Cheerleading is considered an average American activity practiced in almost every community, representing team spirit on and off the field. The populous activity originally started in the 19th century as an all-male activity. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the men left to fight in World War II that females stepped into the vacant spots. As Alexa Ferrara mentions, “For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was assumed that cheerleading was the most appropriate way for girls to contribute to sports.” As a result, today cheerleading has expanded greatly around the country. In the United States, Dr. Bagnulo states that, “Cheerleading is a rapidly growing sport with participation increasing by approximately 18% per year.” In addition,
Competitive Cheerleading, the Sport Many cheerleaders today face a common problem, getting respect for what they do. In the article “Why Don’t More People Consider Competitive Cheerleading a Sport?”, from The Atlantic, Elisabeth Sherman talked to multiple cheerleaders that all feel they do not get enough respect for the many hours of training they do, along with competing against other teams. It is extremely frustrating to hard working, competitive, cheerleaders when people do not take them seriously because they are uneducated about what competitive or All Star cheerleading really is.
Today, people often think of cheerleading as a sport meant for girls, even though girls didn’t start cheering until the year of 1923. It was only when women joined cheerleading that they began to use
Introduction: Cheerleading is more than pompoms, short skirts and bows. It is multiple backflips, pyramids and countless hours of practice. However, cheerleading has changed over time. Award winning journalist, sportswriter and author, Bill Pennington emphasizes the need for better training and a strengthening of regulations to reduce the number student athletes being injured during cheer activities. Pennington’s article, “As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So does the Danger”, was published on March 31, 2007, in The New York Times.
Cheerleading goes beyond shaking poms and chanting cheers on the sidelines of a football or basketball game. In similarity to every other sport, with it come sprains, breaks, and severe injuries. In my mindset I was too well trained
During my years at Peoria Notre Dame HS, cheerleading has been a big part of my life, and something I hope to continue at the University of Dayton. I am an outgoing and social person and it’s easy for me to learn routines quickly. As captain for both the JV and varsity squads, I have put together multiple award winning routines, selecting the music, choreographing and teaching the routine to the squad. Besides the actual cheer routines, I have used my communication skills to keep squad members and their parents informed. I try to set a good example with my own behavior, I love helping to create enthusiasm for cheerleading in young kids, and I have learned a lot from mediating issues within the team.
“As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So Does the Danger” points toward the dangers of cheerleading, and at the same time the author reports “the number of serious injuries is low when compared with the number of current participants” (Pennington). This comparison indicates the author has kept an open mind with a clear personal opinion while writing this article. Cheerleading is obviously viewed differently today than it has been in the past. The writer describes modern cheer as “performances are a blur of tumbling bodies, executed to loud, pulsating music. The stunts are breathtaking.”
Cheerleading, a Sport or Not Not long ago, a debatable question has been pondered by many to decide whether or not cheerleading is a sport. After having a self-debate, I have made the decision that I personally do not believe that cheerleading should be considered a sport considering knowing the way cheerleading is ran and how different it is from any other well-known sport. Cheerleading started out back in the 1800’s and still is popular today. Cheerleading began as an all-male activity at college football games in the 1800’s. In the 1920’s cheerleading started to become more of a woman’s sport It quickly became a full-on female sport leaving the males find a new activity to make their own.
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.
When it comes to competitive cheer, there is a lot more than yelling chants. Cheerleading requires sharp/quick motions, strength, along with perfect timing. Cheerleaders have to have the ability to throw 100+ pound girls in the air and be able to catch them. In conclusion, cheerleading is dangerous, competitive, and takes time and dedication. These are all the components of what society considers a “true sport.”
I am a firm believer that if more people would start to look at it like a football team or a hockey team, we would have a lot more people supporting cheerleading as a major sport.
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.
We’re not here to show you high school cheerleading. We’re here to show you the young women and men putting all of their free-time into a stuffy old gym. Trusting each other with their lives and defying gravity. We’re not here to show you the average athlete.
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.
Many people have good and bad experiences about the sports or hobbies they love. For myself, cheerleading is one of those that I have excelled in due to the amazing coaches that have taught me. It is not only a skill, but a respectable title in my eyes. Although I have grown a love and passion for cheer, it was not easy at first glance. Unfortunately, failure came before success.