Argumentative Essay: Is Cheerleading A Sport?

Cheerleading started as a male endeavor in 1898, when a University of Minnesota football fan led the crowd in verse in support of their team. It was not until World War II, when men shipped out to war, that women took over. Then cheerleaders came to represent the American ideal of femininity: wholesome apple pie with washboard stomachs, perfect teeth, and flawless complexions. Stereotypes cast them as blond, petite, and impossibly perky. “From its humble beginning cheerleading has blossomed into a competitive athletic activity with a serious image problem” (Forman 52). But today’s post-feminist youth have put a new, diverse face on cheerleading. Cheerleading in America is no longer a matter of waving pom-poms, a cute smile and being overly

The argument about cheerleading has gone on for years. Cheerleaders have a constant battle of proving they are athletes. Most athletes take their sport very seriously. To tell an athlete they are not an athlete, or their sport is not a sport, is very disrespectful. Categorizing activities by sports and non-sports has been a blurred line for cheer. When considering factors, cheerleading has those requirements. Cheerleading has fitness, contact, competition, and careers. Cheerleading is a sport.

When most people think of cheerleading, they think of the spirit squads that attempt to pump up the local crowd at high school basketball and football games. People are not aware of what these athletes are doing when they are not in front of these crowds. Strangers to cheerleaders who do not follow the sport extensively do not know the exact involvement of the athletes in this sport, at all ages. Cheerleading requires athleticism like all other sports as you must be in shape and at a great fitness level to be involved in most circumstances. Cheerleaders have to know what they’re doing at all times; while knowing what everyone else on the team is doing as well, which involves a high level of mental preparation. Cheerleading, high school or

For many years people may think that cheerleading is not a sport. While others may believe that cheerleading is a sport. I have been cheerleading for a total of four years and I think that cheerleading is no different from any other sport. You have to have the qualifications and meet the standards that other sports require. If someone was to ask me if I believed cheerleading was a sport I would tell them, yes.

While the definition of a sport may vary with the person, the dictionary definition of 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 the same mindset because they display a genuine passion of being apart of a team and working with others to achieve a common goal.

When it comes to the topic of whether cheerleading is a sport, some of us readily agree that it is. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the competitive side of cheerleading. Although not all types of cheerleading are considered competitive, the ones that are competitive should be considered a sport. Whereas many are convinced that cheerleading as a whole is not a sport due to lack of competition, others maintain 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.

Many people think the term “cheerleader” is a group of girls that dance, jump around, and do cool moves in the air. They may think it’s not a sport because of the fact we don’t exactly attempt to hurt or take the opponent down to the ground physically. But little do they know the hard work and dedication that comes with being a cheerleader. Cheerleading is a sport because some of the things you need to be considered aren’t exactly what everyone may have, as well as other sports. From needing to be able to toss people 5 to 10 feet in the air, being able to follow them if they shift to one side or the other while in the air, the tricks girls pull in the air, to the amount of conditioning we do, etc.. cheerleading is a very intense sport.

“Cheerleaders are the strongest athletes, for they must fight for gold while they fight their stereotype”Cheerleading began during the late 18th century with the rebellion of male students.[3] After the American Revolutionary War, students experienced harsh treatment from teachers. In response to faculty's abuse, college students violently acted out. The undergraduates began to riot, burn down buildings located on their college campuses, and assault faculty members. As a more subtle way to gain independence, however, students invented and organized their own extracurricular activities outside their professors' control. This brought about American sports, beginning first with collegiate teams.In the 1860s, students from Great Britain began to cheer and chant in unison for their favorite athletes at sporting events. Soon, that gesture of support crossed overseas to America.

The definition of a sport according to oxforddictionaries.com is “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Cheerleaders both compete and participate in athletic activity requiring skills. So many people see cheerleading as the sideline of girls doing simple chants and cheers; but, cheerleading has evolved into dangerous stunts, tumbling and more exciting performances. The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches Administration (AACCA) in their Cheerleading As a Sport paper states “Today, cheerleading involves skills which require the strength of football, the grace of dance, and the agility of gymnastics.” This sport is not what it once was, they do much more today than they once

Athletes have the ability to choose which sport they would like to participate in and there are many to select from. Some decide to do football, others do baseball, and some actually choose to join cheerleading. Each of these sports require similar skills such as strength and endurance, which is why many cheerleaders get angry whenever they hear people say “cheerleading is not a sport”. According to author Lauren Rubin, who wrote the article, “Cheerleading Is A Sport” she states

A lot of people say cheerleading isn’t a sport but I could tell you cheerleaders do a lot of Tumbling ,Stunts , dances and screaming it isn’t like us girls sit and look pretty we have to work on our strength we literally have to throw people in the air and catch you could get injuries I experienced this a lot one time in cheer camp I was the back spot but my stunt group threw the flyer in the air as she was coming down my two bases didn’t catch her so she ended up landing on chest sounds bad I know but when you dedicated to something you love you would go through war.

In every sports game, people root for the teams they like; their ways of rooting can range from yelling to professional one called cheerleading. Cheerleading has a long history just as other sports. Cheerleading does not exist to simply motivate the team, but also makes audience and the game itself interesting. That is the reason why it should be considered as one of the sports. Although many do not see cheerleading as a sport, it is definitely considered as sport, as it requires intense physical activity, entertains people, and unites players.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of a sport is a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other. Competitive cheerleading right now, is the fourth leading sport for high school girls. It is seen as a sport by 22 states (Slegel). In cheerleading you have only two and a half minutes to prove the judges that you are better than you opponent (Springer). The Women's Sports Foundation states that because cheerleading involves stunting, physical activity, and rules, it should most definitely be considered a sport (Orlando). Cheerleading goes back to the late 1800s when popularity rose up in U.S. college football (Schultz). Competition squads compete locally, regionally, nationally, and now internationally (Schultz). Cheerleading should be considered a sport because it takes a lot of skill and practice, has a high injury risk, and it involves teams competing against one another.

Cheerleading isn’t a sport for many reasons, one being that the activity doesn’t require any skill. Regular, non-sport cheerleading doesn’t have any specific skills that make it a sport, yes some cheerleaders can do certain skills but those aren’t required for activity. For competitive cheerleading you are required for certain skills, a lot of those skills increase the amount of physical exertion just like sports.

AMA declared competitive cheerleading a sport, yet people still don’t think it is. But recently, cheerleading has been on and off for being in the Olympic games and being recognized as a widespread sport. I personally think that people shouldn’t speak against the topic, unless they’ve researched on it. In competitive cheerleading you compete with a team, against other teams. Which also meets a requirement for a sport. Also, it meets the physical side too. You have to, lift girls up ten feet into the air, tumble which takes a lot of strength, and do jumps which require you to be flexible. Competitive cheerleading makes