Why do so many people think cheerleading isn’t a sport? Is it because cheerleaders are better athletes than you? Well sometimes it’s true! Cheerleaders do a great amount of physical activity and meet all of the requirements there is to be considered a sport. If you don’t think cheerleading is a sport, think again.

Cheerleading consists of more physical activity than anyone might think. A cheerleader must be strong to be good. If you are a cheerleader you have to know how to tumble. For example, they learn to do cart wheels, round offs, back walkover, front walkover, front handspring, back handspring, front and back tuck, layout, full’s, and full layout twists. Even if you watch these and think they look easy, think again! Also, in cheerleading you have to be strong enough to be able to hold someone in the air in many different ways. You have basket tosses, preps, extensions, one mans, twist ups, quarter turns, and many more.

Cheerleading meets all the requirements to be considered a sport. To be considered a sport there must be physical activity and defy gravity. This can also be known as stunting. Also, you have to compete against one or more teams which a winner and awards are declared. There is cheerleading competitions. Another is there must be rules that you must follow. Cheerleading rules include time limit, mat size, score sheets, what kind of stunts you do and much more. Finally, the purpose of the competition is a comparison of the skills of the participants. Cheerleading meets all of these requirements so technically it is considered to be a sport.

Cheerleaders are scored on many small things at competitions and most of the time a team loses by less than a point. They are awarded points for difficulty, technique, creativity, sharpness, and timing. Your stunts have to be at your level and performed to be able to get a good amount of points. For technique, it is the way you perform your routine. The routine you do has to be creative and not boring so the crowd and judges actually want to watch you. Sharpness means you can’t be loose and you must snap your motions. For timing, you and your team have to be in sync with one another so not one person stands out and makes the team as a whole look amazing! It is not easy to get a perfect score on all of this and up to today, not one team has.

“I have seen cheerleading competitions. I was impressed with their athleticism and intensity. I think it’s bizarre that a federal judge can pronounce that cheerleading isn’t a sport. It’s unfair to these young ladies who work very hard.” This quote was said by Matt Ciepielowski. After you read this article you should feel the same way but if you don’t that’s okay but you have to understand that cheerleaders are as much of an athlete as you.