Cheerleading as a Sport
Sport, an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Over 400,000 girls and boys are involved in cheerleading in the United States. With this large amount of people participating, a major controversy is brought into question, is cheerleading a sport? Susan Loomis, National Federation of of State High School Associations member, says, “Number one reason the cheerleaders are there is to support that football and basketball team (Drevitch)” Many opinions have been made on the topic. With personal experience on the subject, I believe cheerleading should be a sport. People compare cheerleading to concert bands. Agreements have been made that if cheerleading is a sport, so should …show more content…
These activities include jumping, dancing, tumbling, and stunting. All these activities can take a major toll on a person’s body. In 2006 a total of 79 cheerleading injuries were recorded. Most of them consisting of falls from stunts up to eleven foot tall. Cheerleading injuries can result in serious problems and in some cases death (Shields). Over 66 percent of girls high school injuries are accounted from cheerleading. Just like other sports, cheerleaders must go through concussion testing. Jeannie Bennitz, Lafayette cheer coach, says, “With the amount of training that they have to do and the level of activities that they do now, it really should be a sport.” Captain on the cheer team, Emily Fauver, expresses her feelings by saying, “We work just as hard as other sports do. We do a lot of conditioning and stuff; we lift humans.” Hundreds of other cheerleaders agree with this statement. The amount of practice and the effects the activity has on one’s body can be compared to other sports such as wrestling and football. So why should cheerleading not be recognized as the same
Sport, an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Over 400,000 girls and boys are involved in cheerleading in the United States. With this large amount of people participating, a major controversy is brought into question, is cheerleading a sport? Susan Loomis, National Federation of of State High School Associations member, says, “Number one reason the cheerleaders are there is to support that football and basketball team (Drevitch)” Many opinions have been made on the topic. With personal experience on the subject, I believe cheerleading should be a sport. People compare cheerleading to concert bands. Agreements have been made that if cheerleading is a sport, so should …show more content…
These activities include jumping, dancing, tumbling, and stunting. All these activities can take a major toll on a person’s body. In 2006 a total of 79 cheerleading injuries were recorded. Most of them consisting of falls from stunts up to eleven foot tall. Cheerleading injuries can result in serious problems and in some cases death (Shields). Over 66 percent of girls high school injuries are accounted from cheerleading. Just like other sports, cheerleaders must go through concussion testing. Jeannie Bennitz, Lafayette cheer coach, says, “With the amount of training that they have to do and the level of activities that they do now, it really should be a sport.” Captain on the cheer team, Emily Fauver, expresses her feelings by saying, “We work just as hard as other sports do. We do a lot of conditioning and stuff; we lift humans.” Hundreds of other cheerleaders agree with this statement. The amount of practice and the effects the activity has on one’s body can be compared to other sports such as wrestling and football. So why should cheerleading not be recognized as the same