From its roots on the sidelines as a cartwheeling sideshow, cheerleading has grown into a combination of athletic skills, leadership, and teamwork (Lauchaire 1). It has evolved so much over the years that it is almost unrecognizable to its former state. Competitive cheerleading is not the traditional pom poms and bows that many people think it is. Competitive cheerleaders perform a two minute and thirty second routine that consists of stunts, jumps, tumbling, and dance. They do not do sideline chants, nor do they support another team. These squads exist solely to compete. They perform routines in front of a panel of judges and are scored based on difficulty, technique, and execution. On the other hand, school cheerleaders tend to exist in
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According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, there are many elements that play into being a sport: “It must be a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of mass. “Contesting” or competing against/with an opponent is required. It 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. Acknowledgement that the primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants (History 1). ” The mass propelling through space (a flyer) is met with an opposing force (a base catching them). As previously stated, the sole purpose of competitive cheerleading is to compete against other teams. All routines are two minutes and 30 seconds long on a standard 9 panel mat. The purpose of the contest would obviously be to win, and rankings are decided based on detailed score sheets filled out by a panel of judges. Therefore, even though the definition of a sport is very complex and consists of many parts, competitive cheer fulfills every one of the requirements …show more content…
Judges only see the completed product, a clean routine with few flaws. However, much more goes on behind the scenes. Many athletes are very serious about the sport and even come from different states in order to get to practice. Some girls stay with what is called a “host family” which houses an athlete during competition season. At a very well known gym Raleigh, North Carolina called Cheer Extreme, it is not uncommon for athletes to leave for practice right after school and return around 12 pm (Almasy 1). Practices are usually 2-3 times a week in addition to at least 2 days of tumbling classes. They can even last as long as three hours at a time. During this time, vigorous physical activity is performed. Practices are very intense and require great physical exertion and stamina. This ties back into what is commonly considered a sport due to the fact that these are all characteristics also displayed in football and hockey. In accordance to the official definition of a sport, the time constraints of a cheerleading routine is two minutes and thirty seconds. In comparison, these long practice times only add to the fact of the hard work required of this sport. Athletes put in hours of practice for only minutes of performance time. In addition to dedication of time, it also costs a large amount of money in order to participate in this sport. Competition fees, tuition,
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, there are many elements that play into being a sport: “It must be a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of mass. “Contesting” or competing against/with an opponent is required. It 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. Acknowledgement that the primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants (History 1). ” The mass propelling through space (a flyer) is met with an opposing force (a base catching them). As previously stated, the sole purpose of competitive cheerleading is to compete against other teams. All routines are two minutes and 30 seconds long on a standard 9 panel mat. The purpose of the contest would obviously be to win, and rankings are decided based on detailed score sheets filled out by a panel of judges. Therefore, even though the definition of a sport is very complex and consists of many parts, competitive cheer fulfills every one of the requirements …show more content…
Judges only see the completed product, a clean routine with few flaws. However, much more goes on behind the scenes. Many athletes are very serious about the sport and even come from different states in order to get to practice. Some girls stay with what is called a “host family” which houses an athlete during competition season. At a very well known gym Raleigh, North Carolina called Cheer Extreme, it is not uncommon for athletes to leave for practice right after school and return around 12 pm (Almasy 1). Practices are usually 2-3 times a week in addition to at least 2 days of tumbling classes. They can even last as long as three hours at a time. During this time, vigorous physical activity is performed. Practices are very intense and require great physical exertion and stamina. This ties back into what is commonly considered a sport due to the fact that these are all characteristics also displayed in football and hockey. In accordance to the official definition of a sport, the time constraints of a cheerleading routine is two minutes and thirty seconds. In comparison, these long practice times only add to the fact of the hard work required of this sport. Athletes put in hours of practice for only minutes of performance time. In addition to dedication of time, it also costs a large amount of money in order to participate in this sport. Competition fees, tuition,