The Education Week newsletter states that cheerleading is the fastest growing girls sport, yet more than half of Americans do not believe it is one. In addition many people fail to distinguish between sideline cheerleaders and competitive ones. Sideline cheerleaders’ main goal is to entertain the crowd and lead them with team cheers, which should not be considered a sport. On the other hand, competitive cheerleading should be considered as a sport. By definition a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Over the past decade the cheerleading world has changed drastically, and today in it’s current state it meets the criteria for being considered
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While that may be partially true, those people are only basing their judgements off of the sideline cheerleaders viewed at sporting events and not the competitive cheerleaders who are out of sight practicing for their next big competition. Jennie Yabroff, author of the article “ In Defense of Cheering” who spent a whole year following three cheer teams around, none of which fit the stereotypical cheerleading squad, discovered that competitive cheerleaders often perform bruised, broken, or bone-weary, and that they deserve to be taken seriously. Along with the entertainment aspect, many opposers also believe that cheerleading does not count as a sport when counting up male and female athletes to comply with Title IX. (Khadaroo 2) Title IX is a law that was passed in 1972 that requires equality for boys and girls in every sport program. (Khadaroo 1) But since the cheerleading world is evolving, today roughly about fifty percent of today’s competitive cheerleading teams are made up of male cheerleaders.
Some may say that cheerleading is all about cheering on the boy sports teams and short skirts, but that is not the case anymore. Competitive cheerleading is a sport, and one that requires great athletic ability and teamwork. Cheerleading is a physically demanding sport that is governed by rules under which a winner can be declared and its primary purpose is to compare the skills of participants for entertainment. Hopefully, one day cheerleading will be as widely accepted as other sports such as gymnastics and
While that may be partially true, those people are only basing their judgements off of the sideline cheerleaders viewed at sporting events and not the competitive cheerleaders who are out of sight practicing for their next big competition. Jennie Yabroff, author of the article “ In Defense of Cheering” who spent a whole year following three cheer teams around, none of which fit the stereotypical cheerleading squad, discovered that competitive cheerleaders often perform bruised, broken, or bone-weary, and that they deserve to be taken seriously. Along with the entertainment aspect, many opposers also believe that cheerleading does not count as a sport when counting up male and female athletes to comply with Title IX. (Khadaroo 2) Title IX is a law that was passed in 1972 that requires equality for boys and girls in every sport program. (Khadaroo 1) But since the cheerleading world is evolving, today roughly about fifty percent of today’s competitive cheerleading teams are made up of male cheerleaders.
Some may say that cheerleading is all about cheering on the boy sports teams and short skirts, but that is not the case anymore. Competitive cheerleading is a sport, and one that requires great athletic ability and teamwork. Cheerleading is a physically demanding sport that is governed by rules under which a winner can be declared and its primary purpose is to compare the skills of participants for entertainment. Hopefully, one day cheerleading will be as widely accepted as other sports such as gymnastics and