Alyssa Roenigk, a senior writer for ESPN, presented an argumentative article, “Sorry, Cheerleading is not a Sport,” which opened a pivotal argument on cheerleading being classified as a sport. Roenigk states that all cheerleaders are athletes, but cheerleading should not be considered a sport. Why is this? Roenigk claims that sports teams are made to compete, to go against another team to win, not to entertain the crowd. Although Roenigk tries to persuade her audience that cheerleading does not fall under sporting guidelines, she contradicts her argument in immeasurable ways as she shifts cheerleading “athletes” away from sport.
In 2014, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy labelling cheerleading as a sport because it is …show more content…
Roenigk was a cheerleader at the University of Florida and cheerleading helped pay for her schooling and challenged her athletically on a daily basis. “Cheerleaders are athletes. College cheerleading was as physically demanding and mentally challenging as any activity in which I’ve participated,” concluded Roenigk. After she makes her statement about cheerleading being classified as a sport, she shifts her focus to say that cheerleading is in fact, not a sport at all. What is her reasoning? Sport is supposed to include a focus on competition, as stated by the National Federation of State High School Associations and the Women’s Sports Foundation. However, cheerleading focuses on that aspect completely as competition cheerleading teams compete against one another to win a title. Roenigk fails to recognize that competition throughout other sports teams is the same as competitive cheerleading, when the evidence is there to prove …show more content…
She believes that cheerleading should not be considered a sport because in order for an activity to be a sport, competition needs to be relevant; however, she fails to define the type of competition that is relevant in this aspect. Why isn’t competition cheerleading the same as competitions throughout other sports teams? She fails to include her reasoning and is missing the bigger picture. Competitive cheerleading accounts for the largest number of catastrophic injuries among young women, yet Roenigk thinks otherwise. In order to state a good argument, one must have supporting evidence. Roenigk has little supportive evidence, and if she thinks her opinion on this argument is sufficient to gather the attention of millions of people, she may need to rethink her argument since the American Medical Association has declared cheerleading as a
In 2014, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy labelling cheerleading as a sport because it is …show more content…
Roenigk was a cheerleader at the University of Florida and cheerleading helped pay for her schooling and challenged her athletically on a daily basis. “Cheerleaders are athletes. College cheerleading was as physically demanding and mentally challenging as any activity in which I’ve participated,” concluded Roenigk. After she makes her statement about cheerleading being classified as a sport, she shifts her focus to say that cheerleading is in fact, not a sport at all. What is her reasoning? Sport is supposed to include a focus on competition, as stated by the National Federation of State High School Associations and the Women’s Sports Foundation. However, cheerleading focuses on that aspect completely as competition cheerleading teams compete against one another to win a title. Roenigk fails to recognize that competition throughout other sports teams is the same as competitive cheerleading, when the evidence is there to prove …show more content…
She believes that cheerleading should not be considered a sport because in order for an activity to be a sport, competition needs to be relevant; however, she fails to define the type of competition that is relevant in this aspect. Why isn’t competition cheerleading the same as competitions throughout other sports teams? She fails to include her reasoning and is missing the bigger picture. Competitive cheerleading accounts for the largest number of catastrophic injuries among young women, yet Roenigk thinks otherwise. In order to state a good argument, one must have supporting evidence. Roenigk has little supportive evidence, and if she thinks her opinion on this argument is sufficient to gather the attention of millions of people, she may need to rethink her argument since the American Medical Association has declared cheerleading as a