Why Isn't Cheerleading Considered a Sport Anywhere?

Question

Cheerleaders work just as hard as any other sport, sometimes harder.

Some schools may not but the majority of squads work their asses off so they can compete,

I mean.. if you ever stop and actually look at their routines and think about it people couldn't do half the stuff we do.

So why shouldn't it be considered a sport, when we do twice what other sports do with even more risk?

well excuse me, put high school cheerleading is a sport.

we compete directly with other schools in our district or state.
almost like a basketball or baseball tournament.
we aim to be in first place so we can go to state or nationals.
thats the goal

and an average day for real competitive teams can range from 4-8 hours.
not just sitting there and yelling.

no,
we're putting girls extended in the air which is about 8-11 feet who are standing on one foot squeezing the hell out of every muscle in their body.

doing that more than 100 times in an average day.
doing 360's up into the air and catching the flyer. throwing her 15 feet in the air and praying she doesnt break her neck.

we're tumbling.
running back and forth and going into a tuck a layout or a full.

things I'm sure you guys can't do, anybody can throw a ball back and forth.

but not everybody can do a round off back handspring tuck

or do a extended scorpion double down.

Cheerleaders work harder.

Answer 1

UM MMM ok u guys and girls that think cheer aint a sport ur all fricken losers and dummies cause it is. someone said a cheerleader schedule aint hectic. umm lets see i wake up at 5am go runnin for 3 miles. go straight to the gym and workout for 2hrs come home at 1. at 5 go out for another run 6 work on cheers. 7 we stunt. 830 we tumble. then when school starts u have 5hrs of homework plus the 3hr practice not includin tumblin and working out and the miles run so whos to say its not hetic. and no we arent skanky lil preps trynna look cute for all the football players and athletes. we're working our asses off so that the crowd can be a lil happy about something when the stupid team is down 27 points in the fourth quarter. and yes imma varsity cheerleader. DO u know the minimum requirements for makin the squad. You have to have ur standin back tuck, runnin full, backhand layout, backhand backhand tuck layourt, and ro bh tuck full.. and besides that u gotta maintain a 2.9GPA cant miss class a practice or a game.and dont get me started on competition season. and yes we do compete head to head for the chance to call your self STATE FRICKEN CHAMPS!!! its the same exact feeling when the basketball team is undeafeatable and goes to districts. Yes its a plus taht the outfits are fricken sweet but try memorizing a 2 1/2 minute routine landing ur tuck perfect without takin a step back cause judges take 4 points off of just that. And do u think smiling for 2 1/2 minutes ais fun ha yeah right ur cheeks hurt soo much that thats what u think about and then you screw up and instead of goin home like other teams do you do that same thing u messed up on 20 times. yeah thats right. And for us being so called "peppy" all teh time aint no picnic either especially when u and ur bf broke up after 2 years ur grandfatehr died ur best friend of 8 years moves away and ur parents get a divorced and then ur expected to cheer a 2hr game and being happy. And for us cheerleaders who have to take the wrap for your team losing. u lose a game bye 45 points gues what cheerleaders are doin 45 push ups 45 rewind stunts and 45 tumblin passes.Yeah so whats this about cheerleading not bein a sport. let me see u do a roundoff backhand backhand layout full full full arabian tuck. yeah didnt think so.

Answer 2

Lol I think it's funny that only cheerleaders think that cheerleading is a sport and the rest of us (athletes) don't. I hate to be the one to break it to ya, but cheerleading isn't a sport. Yeah you guys generally work pretty hard but just because you work hard doesn't mean it just automatically becomes a sport, Jugglers work hard to learn that and we all know that aint a sport! And you certainly don't do twice as much work as other sports do. Cheerleaders work out what tops 2 hours a day? Then plus tumbling or whatever so maybe 3? Look at an avid basketball player's schedule sometime. For instance, mine. I work out with the school team for 2-3 hours daily at practice, then right after I have to go to another practice with another team for 2-3 more hours then weight training, resistance, etc. at a clinic for 2 hours. What does that add up to........6-8 hours minimum compared to a cheerleaders 3. And that's just basketball, try football! And in those 3 hours that cheerleaders do practice what are they doing? Flipping, screaming, making noise, trying to look cute. While real athletes are running, sweating, working out, etc. And as for the risk what are you risking? Breaking a nail?

Answer 3

I am an allstar cheerleader and a basketball player and I think that cheerleading is a sport. Atleast ALLSTAR cheerleading is. Not the stupid sideline cheerleading. It's just as hard as basketball, just in a different way. Basketball requires different skills as cheerleading and there is no way to tell which is harder. So no one can say that cheerleading is harder or that other sports are harder!

Answer 4

Serously i think in highschool cheerleading is and should be considered as a sport cause yes it does take some really good tallent to do some of the things they do but really in middle school cheerleading is more of a popularity contest and if you are a cheerleader i konw how it feels to have the one thing you do dised and people saying it is not a sport cause i do bowling and people tell me all the time its not a sport and it really is so from my opioion cheerleading is a sport no matter what anybody says.

Answer 5

As far as I know, cheerleading is a sport in about half of the states in the USA where high schools are concerned.

Answer 6

I was a cheerleader for seven years in middle school, high school, and college and this is why I think that cheerleading is not considered a sport: We are more than just athletes. We are better!

1. We don't get an off season... When school is out most of us are heading to summer camp to compete and learn new skills. When school starts that's when we start football season. When football is over we start basketball. When basketball is over, that's when tryouts roll around and the whole thing starts all over again. Oh and lets not forget the regional, state, and national competitions that we are also practicing for and competing in ALL YEAR LONG.

2. We support other teams... Even though we compete and it's hard to get anyone to attend our competitons outside of our families and boyfriends, we are still there at every home and away game, cheering our teams on. We bake the teams cookies, make them signs, hold pep rallies for them, etc... So it's our job to make the other teams look good. Even though we want to do our best so we don't embarrass ourselves, the teams, or the school, ultimately, our job is to do our best to encourage our teams to win.

3. We have so many talents it's hard to classify what we do... We have our own competitions that judge us on dance, building, cheering, tumbling, and spirit, etc. We aren't just dancers or gymnasts. Unlike other sports, to be a cheerleader you have to be good at many different things at once. You have to be good at gymnastics, you have to be good at dance, you have to be strong and have good teamwork in order to preform difficult builds, you have to keep the attention of the crowd, and on top of that you have to make it look good! You have to be a leader!

As far as hard work goes, when I was a cheerleader I remember having 4 hour practices every day in the summer. By the time school rolled around It was a 2-3 hour practice. When It was a game day it was 2 hour practices followed by a 2 hour football game or a 4 hour basketball game. That was in addition to the 1 hour long tumbling class we would take after practices 2 days a week AND the weigh training we were expected to do BEFORE practice. Our practices didn't consist of yelling and flipping around either. 98% of our practices were getting us ready for competiton. So we were doing a 2 1/2 min long routine that had dancing, tumbling, building, and cheering in it for 2-3 hours straight.

I did track in high school and I was more exhausted after cheerleading practice than I ever was after track practice.

(Plus players get sideline time to sit around and wait till they get to go out on the field/court again. I don't remember getting to sit and rest while cheering.)

I would love more than anything for people to recognize cheerleading as a sport. And many people won't because they don't know the type of dedication it takes to be a cheerleader (just as much as any other athlete). But, honestly, I think cheerleaders are so much more than athletes, because we are not only athletes in the sense of what we do is physically demanding and competitive, but we also have the responsibility of leading crowds and encouraging other athletes to win.

****I'd also like to make a side note to those that think all-star cheerleaders are better than school cheerleaders. (Like the person above me) Like I said, I was a cheerleader for 7 years. In middle school, high school, and college. When I cheered in high school we were National Champions every year we competed. When I was there our school had a Consectutive National Championship record of 6 years. My high school has continued to win Nationals every year. They are going on 11 National Championship Titles!!!!!! Not only did we win Nationals but we also won regionals and state every year as well. I do not know ONE all-star cheerleading team that can claim that (We were even featured in American Cheerleading Magazine because at that time no one else came close to our record). I was ALSO an all-star cheerleader for half a season before I quit because I couldn't take it anymore because the level of commitment wasn't there. Since then I have taken gymnastics at several gyms with cheer squads that are nationally known and they are all the same. There is so much more to be done when you are a cheerleader for a school than there is for an all-star team. BOTH should be considered athletes, but I don't think one is that much better than the other. We all just love what we do.

Answer 7

It isn't a sport and you'll have to get over it. It is just so skanky preps can wear short skirts and thats basically it. Many sports are harder (swimming, track, etc) Cheerleading is just a stupid waste of time where people flip, scream, and tryto act cute.


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Answer 8

yes. cheerleading is considered a sport but not considered a sport when the aqud is at a young age like below 8 bc they dont do stunts, they cheer.

Answer 9

Probably because there is no direct competition against an opponent (Boxing, Football, Baseball), and there is no specified goal (golf, bowling, archery).

I would consider it an athletic event, but not necessarily a sport.

Answer 10

It is not a sport. Sports have intrinsic competition. Cheer leading is not a competition. It is leading cheers for a sport. Cheer leading is as much a sport as baking a cake. Even if you can compete at the activity, it is not a sport because the activity does not contain intrinsic competition.

If it were a sport it would be something like group gymnastics or something.