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.
“All Star cheerleading is a competition sport that involves boys and girls performing a 2 minute and 30 second routine composed of tumbling, stunting, pyramids, dance, and cheer segments.” (usasf) Competitive cheerleading contains young athletes from tiny to senior and senior open age categories. Tinys start at age three and senior terminates at eighteen years old and open ages can be any age over fifteen years old. (Facts About Competitive Cheer) There are likewise five levels increasing starting from level one to level five(sometimes level six, though it is not very common). Level one performs cartwheels and very elementary stunting and jumping combinations
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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.
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
Cheerleading might be considered to be an extracurricular activity to the average individual, but have you tried it? Even though four years ago, a federal judge ruled that competitive cheerleading is not an official sport, this physical activity includes all of the elements and more of a defined coed sport.
Even though Cheer is considered a school club or an outside activity, cheer should be considered a sport because they compete seasonally and have all the requirements for being a sport. Cheer should be considered a sport because it has all the requirements to be a sport. Some requirements to be a sport are contesting and the sport 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 which cheerleading has both of these (Nicole Lauchaire). This basically means there is no reason that Cheer should not be considered a sport. Some people may disagree saying that cheerleaders wear “10 pounds of makeup,” and “two
The competitive sport of cheerleading is not all about jumping up and down and yelling “Go team, go!”. It’s about using your strength to perform a variety of skills that form together to make a routine. These routines are performed by many teams to be judged during competitions. Practice is required to do well at competitions. In order to become a cheerleader, you need to have tumbling skills, endurance, and flexibility.
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
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
When most people think of cheerleading, they think of the spirit squads that attempt to pump up the local crowd at high school basketball and football games. People are not aware of what these athletes are doing when they are not in front of these crowds. Strangers to cheerleaders who do not follow the sport extensively do not know the exact involvement of the athletes in this sport, at all ages. Cheerleading requires athleticism like all other sports as you must be in shape and at a great fitness level to be involved in most circumstances. Cheerleaders have to know what they’re doing at all times; while knowing what everyone else on the team is doing as well, which involves a high level of mental preparation. Cheerleading, high school or
In the early 1990’s, All-Star teams emerged. These are cheerleading teams not associated with schools or sports leagues, whose main objective is to
There are many proven facts to support that cheerleading is in fact a sport. ESPN officially declared cheer to be a sport, but that has not seemed to affect people’s opinions.
I have done both high school and All-Star cheerleading. I know first hand how each practice goes, and I have gone through the competitions, training, games, and practices. The first big difference between the two levels of cheerleading is the practice and training. At a high school cheerleading practice, every practice is usually the same. The practice starts out with the everyone circling up and stretching and laughing, it’s not taken very serious. After we stretch, we would usually train for twenty minutes. Training involved seeing how many push ups, sit ups, and jumping jacks we could do in a minute. Then, we would run a single lap around the football field, but most of the cheerleaders would walk. After training was over we most likely would practice cheers and chants for thirty minutes, dances for thirty minutes, and then stunt if we were lucky. We rarely stunted for the simple
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.
First of all let’s take a look at cheerleading as a whole and the basics of it. Well to start off there are two types of cheerleaders, competitive and noncompetitive.
Cheerleading is a sport that many people don’t support in a way that they support the popular sports in most schools, like football and basketball. Cheering can open many doors and create an ample amount of job opportunities. By cheering you can also receive full ride athletic scholarships from many schools. A cute skirt and pompoms is not the only thing you have to work for when it comes to cheering. Just as any other sport you have to have a certain grade point average to try out for your cheerleading team and also you are held accountable for maintaining your grade point average with also being held accountable for remembering cheers, games day dates and events that you will have to attend with your team. Cheer teaches you many things other than being able to tumble and shout! As a cheerleader, you learn to encourage anyone that needs that boost of encouragement, we learn how to work together with other people. Your cheer team members will become your family!
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.
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.