is cheerleading a sport?

Question

at my school, this is, like, a huge debate. i think that okay maybe it is a sport if your at a cheerleading competition, but when you're on the sidelines it is not. because your not there to practice it- your there to cheer on your school and motivate them to work hard. i mean, that's the only reason they even started cheerleading, right?

Answer 1

Cheerleaders do stunts....and they do practice....it's a sport!!

Answer 2

to quote you real quick
"I think that okay maybe it is a sport if your at a cheerleading competition, but when you're on the sidelines it is not. because your not there to practice it- your there to cheer on your school and motivate them to work hard"
you've pretty much answered your own question, in competition yes it is classified as a sport, there's juding, scoring, penalties, trophies, they practice, the whole shabang.....as for sideline cheerleading that is extremely hard to classify as either a club/hobby/sport....they do practice, you can letter in it, but there is no scoring, no judges, nothing...i think in my honest opinion sideline cheerleading is not a sport. they are there to motivate the team to work hard and achieve a victory, just like you have said.