ESPN cameras all around, hundreds of screaming fans, pride and a big trophy at stake; no, the described scene is not that of a football championship. The excitement buzzing in the air escalates as the next team steps up to put all they have into a two minute and thirty second sprint to the finish. As a competitive mix of various other sports, cheerleading is a new sport on an international rise in popularity. Some may argue cheerleading should not and cannot be considered a sport, but according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary cheerleading follows the definition of a sport and therefore should be widely considered one because of its high level of physical activity, competition, and set of rules and conventions.
Cheerleading requires an especially high level of physical exertion with an equally high risk of injury. In order to even make a team, cheerleaders must participate in an extensive tryout process often taking more than a week. Athletes must also meet a series of physical requirements concerning skills and fitness. Members of the North Allegheny varsity cheerleading squad first had to run a mile in under 8 minutes and demonstrate their ability to meet the requirements for stunting, cheering, dancing, and tumbling. Cheerleaders also keep busy practice schedules in order to maintain their physical condition. The nationally ranked Villanova University cheerleading squad holds various practices at least five days a week to work on strength and skills. In addition to the
They also specify the rules and guidelines for all of competitive cheerleading. Teams are created by the age and the level of every individual athlete at whichever cheerleading gym they may choose. This being said, “All Star Cheer is the name referred to cheer groups created just for competition and not associated with any school or team.” (Cheer Debate: Is Cheerleading a Sport?) The sole purpose of competitive cheerleading is to put together a two minute and thirty second routine to compete against other teams in your same division around the state, country, and even world. This is just minute portion of what cheerleading is but are some of most important parts of what it is.
“In a day and age when cheerleaders are leaders in their community, role models in school, and must maintain the highest GPA out of any other activity it is ridiculous for all states not to classify them as a sport. Jaw-dropping stunts, whip-backs, and thirty-foot- high basket tosses help cheerleading earn their acclaim and steady ratings” (Rondon 97). Yes, just like any other sport, cheerleading competitions are broadcasted on ESPN. Substantiation of the popularity of cheerleading is because it is featured on one of the largest sports broadcasting networks in the world. “On ESPN, cheerleading competitions draw an average audience of 455,000 homes, comparable to the National Hockey League” (Ebersole “Thrills and Spills”). “Cheerleading on ESPN earns steady ratings (a .5 versus a .3 for Major
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.
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
The audience in this is the people who do not think that cheer is a sport. A specific gender would be mostly boys. I often find myself into specific arguments all the time whether or not cheer is a sport. A specific age group is normally between the age of 10-20. The average reader is anyone who does not think that cheer is a sport, or that it is fairly easy. For example, in this common situation here at snow the football players always complain how hard their practice is. They expect us to sit down and feel sorry for them. If we say anything about how hard ours is, they get all offended and argue that cheer is not a sport.
One component cheerleaders also must have is flexibility. “Flexibility is the range of motion in a joint or group of joints or the ability to move joints effectively through a complete range of motion. Flexibility training includes stretching exercises to lengthen the muscles” (VeryWell). Flexibility must be present in order for flyers (the girls that are lifted into the air) to pull positions in midair, for the whole team to perform various jumps, and also helps in tumbling, which is a very important skill to have when participating in competitive cheerleading. “Tumbling is a form of gymnastics that requires athletes to use their bodies to flip, twist, roll and jump” (OmniCheer). Tumbling can take years to develop and isn’t an easy skill at all. Some girls work their whole life to just master simpler areas of tumbling and only the best of the best can do some of the hardest tumbling, which incorporates twists while flipping in midair. The last skill that cheerleaders must have is coordination. There is a lot of dancing whenever it comes to cheerleading. Dancing can be considered easy but not when it must be sharp and synchronized with all of the other teammates, along with adding in facial expressions, which appeal to the judges. These aspects take loads of time to perfect and some of these skills take years to even begin learning how to do.
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.
Why is it that most americans believe that cheerleading isn 't a sport? Could it be because cheerleaders don’t compete against other cheerleaders on specific “game days”? Cheerleading is different from most sports because they usually compete with how loud they are, and their facial expressions. In order for an activity to be considered a sport it has involve physical activities. Cheerleading is a sport because people train and compete for it, the cheerleaders also have to be physically fit.
What do you think makes people better at the activity that they are doing such as constantly improving their agility and strength? Dance should be considered a sport. First, dancers put in as much stamina and sweat that football players do. Also, you are still competing against other companies for the win so it is still competitive. Lastly, it helps your agility as well as any other sport and gets you in good shape, again, like any other sport. Here is some proof.
“Our members can train up to six hours during rehearsals where we take on cardio, conditioning, stunting, and gymnastics- and if i call extra rehearsals they never say no, they're all so dedicated (“Three Cheers For the Knights!” 1).” Some say Cheerleading is a hobby, not a sport. One may say this because cheerleaders cheer on the “true” sport, cheerleading is a element of looks, and no other “sports” take place on the sideline of other sports.
Teamwork is an integral part of cheerleading. Cheerleading is a team sport therefore; it requires people to work together as one cohesive group. This is something people learn quickly in