes."

i practice 5 to 10 hours a day. at least.

Maryk PLATINUM said...
on Dec. 18 2014 at 10:48 am
Maryk PLATINUM, Waterford, Michigan
22 articles 1 photo 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The ability to learn is greater than the ability to teach." - Arnold Jacobs
"He who slays monsters will become a monster himself"-Nietzsche
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better its not"-Dr.Suess
“They are poor, especially for the player, I think it is very difficult to have auditions and find a suitable way to judge, because we have a great many talented players to choose from. This means a lot of heartbreak for the people who are very capable.”-Arnold Jacobs, Teacher and Tuba Player

I do not really see this as a sport but more an art-form like all forms of dance. Just because they do it on the football field or at a basketball game does not justify it being a a sport.