Cheerleading- a sport commonly confused for a simple activity. I have been a cheerleader for eight years of my life, since I was six years old. Take my word for it, it is fun, but it’s not easy. You have to be dedicated to the team, spend long hours after school practicing for competition, and wake up early to go to games. It’s just the same as any other sport. Survive the tryouts, and you’re a proud member of the team. It may seem like cheerleaders are preppy and happy all of the time, but believe it or not, in some cases that’s not true. How can we be happy when people who have never been a cheerleader try to tell us that it’s not a sport? Well, any cheerleader out there can tell you that, without a doubt, cheerleading is a sport. In fact, one of the most dangerous sports there is.

A sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others” according to the dictionary. Firstly, cheerleading involves a lot of physical activity. Not only do we have to try to stay in shape, but how do you think we throw those girls high in the air? You lift weights, we lift 120 pound people. Secondly, the team practices almost every day of the week to perfect our routines to perform in games and at competitions. If you ask me, this describes the exact definition of “sport”.
Another common misconception about cheerleading is that it is “easy” and it’s “not dangerous”. Cheerleading is not easy. To even be able to compete in competition, that means hours every week after school learning, practicing, and repeating. I’d like to see a football player try to be a cheerleader for a week. The reason they think it’s so easy is because they’ve never tried it. Cheerleading is just as physically exhausting and as dangerous as any other sport as well. In the years I’ve been a cheerleader, I’ve witnesses broken thumbs, broken arms, fractured ankles, sprained necks, countless concussions, and I’ve even been on crutches for both of my feet. These are just minor injuries! In worse cases, girls end up paralyzed or even dead.
To think we go through all of that pain for competition. This is what we work for. We go to competition and compete against other schools in the area. We go out and face hundreds of people and an entire panel of judges. Every eye is on you and everything you do is being judged not only by the actual judges, but by your coaches, other cheerleaders, and even the people in the crowd. It is very nerve racking and some people get sick under all of the pressure. It’s almost like an average football game, but with 100 times the people and every other school in your area to compete against.
Cheerleaders have been given good names, and bad names. I can tell anyone for a fact that not every cheerleader is a stuck up snob. People stereotype cheerleaders as snobs. Yes, there is the occasional stuck up cheerleader, but there is also the occasional self absorbed football player. We do all we can to support our school and all we get are these rude nicknames!
It’s crazy how some people still have the nerve to mock cheerleaders and ridicule what we do. We go to games to support our school and what we care for. Shouldn’t they be thankful that they will always have someone cheering for them even if nobody else shows up to the game? We respect all the other sports out there, so why can’t people respect cheerleading as a sport? Let’s just end this controversy. Cheerleading is a sport. Just try it.