Cheerleading Is A Sport

Recently one sport has been very controversial on whether it is considered a sport or not. This sport would be cheerleading. A sport is defined by an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Cheerleading meets these requirements so it is a sport.

One sport very similar to cheer is gymnastics. Gymnastics consist of performing on uneven bars, balance beam, floor, and vaulting horse. Gymnastics and cheer both consist of performing to an audience. They practice and rehearse their routines to get them just perfect. Also, tumbling in gymnastics is often used by cheerleaders. Nothing gets the crowd more excited than a cheerleader pulling off some cool flips. So if gymnastics is considered a sport why isn’t cheerleading? They both require large amounts of strength. Gymnastics need their strength in order to hold themselves up and cheerleaders need their strength in order to put their flyers in the air.
Not just anyone can do cheerleading.
Many people think how hard can it be to just wave some pom-poms around and do some cheers, but cheerleading is more than that. In the summer, cheerleaders practice almost every day. They practice in rain or shine. Throughout their practices they run, lift, condition, learn new cheers, and try new stunts. The running and lifting are the same amounts other sports do if not more. The new stunts that they try aren't just easy stunts that you get on the first try. They do 360's, kickfulls, . In order to do these stunts, cheerleaders have to be strong. If they try a new complicated stunt and they are not strong enough, it can result in everyone getting hurt in the stunt
group.

Just like many other sports, cheerleading is dangerous. Cheerleaders make up to 50-66 percent of catastrophic injuries of all female athletes. These injuries aren’t just a sprained wrist or ankle, they are injuries that can shorten their life, result in disability, or they can cause lifelong medical conditions. All sports combined wouldn’t pass cheerleaders in their numbers for catastrophic injuries. Most injuries deal with the neck, wrist, shoulders, head, back, and ankles. Also, concussions are becoming more common in cheerleaders. Most of these injuries occur from stunting or tumbling. It is hard to prevent these injuries from happening because cheerleaders wear no protective gear. So if cheerleading is more dangerous than football or basketball, then why shouldn't cheerleading a sport?

Many people like to say we aren't a sport because we don't compete, but that isn't necessarily true. Yes, our main focus is to cheer at games, but we also compete. Many cheerleaders go to different camps to learn more skills and compete. At these camps they learn more cheers and stunts. At the end of the camps, all the teams compete against each other for the trophies. They all do the same dance routine and the same cheers. It is about what they do with the routine to stand out from the rest. Another form of cheerleading, is competitive cheerleading. The purpose of this cheer team is to compete. They practice day in and day out preparing for their competitions. These competitions have hundreds of teams competing at them. They have to bring their A game if they want to bring home a trophy. The type of competing may not be the same type of competing other sports would have, but it is still counts as a form of competition.

Cheerleading is very unique. It isn’t like baseball, volleyball, or football. It doesn’t involve a ball. It involves another human being thrown in the air and cheering on others. Cheerleaders work just as hard as other athletes do and receive half the recognition they do. Cheerleading is a sport because they have similarities to other sports, compete, and is more dangerous than other sports.