Comments on: Cheerleading Isn’t a Sport? What About…

By: Cheerleading Is Not A Sport? « Cheerbiscuit

Cheerleading Is Not A Sport? « Cheerbiscuit — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:30:42 +0000

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By: Brianne

Brianne — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:18:44 +0000

I’m a competitive cheerleader and i play softball… I’ve been cheering for 9 years and playing softball for 4. in comparison to most of the other people on both my teams i would say im ranked about #1 on my softball team and about #14 in cheerleading! When i go to my softball practices wa barely do anything and unless it’s really hot outside I dont sweat at all! Cheer practices are held indoors in an air-conditioned gym and i start sweating about an hour into it! If we lose a softball game my team just says stuff like “oh…better luck next time!” and if we lose a cheer competition we cry! literally cry!! because we worked so hard and it isn’t even paying off! i also would like to mention i do tournament softball and I find it extremely easy! My stunt group last year was doing a basket toss (which is pretty easy if u know how to do it) and we threw the flyer a little forward and a little too high…she hit the floor and was knocked unconcious(and she didnt even land on her head) we all came and stood around her and all of a sudden she was having a seizure!! she went to the hospital and had a spinal cord issue and a few broken bones and somehow head trauma…now basket tosses are considered illegal in my county because of what can happen if u make a tiny mistake! also who ever said tht in baseball the ball is coming at u hard and u really need to be alert or whatever…well when u have to get to a certain spot on the floor and then throw a girl 15 feet in the air 1 little mistake can send someone to the emergency room or maybe even worse than tht! all im trying to say is tht if they dont think cheerleading is a sport they should think about this: chess is considered an activity, singing is an activity, newspaper club at school is an activity, if u consider cheerleading an activity then just think how dangerous and hard cheerleading is and how much physical strength, speed, and flexibility u need for cheerleading compared to all those activities! and now compare to what ppl consider sports…what comes out on top?? CHEERLEADING!! yes! so, cheering is a sport no arguments its just whats true!! also sry this is so long! lol

By: Cheerleading Is Not A Sport? « Cheerbiscuit

Cheerleading Is Not A Sport? « Cheerbiscuit — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:48:51 +0000

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By: Do Aerobics If You’re Thicke

Do Aerobics If You’re Thicke — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:54:39 +0000

[…] last week’s cheerleading post, “Cheerleading Isn’t A Sport? What About…” did so well, we figured, why not cover something that is a lot nothing like cheerleading. […]

By: Big Rod

Big Rod — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:26:00 +0000

Good job Kyle! Your post has gone a long way in bridging the gap between my son and my daughter who is a former cheerleader at the University of Kentucky. I’m glad you took this position. Cheerleaders, especially at the collegiate level are definitely athletic. I actually think there are some advantages for the sport to remain outside of the grasp and controls of the NCAA. If it were a sport and were controlled by the NCAA it would be a much different “sport”. Thanks – I’m glad Austin didn’t edit this one and, judging by the number of comments, you hit on a hot topic! Again, well done…..

By: Lenny

Lenny — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:07:49 +0000

OK, the point is whether or not these girls’ athleticism is for competing in its own right or just all part of the fun at football/basketball games (in which case their budget needs to be filed as a line item in the football or basketball budget for title IX purposes)

(Granted, this is professional sports like you were staying away from but… This requires athleticism- yes. Is it competition? No. http://nyknickscitydancers.com/photos.aspx?galleryId=97

By: John

John — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:04:42 +0000

I competed in football, baseball, and cheerleading by the time I made it through my six years of college (Masters degree not failing). The argument over which is easier to learn is a stupid one to make. There are naturally talented people in any sport. To be honest I was able to become an elite level cheerleader in a much faster time than I was able to become so in baseball and football. I am sure in my situation other people might have found cheer to be harder but that only helps prove the point, it is individual. I don’t want to take anything away from UK cheer but their are also other elite cheer programs out there, I was on one, as well as elite programs in any sport like Duke in basketball and Nebraska in football. Given a year an average Joe wouldn’t make their team either.
On the point that your sister coaches her high school team for competition only is sad. I am not taking away she may be an amazing person with a heart of gold and the ability to be a wonderful coach but she lost sight of what those cheerleaders are there for. They are there to support the other sports both male and female. Maybe she should consider coaching at an All-star gym instead of a HS. I know if that was the mentality of the coach to my son or daughter I would be approaching the school board about it. You are not “required” to cheer sidelines in order to compete. You were FORMED to cheer sidelines and then get the chance to compete.
I would also have to agree that this ruling helped keep cheer alive, due to Title IX if it was a sport all male cheerleaders would have to go and there goes the majority of your bases in college.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:45:42 +0000

Being a former college cheerleader I can tell you that it is an extremely athletic event and I was always excited for the National Championships every year. I am wondering why people who cheer would rather have the NCAA, an organization that has made many mistakes with other sports in the past, run the NC every year instead of actual cheerleading organizations? The NCAA isn’t ran by cheerleaders but athletes from the events that cheer squads were formed to support and business people, not people trained in cheer and dance. It makes me sad to realize that cheerleaders have forgotten the fact we are there to support our schools not ourselves. There are many schools who do not actively compete in any cheer based competitions. To say those cheerleaders aren’t athletes would be asinine, but to say they are in a sport? Cheerleading by definition is what we did on the sidelines to support our friends and family competing in other sports. Do not take that away from us or degrade the purpose of cheerleading. If you want to consider what competitive cheerleaders do as a sport then I will be happy to support you but please make the distinction between cheerleaders like myself and the men and women who solely cheer to compete. All-star cheerleading should be considered a sport but I honestly wish they would change the name, yes you are athletes, yes you compete, no you are not cheerleaders, you don’t cheer anyone on but yourself.

By: Corey

Corey — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:53:01 +0000

As one of the cheerleaders featured in a few of the above listed media sources, I would dare Deanna to have a go at what we do. I’m not saying that baseball or NASCAR aren’t sports (despite how boring they both may be), but simply arguing that if the aforementioned “activities” are to be considered sport, then why not cheerleading? To answer your question (which you thought the answer to be so obvious you left it as a hypothetical), given one year at both cheerleading and baseball, I would definitely be better at baseball. To ask why there aren’t more of us out there with
A-Rod is silly. Why weren’t there more people out there who were the caliber of my team when we were busy racking up 18 National titles. I suppose it goes without saying that there are pros and joes in every “sport,” but I’m certain you’d be a lot closer to A-Rod’s skill level than mine if given one year to learn both of our sports.

By: Hayden

Hayden — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:39:56 +0000

Though I enjoyed this article and its strong opinion that cheerleading is a sport, the ruling made by the courts was not necessarily about whether or not cheerleading was an actual sport. Anyone with a brain stem can see that cheerleaders are highly trained athletes participating in a grueling and intense sport that requires both physical and mental prowess. The ruling was about Title IX which is a civil rights type act implemented by the NCAA to ensure equal athletic opportunities for both men’s and women’s sports. Jeff Webb, the chairman of Varsity brand and the director of UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association) spoke to this ruling at UCA’s Collegiate Cheerleading/Dance/Mascot camp at the University of Alabama this afternoon. Mr. Webb explained that the cheerleading squad in question was not a traditional collegiate squad that both competed and supported its university’s other athletic teams, but was a strictly competitive squad who’s soul purpose was to compete at meets against other competitive college squads. I honestly am happy with the ruling the courts have made. Consider this; If the court had ruled that cheerleading in this competitive form was a sport, male cheerleaders like myself would be removed completely from the collegiate cheerleading world so that universities could use their competitive, strictly female, cheerleading squads to allow for more male athletic slots to be allocated for the universities use. This is just one example of the advantages of cheerleading not being considered a “sport” by Title IX law. I just wanted to shed some light on the situation and explain what many of the heads of the All-star, High School, and Collegiate cheerleading worlds would like for everyone to know and understand. So basically the arguement was not about whether or not cheerleading is a sport, but whether or not it satisfied Title IX requirements for equal opportunity athletics. Thank god it doesn’t or the entire cheerleading world would be in for trouble. Oh and here is the original article I first read on this subject if anyone would like further insight into the entire ordeal.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/21/2010-07-21_cheerleading_is_not_a_sport_rules_judge_quinnipiac_university_cant_swap_volleyba.html