Why cheer should be considered a sport

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Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share via Email. Football has retained its number one spot over the decades, while cheerleading has managed to dramatically lower its rate of catastrophic injuries in recent years.

Still, cheerleading has had a higher rate of injury over time than 23 of the 24 sports recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA , the exception being football.

Title IX , the section of the Education Amendments of requiring that men and women be treated equally academically, prohibits gender-based discrimination in sports.

In his decision , U. District Court Judge Stefan R. Quinnipiac appealed the ruling, but a federal appeals court upheld it in Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. When the activity began in the latter half of the 19th century, it was only for men. But over the next hundred years, it evolved into the female-dominated activity that formed the basis for the popular stereotype of girls and women cheering in short skirts and waving pom poms see: Heathers , American Beauty.

Cheerleading as a competitive sport — one that leads to higher rates of injury and requires great athleticism — only began in the s, according to Adams. Cheerleading is a sport because of the training that it requires and the competitions that take place to show off talents and compete to see who is the best in the world of cheerleading.

Some could argue that cheerleading is not a sport because they do not compete and cheerleaders also do not work hard at games and there is no training needed to be a cheerleader. However, to be a good cheerleader, you need to be able to jump well, tumble, memorize and be good at dance. An important part in cheerleading is working out and gaining muscle to help lift stunts and to get better jumps with certain drills. According to sportsrec.

Because competitive cheerleading is a highly athletic activity that requires endurance, strength, flexibility and balance, training for it should include exercises that target all of these areas. Incorporate these exercises at every practice and perform them on off days in between practices as well.

They also complete strength training, stretch and work on balance. Cheerleaders train all of these skills every time they practice because they have competitions, which makes it a very difficult sport.

It should be considered a sport because of all of the hard work that goes into being a good cheerleader. In my personal experience, there is lots of conditioning and strength training needed to be able to perform all the skills needed in cheerleading and to perform them well. There is also more than one opponent that you are trying to beat, and you are doing different performances that include all of the skills in a different order with different levels of the skills.

It must be governed by rules that explicitly define the time, space, and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared. Time limit, mat size, score sheets… check, check, check!

Acknowledgement that the primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants. You know those competitions on ESPN? Those are national championships… check! Share this post. Related News. Contact Us Let us know who you are:.