The number one question has always been is cheerleading a sport. You have some individuals that considered it a sport due to experience, or vast knowledge and others that are naïve or ignorant towards it all together. Due to the increase popularity, athleticism, and physical challenges cheerleading should be recognized as a sport. Once a history teacher told me you must know your past to learn and understand your future; before you can move forward you must go back.
Cheerleading started in the late 1800’s in Great Britain. Great Britain started the trend of cheering at games as a unison group in 1883. It did not officially begin until 1884 at the University of Princeton, New Jersey, when cheering was first performed in front of a group. Impressed by what he saw while at the Princeton game, Mark Peebles brought the performing of cheerleading with him to the University of Minnesota. They began to create a specific set of cheers for games. Another student, Jonny Campbell, took the idea even further and organized an entire team to lead the crowd of students at the University of Minnesota; November 2, 1898 Campbell was recognized as the world’s first cheerleader.Cheerleading was started by a man and for some time only consisted of men; it was only for men. Minnesota’s all males squad started their own cheer fraternity, Gama Sigma. It started as a Yell Squad in 1903 but shortly became a fraternity. In 1905 Texas A&M boys joined the Spirit and created their own team. It was not until the 1920’s did cheerleading stop being a male dominating sport.
In the early 1920’s the United States were undergoing World War II. While most of the men went to fight in the war women began cheering. This was a new start for cheerleading. Women began to add tumbling, stunting and, props to cheerleading and as the years went on cheerleading became more and more evolved. Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer saw how much cheerleading evolved through the years and created the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) in 1948. He went on to create “Cheerleader and Danz”, a company to provide supplies to cheerleading teams. He invented the first spirit stick and the jump now known as a Herkie. After some time cheerleading has become a sport for many nations. During the 1980’s Britain formed the Britain Cheerleading Association (BCA). Cheerleading then went to Europe and Asia. Currently it has established in 79 countries with at least 4.9 billion cheerleaders worldwide2. Inside Cheerleading Magazine’s Jackie Martin got the chance to visit China and experience there cheerleading culture. Martin got to work with 25 cheerleaders at different skill levels in Beijing, China. She said, “Cheerleading is growing rapidly worldwide and I am experiencing it firsthand.” They use cheer motions to communicate what they were trying to help them learn. It took only three days for everyone to be able to communicate with names they made up for themselves. The Chinese were picking up on English words. They put together stunts, pyramids and routines. After bonding as only cheerleaders can they travelled the city and took lots of pictures. Like anything as cheerleading began to develop at a fast rate. All Star Teams started to emerge; cheerleading teams outside of schools. In 2004 the USFA organized the first World All
Star Competition. With cheerleading becoming as popular rules had to be put into place for the vast amount of competitions that were being held. Many cheerleading teams do numerous amounts of competitions during a season, cheer season is year around, but competition are held through fall, winter, and, spring, meaning they must know the different rules for each competition. In cheerleading no competition is the same. Teams are divided into size, age group and gender. The main objective throughout all competitions is to perform a flawless routine an and receive the highest score in front of a group of judges. The routine must be at least 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. The full routine must consist of a cheering and dancing section along with stunting, jumps, and tumbling. The more advance the skills the better your score.
The way you appear is also a factor in cheerleading. At practices cheerleaders do not look glamorous and presentable. They sweat and look exhausted like in any other sport. While at competitions cheerleader must look a certain way or they will get deductions for their score. Judges feel that it’s a cheerleader’s job to get the crowd pumped up and can’t do that looking any kind of way. Even if the cheerleader is in pain or tired the must keep their facial expressions with at least a smile. A lot of cheerleaders don’t like all them make-up or bows, but must wear it during competition. The uniforms must look alike or points will be deducted. That means if one bow falls of a girls head the team will get penalized. In cheerleading every pint counts; even a .5 dedication can be the difference between first and third place. Cheerleaders compete more with the score sheets than anything.
Most people don’t understand how hard a 3-minute routine can be. Tumbling stunting and jumping is expected in the routine, while trying to look flawless. The more advance you perform the skill the more dangerous it is towards the person. Life science according to live science for high school and college women cheerleading is far more dangerous than any other sport. High school cheerleaders account for 65.1 percent of all catastrophic sport injuries among high school females over the past 25 years. Injuries consist of Strain/ Sprains, Soft tissue injuries, Fractures/dislocations, lacerations/avulsions, and concussions/ close head injuries.
Bethany Hancock, was a cheerleader at Eastmoor Academy in Columbus, Ohio, spent most of her senior year in and out of the hospital3. She injured both her knees when she landed awkwardly on a marble floor while jumping. “It was the worst pain ever,” recalled Hancock, 19. “I bounced off the floor and I could feel shock waves run up my legs, and I lay there and screamed.”She also said that said she and her cheer team often endured painful wounds. I’ve gotten kicked in the face. I’ve gotten elbowed in the mouth,” she recalled Patty Phommanyvong, a cheerleader for Marshall High School in Los Angeles, was tossed into the air at a football game4. The next thing anyone knew, she was limp. Her heart had stopped beating. Paramedics were called, but by the time they got to her heart restarted, her brain had been deprived of oxygen for too long and she was in a coma. Doctors said she may have been inadvertently struck in the chest on her descent from the stunt. Kristi Yamaoka, a cheerleader at Southern Illinois fell 15 feet and landed on her head when a stunt went wrong during a women’s basketball game5. She suffered a concussion and a cracked necked vertebra. She still hopes to be well enough to tryout again and cheer next season. After her injury she defended the accident. She says, “So I just want everyone to know that usually our stunts hit, and although there is some danger to cheerleading, that’s a risk that cheerleaders are willing to take,”.”Life is about taking risks, and you can die at any moment,” she added. She knows how dangerous her fall was “I feel blessed, like God was with me this weekend,” she said. “Otherwise, things could have gone a lot different. “Injury rates are so high in some cases because cheerleaders are not considered athletes and don’t receive everything they need to stay safe. Schools don’t always provide mats, braces and area to practice in. If cheerleaders got the same respect as basketball and football teams that are provided hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars in uniforms and equipment the injury rate in cheerleading might star to decrease. Cheerleading is too dangerous not to be considered a sport. Girls risk there life every time they stunt, jump or tumble; It takes hard work to keep going knowing the risked they are taking.
Even with how dangerous cheerleading can be there are still a lot of people that are convinced that it is not a sport. The Federal judge Stefan Underhill ruled last week that cheerleading is “still too underdeveloped and disorganized” to be considered a varsity sport. The NCCA will not consider Cheerleading a sport6. There is debate and controversy about the topic but for not the ruling stands that it is not a sport. Many cheerleaders are unhappy by this ruling due to the fact that they know what it takes to be a cheerleader.
Cheerleaders’ hard work goes unnoticed on college campuses. When applying to schools basketball, football, baseball, track and field, and volleyball players receive scholarships for the hard work and dedication. Cheerleaders don not get the same treatment. They work twice as hard and risk dangerous injuries everyday and there are very few to no scholarships for them. The only school that gives a full scholarship for Cheerleading is the University of Hawaii at Mona; then trying to find Scholarships outside the country are close to impossible.
Around not just the United States but many countries cheerleaders are looked down upon because they are stereotype by society. Even though appearance is greatly important it does not mean that you need to starve yourself7. In reality they are pressures associated with cheerleaders and body weight. You might be wondering what this has to do with cheerleading needing to be recognized as a sport ? The answer is this cheerleaders need acrobatic, flexibility, and tumbling skills be a cheerleader at all. Gymnastic, which is considered a sport, uses these same skills in similar ways. And the similarities do not stop there they also both encourage girls to be keep a certain body weight. Coaches of gymnastic and cheerleading will tell you the smaller you are the better you’ll be. What should be looked upon is why does two similar things mean different things in society. Gymnast starve themselves while training in areas of flexibility, acrobatics, and tumbling and are considered a sport but cheerleading which requires the exact same things is cast aside as an activity. Another sport that can be looked at, which is a male dominating sport, is wrestling. Wrestlers at times starve themselves to make weight, and we call that a sport too. Are we as a society condoning this unhealthy lifestyle? With the dangers in place why do wrestlers still have sport status? Maybe it is not a concern because it is male dominating. When Cheerleading is known as a sport there will be many more opportunities for the girls and boys that participate in it. Being recognized across the world they’re will be more competitions and chances to compete. Cheerleaders might also get more respect from others. There will always be people will believe and live with the stereotypes about cheerleading. They’re dumb, the boys are gay, it’s easy, Cheerleaders are sluts, they’re ditsy and it’s not a sport. When the world announces that it’s a sport then Cheerleaders will get more respect than they have had before. It will be one step closer to reforming the way people think.
The definition of what a sport is according to Encarta® World English Dictionary is that a sport is an individual or group competitive activity involving physical exertion or skill, governed by rules, and sometimes engaged in professionally8. Cheerleading falls under the category a sport by definition. It is a group sport, cheerleader is a team sport. Cheerleaders’ compete competitively. It involves physical execration and skill. It takes years to learn and become a cheerleader. It is governed by many different rules; all depending on the competition. And it some ways it is engaged professionally. NBA and NFL cheerleaders are not the same as competitive high school and college Cheerleaders and this is because it is not considered a sport. Cheerleaders don’t have their own teams they must follow behind the team they are cheering for. The only way the world will be able to see cheerleading in a different light is the world can finally call it a sport. When cheerleading competitions become as big as the super bowl or NBA Championships. Cheerleading has come a long way and still has a ways to go. Once people start to see how much it really takes to be a Cheerleader will be when the change really starts. Before you judge it try it. Help change the social status of cheerleading around the world. Next time you think of cheerleading think of how hard it can be. How much work and dedication it takes. Think of words like Flexibility, teamwork, coordination, strength, and stamina. Leave the stereotypes behind and think of it as a sport.
Beth A. Young, Et al.” Physiologic Profile of the Fitness Status of Collegiate Cheerleaders. “Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (Allen Press Publishing ServicesInc.) 18.2 (2004):252- 254. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Mar. 2013
This journal talks about the physical fitness level of a cheerleader. It puts the words to numbers. It tests both males and females. Also, there are different sports being compared in the study not just one. This would be the proof that I need that Cheerleaders do as much as the average athlete. Its more than the stereotypes placed upon them.
curated by kay mckenzie 