Cheerleading A Sport

Great Essays
From its humble beginning, cheerleading has developed into a very active hobby for young people. Recently cheerleading has brought controversy toward whether or not it should be considered a sport. Being one of the fastest growing girls’ sport, a lot of people do not see it as being a sport. Many people do not believe cheerleading is a sport because they do not think it involves athletic skills like other sports and a big reason because is not a part of a game. What they do not realize is that modern cheerleaders must show all the characteristics that are defined as a sport in order to be good. It involves the strength of a football player, dexterity of a gymnast, speed of a track star, the grace of a dancer, and the determination of all athletes. …show more content…
A sport is a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively (Ninemire). Activities that many people recognize as a sport include: football, basketball, volleyball, and track, even gymnastics and figure-skating. These activities are defined as a sport because they have high athletic abilities and are competing against an opponent. Also many “sports” that are considered sports are determined by scored points for a team. Yet, gymnastics and figure-skating are sports in which athletes perform to gain points based on a judge. Therefore all sports are different, but all include athletes. Why should cheerleading not be considered a sport when it requires a complex set of technical skills, physical fitness, and real guts (Doyne)? As people participate in cheering, this question is asked more and more …show more content…
According to the author Craig Peters, “The question of whether cheerleading is a sport or not, though, affects more than a cheerleaders pride, it could also affect the squads legal status” (Peters). Cheerleading being considered a sport would not only give cheerleaders the recognition they deserve, but would also give them access to better funding. Cheerleaders work hard, yet they do not get the respect they deserve. Many within the cheerleading community simply want the recognition that comes along being deemed a sport (Kastner). Also, cheerleading does not have access to funding like basketball and football. Cheerleaders have to come out of their own pockets for uniforms, competitions, etc. With the legal status that comes with being considered a sport, cheerleading would get much better funding. According to one study, “Fourteen states reognize cheerleading as a sport, and many are considering doing so” (Valliant 14). If we get more people and places to give cheerleaders the recognition they deserve, then cheerleading as a whole would be better.
Many people downplay all the things cheerleaders do and say that it isn’t nothing more than an activity where girls cheer for a team; these cheerleaders should get the respect they truly deserve. Cheerleading should be considered a sport because it involves the strength of a football player, dexterity of a gymnast, speed of a track star, grace of a dancer, and determination

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Right up front, cheerleading is a dumb sport to join. Like Reilly said “The velcroed-on smiles. The bizarre arm movements stolen from the navy signalmen’s handbook. The same cheers done by every troupe in every state. ”…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When a person defines a sport, most think of a physical activity with rules and regulation to follow, a team or person that has to practice and have serious risk when playing. Nonetheless, cheerleading is a sport and with time, it may become a well-known sport like football and basketball. Hence, competitive cheerleading is a sport as it takes the same practice to improve as in any other sport. Rules like in many other sports must be followed, and risk of injuries and health are still affected. Altogether cheerleading should be recognize in the same category when defining a sport it still has it far share of…

    • 1293 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many say “Cheerleading isn’t just a sport. It’s a way of life”. If you said that to me four years ago, I would have never believed you. Now, there is no question in my mind that this is true. I was on the varsity cheer team at my high school from freshman to senior year.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The second type of cheerleading is ‘competitive,’ with competitive cheer, you have tumbling and non-tumbling. The debate of whether or not cheerleading is a sport dates back to 1869 when cheerleading first began. By definition competitive cheerleading is a sport and here is why.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Paige Bloskas WRIT 101-Section 112 Dr. Kerstin Rudolph Is Cheer a Sport? Many people today debate wether cheer is a sport or not. Some people stereotype a cheerleader as merely being a woman standing on the sidelines of games looking perfect, shaking their pom poms, holding signs and yelling chants for football players.…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cheerleading is much more than just being strong and having coordination. Cheerleader’s have a time limit that they must meet, make sure there spacing in their formations are correct, and they have to keep a high energy level at the same time. According to Julia Angelen Joy, her daughter must watch the things she eats, workout, and attend extra tumbling classes. Despite football being a skillful sport, cheerleading, when taken seriously, can be just as skillful. Some believe that cheerleading is not as much of a sport as football.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No one ever knows how difficult it is until they participate in it. Competition cheerleading should be considered a sport, because of the knowledge, athleticism, and intelligence it required to be a serious competitive team. First, cheerleading requires an abundant about of knowledge. There are numerous certifications that are mandatory for coaches to have just like every interscholastic…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I even got evidence from my friend Braylee. She, told me that cheerleading on the sidelines is not a sport, but competitive cheerleading is. It really just depends on who…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It’s known that if cheerleading was indeed considered a sport there would be less injuries because of the better equipment they would be using. Many arguments go across America on whether cheerleading should be considered a sport or not. You can search the web and find a variety of different websites on whether cheer is considered a sport or not and why. Since cheerleaders in high school are not considered a sport, they do not get the proper coaching techniques that they should have. The girls come together and plan everything themselves.…

    • 1853 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cheerleading has always been a very important aspect to my life. In high school our cheerleading squad had an experience that proved cheerleaders do not get the respect from other athletes that they deserve. As a cheerleading squad, we were at every football and basketball game, even the away games. We were there to show support for our fellow athletes, however when our squad was in a cheerleading competition, not one of the other athletes came in support of us. This showed the lack of respect other athletes had for our cheerleading squad.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every part of the definition is displayed by high school cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are expected to be in good physical condition and they should be able to master skills that require working physical strength and stamina. Also, a cheer squad not only supports teams that are competing for the school, they also train and repeatedly practice to compete against other teams across their region or state for awards and titles just as every other sport does. Another reason that cheerleading should be a sport is because of how similar it is to other activities that are considered sports.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Persuasive Essay On Competitive Cheerleading

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited

    Though still new and misunderstood, competitive cheerleading is a sport and should be treated as one by society. It not only requires an undeniable amount of endurance and strength, but it also fits the definition of a sport perfectly. When it is considered a sport, the amount of injuries will drastically decrease, protecting the lives and bodies of our sisters, brothers, daughters and sons. Cheerleaders defy gravity and look good while doing it. Their teammates are their brothers and sisters, and their coach is their second mom or dad.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Cheerleading gets argued about being a sport every day, and if you think standing on the sidelines of a real sports team game, yelling you`re very wrong. The whole stadium is yelling and cheering, a bunch of girl voices don 't make that much of a difference. Cheerleading is very much not a sport, especially high school cheerleading. A sport is an activity that involves physical exertion and skill. What doesn’t define as a sport is cheerleading.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Imagine a world where cheer is a sport and all is wonderful. If this was hard it is because that world does not exist. For years cheer has been discussed if it is a sport or not. Cheer meets the definition of a sport, yet for some unknown reason a U.S. judge and others declared it not a sport. The guys and girls that participate in cheer believe it is a sport, others believe cheer is silly.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics