What Makes Cheerleading A Sport?

Because of the physical demand, skill set needed, and the rules set to tumble, stunt, and jump, competitive cheerleading should be considered an official sport. Yet cheerleading has rules, guidelines, training, and many other things other sports also include. It also is definitely a physical and contact sport which has caused countless injuries throughout the years of the sports existance. But, most people only know cheerleading as sideline (school) cheerleading and have not had a glimpse into the world of competitive (All Star) cheerleading.

Cheer practices can sometimes only be two hours, but they can also be up to a long and hard seven hours. This requires athletes to sacrifice an extraordinary amount of time, often on weekends for them to succeed at a high level. In an interview recently conducted with a local cheerleader Rebecca Ruddock, who competes with a traveling cheer gym called Terre Haute Cheer University, (THCU) she said that she practices an average of nine hours a week with her different teams and an additional four hours a week on her own.

Cheerleading is simply entertainment for viewers and is a social club for its participants. “Sports Beat - The Sport of Cheerleading: It’s a lot More than Just Pompoms and Smiles,” points out that a main benefit of cheerleading is the ability to “easily transition into the entertainment industry” (Hatton C-04). This statement supports our belief that cheerleading should not be considered a sport. Cheer-leading, the leading of cheers at sporting events is not a sport. Entertainment, versus athleticism, is more of what cheerleading is. Team supporters are present at games/events to raise school spirit and encourage cheering. Cheerleading generally requires a competition to be in progress, so the cheerleading itself can occur. This is not an activity which can take place alone.

Right before a game, football players huddle up as a team and they get “hyped-up” to win. The coach of the team gives them a game plan and they follow it. This same thing applies for the cheerleaders right before they take the mat. Their “game plan” is the routine that a choreographer made for them. Coaches change the routine to make them win. Cheerleaders have to act as a team. (you build a bond with your teammates practicing so much together.) At competitions, all the cheerleaders match from bow to toe. Cheerleaders always encourage their teammates when they are discouraged or feel failure in not being able to complete a stunt.(they

The sport of cheerleading has been around for a long time; since 1884 in fact! In the beginning, cheer was a sport dominated by college men. Since, women have taken over, and in 1967 the first ranked college cheer competition was held. Both school and competitive cheerleading offer many rewarding opportunities. Though they are a part of the same sport, the two types of squads are actually quite diverse. School cheer is undeniably a worthwhile and respectable sport, but competitive teams often provide a more challenging approach, and are more suited to experienced cheerleaders.

To begin the argument at hand of whether or not cheerleading is a sport, it must be recognized that there isn’t truly a set/official definition for what a sport is. There are no set of regulations that have been universally agreed upon in which all activities can be examined against in order to determine whether those activities is a sport or not. It’s difficult to put under simple terms and rules what exactly qualifies something as a “sport” without disqualifying any currently agreed upon

Unlike any another high school sport cheerleading is a year round sport not including how much we practice during the summer. Every time we throw up a stunt, pyramid, or tumbling sequence we are risking everything. We are risking Strains and sprains account for more than half of all cheerleading injuries. Of these, ankle sprains are the most common, and that is followed by strains or sprains of the neck, lower back, knee and wrist. Also Back injuries: when we are throwing up Stunts and basket tosses like lifting other cheerleaders above our head, tumbling and dismounting while twisting and rotating can all place significant stress on the lower back, which can lead to back pain. A more serious injury that can occur over time is a stress fracture to the vertebra, one of the bones that make up the spinal column of our body. If the stress fracture occurs on both sides of the vertebrae, the bone can become weakened and

Whether cheerleading is considered a sport has become a very controversial topic over the past few years. Due to lack of education of the sport, it is very frowned upon by other athletes. Other athletes seem to feel that cheerleading isn't difficult and requires minimum to no effort. These accusations can be very hurtful when coming from a cheerleader’s perspective. Based on their strength and skill, the amount of practicing and maintaining health, the number of injuries, and its competitive aspect, cheerleading should be considered a sport. The talent that these young men and women have is phenomenal. The performance of their skills looks extremely flawless but no one truly knows what goes on behind the pretty stunts and synchronized

The physical activity must have five elements, some include overcoming the resistance of a mass, competition against an opponent, and the rules must define time, space, the purpose of the activity, and the conditions under which a winner is declared. In addition to, acknowledgement that the competition is an evaluation of the skills of the participants and the key purpose of the activity is for competition. Competitive cheerleading fits into all five of these categories through stunts, tumbling, competitions, score sheets, time limits, and mat size. Cheerleading also fits into these categories through the Entertainment and Sports Programming Networks (ESPN) comparing cheerleading routines and a competitive cheerleader’s sole purpose is to compete. Most people in the world do not think cheerleading is a sport for several reasons. Some they think cheerleading does not have a strategy, while others think cheerleaders do not have enough physical ability. However, cheerleading fits into all of the categories of what must take place in order to deem it as a sport (Cheer

One reason cheerleading is a sport because it is a physical activity.This web helps explain my reasoning about physical activity .You can find this web on https://cheerleading.about.comod/skillandabilities/a/031002.antm.Some cheer teams put in more hours and effort in the gym than teams such as football and basketball.Cheerleading not only shows you and teaches coordination it helps condition competitors,but it also helps you with sportsmanship ,leadership communication skills,organizational skills,productivity and much more.

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.

One reason people claim that cheerleading is not a sport is that sports require competition, and cheerleading is merely a means of rallying excitement at sporting events, and therefore is not a sport itself. However, in addition to performing at sporting events, many cheerleaders and cheer squads also compete in cheerleading competitions across the globe. In a cheerleading competition, cheer squads perform routines to music, and are judged based on what stunts the squad performs and how well

Many people are also not aware of the fact that there are two different types of cheerleading. One type is called sideline cheerleading. “According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, a primary purpose of sideline spirit groups (dance, pom, drill or cheer) is to serve as support groups for the interscholastic athletic programs within the school” (National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research). Another form of cheerleading is competitive cheer. This is when a mixture of school and All-Star squads compete against each other with a 2 and a half minute routine. In these routines, the cheerleaders do different tricks and stunting including tumbling, mounting, and tossing others for higher scores. The routines also include dancing and movements that helps the team stand out to a panel of judges that will score the routine. The team in each division that has the highest average score wins the competition. In competitive cheerleading, cheerleaders are not standing on the sideline cheering for others, but they are actually cheering for themselves. These athletic competitions are often viewed on ESPN and FOX sports. This also proves that the standards of cheerleading have changed from long ago.

In order to be successful in cheerleading you have to have a strong body and mindset, because cheerleading takes physical and mental strength. Cheerleading is a yearlong sport so if an athlete survives for that long then that means the athlete is dedicated to his/her team. When the athletes finish the entire season they are acknowledged at a banquet. At the banquet the team talks about things in the past and they look back at everything that happened earlier in the season. The seniors of the team and everyone who is on that team for the last year get really emotional. Cheerleading is a tough sport to do but the experiences that they gain with their teammates make the it not so

Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports in the game. Besides throwing people in the air and launching themselves into tumbling passes, cheerleaders take hits like a champ and fall down to jump right back up. Being a cheerleader myself, I attribute this perseverance to one of the many lessons learned from being involved in the sport. Cheerleading is not only a way to better oneself physically but also as a person. Through cheerleading, people learn the importance of teamwork, dedication, and responsibility.