Most people view cheerleading as twenty four girls in skimpy uniforms who know basic cheers along with rhythmic stomps and claps, but this is not entirely the case. Cheerleading involves an athleticism unlike any other sport or physical activity. While some people say competitive cheerleading is too unmethodical and muddled to be considered a sport, it actually meets all the criteria to be considered one. Competitive cheerleading is physically demanding, competitive, and regulated. Although competitive cheerleading meets all the components of a sport, some people still see it as merely an athletic activity. The United States district judge, Stefan Underhill, deemed "competitive cheerleading [as] too underdeveloped and disorganized to be truly considered a sport" ("Pom-Pom shake up"). Current Events student reporter, Alexis Brindley, supports the Judge's …show more content…
That is simply not true. A cheerleader's goal, alike any other sport, is to be the best of the best. Cheerleaders compete for a title, and they work hard to get what they want. Competitions are intense, as cheerleaders warm up along side of an opponent, and compete one after another. Preparing to step on the competition floor, "kids [fight] the mounting tension. Some [retch]; others [clasp] hands in prayer" (Campo-Flores). They compete for a score based on level of difficulty and execution. The tighter the flyer, and the more in-sync the higher the score. Just as a football, baseball, or basketball team would prepare for a game; cheerleading requires repetitive practices day in and day out to prepare the squad for competitions. Therefore a cheerleader's main goal is to compete, and that is a major component of a
First and foremost, competitive cheerleading is a sport because the athletes compete against other teams in their division to win the top spot. Similar to other sports teams, cheerleaders have big competitions that they have to prepare for. It may not seem like it takes hard work but the effort that is needed throughout the 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the routine is very great. For example, winning US finals and making it to Worlds is every cheerleaders dream but without all the other competitions leading up to it, there is no final competition. Not only does winning take an amazing routine but also it takes dedication from the entire organization.
Cheerleading’s stereotype is traditionally girls in tiny skirts, with bows in their hair, and lots of makeup. However, it started out as a male’s sport. For about the first forty years of cheerleading, women were not allowed to take part in the sport. Now, ninety-seven percent of all cheerleaders are female, according to Serendip Studios. This same website also showed that the male presence is still very prominent.
Specific training is required to learn how to stunt correctly and safely. If something goes wrong in a stunt, there is a very high risk of someone injuring themselves. Communication is also crucial in a stunt group in order to fix any stability issues that occur when in a stunt. In order to be a cheerleader, it is necessary to have a loud voice, a strong memory, good timing, flexibility, and excellent communication skills. Since I had a traditional dance background prior to starting cheerleading, I was very flexible, could remembers long routines and was able to stay in synch with the rest of the squad.
The University of Maryland added cheerleading as a varsity sport in 2003 and hoped that many other Universities would follow in their lead. With the final outcome, it only turned out that so far, five have succeeded in following. Furthermore, NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) doesn’t think that cheerleading is a sport. With the whole cheerleading issue rambling, the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t count it towards the law of Title X (the federal equality of both female and male). It has came to the point where we are questioning if Title X is no longer useful.
The Women’s Sports Foundation does not agree when schools count activities as a legitimate sport when they are only trying to increase their amount of female participation numbers to make sure they look good for Title X, without actually allowing the cheerleader to compete. Neena Chaudlry, a senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center in Washington stated, “We understand that in these difficult economic times, schools are looking for ways to tighten their budgets, but this case sends a clear message that schools cannot cut costs on the backs of women”(Isabelle Hardy). It’s common at schools with very small amounts of girls rename their activities to be named as a sport, and forget what the nature of the activity is. This allows the school to cut out sports teams and shield their school from being able to add new sports teams.
Cheerleading isn’t a real sport When people think of sports they think of homeruns being hit, touchdowns being thrown, goals being kicked, hockey players beating each other up, and hearing the swish of the net. Not a bunch of girls running back and forth doing flips and tricks. I believe cheerleading is not a sport for one of many reasons. First of all when a sport is being played whether it’s Baseball, Football, Soccer, Hockey, or Basketball there’s always periods, halves, quarters and the game usually takes about 3 hours. With cheerleading, they perform for about 3 minutes to a song in front of a couple judges.
The purpose of these cheerleaders’ is to encourage fans and support their fellow sports teams. This type of cheerleading is the focus of the development of the cheerleader stereotype, as well as the focus of the argument that cheerleading is not a sport. In contrast to recreational cheerleading, competition cheerleading focus on a physically and mentally competitive atmosphere. While I concede that recreational cheerleading lacks many of the core requirements to be considered a sport, I reject the opinion that competitive cheerleading is not a sport.
Cheerleading is considered one of the most dangerous sports because many cheerleaders end up with severe and career-ending injuries. Some of the injuries cheerleaders experience are; ACL tears, skull fractures, and bicep tears. Cheerleaders start at a young age and mostly go to the age of 18, sometimes further, if they carry on their careers in college. Head coach Lauren Gryskiewicz, a veteran cheerleading judge says, “There are kids 4 years old doing things that
Being part of a team and trying out helps classify cheer as a sport. There are also different levels of cheer. “If you mess up, just keep going. Slap on a smile, pick up where you left off, and stay calm. Everyone makes mistakes, but the judges want to see that you can handle them with grace.”
Many orthopedic experts consider cheerleading a sport and encourage other associations to do so as well. By accepting cheerleading as a sport, the athletes would be given more money for mats, increasing the safety. In 2011 alone, 3,700 cheerleaders went to the emergency room and account for 66% of the catastrophic injuries for female athletes (Brungart). Doctors believe that if more people gave cheerleading had greater recognition, many injuries could be prevented with the purchase of mats. The most recent organization to consider cheerleading a sport is the International Olympic Committee.
Each year, more colleges are offering college scholarships to guys who are good at cheering, providing them with a decent chance of landing a college scholarship and going off to college (Patrick). Many guys believe that cheering is a girls sport, but I’m here today to inform you about all-star competitive cheering and what is involved in putting together a competitive routine, and at the end I my speech I hope you will be able to see why many guys can benefit from cheerleading. I personally have cheered for 6 years and coached for 2 years when I was in high school, and I loved every seconded of it. Even though competitive cheerleading is seen as a sport that is solely focused on preforming and entertaining, it is also a physically exhausting
The word sport is defined as "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment”. Cheerleading isnt a sport but people are working really hard for other people to accept it as a sport. Cheerleading is an activity where you make a routine and perform it for points, and even win awards at competitions. When you perform you are against many teams in your division. Cheerleaders take a lot of time to train and prepare for the competition, also cheerleading is more physically demanding than other sports, lastly cheerleading meets all the requirements to be a sport.
Being a cheerleader takes a positive attitude and the willingness to work hard! It takes commitment, self-discipline, and dedication. It takes energy and skill and it takes each of us working together to be our very best! Cheerleaders are role models at school and in the community.
Pom pom’s, short skirts, and lipstick. This is probably what first comes to your mind when you hear cheerleader. However, there is a lot more to cheerleading than that. Throughout these past four years Columbia athletics hasn't just taught me my physical strength, but also the values of commitment, hard work, dedication, leadership, and trust. These values have shaped me into the person I am today and I will continue to use these skills to guide me through my future life.
What is Cheerleading? Many may think it’s a sport that you dress up, apply makeup, slick your hair with a bow, and simply put on a smile, and yell as loud as you can to keep the crowd pumped. Cheerleading includes all those easy and pretty factors, but it is also a sport that you stunt, tumble, and jump. Jumps and tumbling may seem really easy to many people, but there’s more work done than most might think is possible. Stunting is also a major element in cheer, and that’s what really pleases the crowd, but stunting takes tons of work.