The Sports Guy
This week I am going to address the most controversial question in sports: is cheerleading a sport? To tackle this highly debated topic, I will begin by defining what a sport is. My definition of a sport is a competitive activity that demands athletic skill and has rules to seperate a winner from a loser.
Under these guidelines competitive cheerleading does qualify as a sport, but support cheerleading, such as screaming and cheering at games, is not. Anyone in the bleachers can stand on the sidelines and cheer for their team. Competitive cheerleading involves intense mental and physical skill. In a recent study by the NCAA, cheerleading was the second highest rated sport in catastrophic injuries.
“Cheerleading requires the utmost athleticism. You cannot half-ass in cheerleading. If you are not mentally and physically in shape you will get hurt,” said senior GCSU cheerleader Kyle Hood.
Second, competitive cheerleading has rules to regulate play. The National Cheerleading Association (NCA) has a national competition every year. In this competition, the NCA requires each team to follow certain rules pertaining to time, safety, boundaries and performances guidelines (i.e. stunts, tosses, and tumbles).
Furthermore, each team is judged on a precise scale of points. Teams are judged on a specific range of points for their performance in tumbling, partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses and dance.
The instances where people argue the sport’s validity is in the scoring. Some believe it is subjective.
“Sports that are judged are harder to call a sport because it is less objective; it is a personal preference,” freshman Addison Walden said.
I believe Walden carries a strong point, but with the athletic ability cheerleading requires, and the presence of rules and guidelines, I would call competitive cheerleading a sport.
If you have any thoughts about this column please send a response to colonnadeletters@gcsu.edu.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Mar 31 2006. Filed under Sports.
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