Is Cheerleading A Sport

Now before we go any further, let’s consider cheerleading’s background quickly.  By no means definitive, here’s a simple version of the history of cheerleading in about 20 seconds:

• Just recently beginning to gain in worldwide popularity, cheerleading has spent most of its century-plus history as one of those uniquely American kinds of traditions—just like apple pie!

• It has roots beginning around the turn of the century (and naturally, about the same time that collegiate sports really began to catch on as a national pastime).

• A big surprise to many folks today, cheerleading was traditionally a males-only activity.  In fact, it really wasn’t until about the mid-1920’s that females began to participate.

• Only gradually did cheerleading evolve from simply leading crowds in verbal chants to the more athletically-sophisticated dance routines and jumps we’re familiar with these days.

Now let’s dig back in to the is-a-sport / is-not-a-sport controversy…

First, What Is The Definition Of Sport?

Most dictionary definitions are vague in their enlightenment when it comes to what exactly a sport is.  They all tend to focus around common themes such as “diversion.”  Now we all know through experience that sporting activities are much more than diversion alone.  It’s easy to agree that we can define a sport as a type of recreational activity that involves competition of some type or another.

Where does this lead us?  Well, the commonly accepted definitions of “sports” do fully embrace the concept of what modern cheerleading is.  So, by technical definition alone, cheerleading is by all means a sport.

Further Evidence That Cheerleading May (Or May Not) Be A Sport

Most high school and collegiate sporting associations consider and treat cheerleading as an official organized sport.  If this leaves doubt, then there’s certainly little room to argue over the fact that being a cheerleader requires superb athleticism.

Then there are the similarities between cheerleading and the readily-accepted sports—just look at the lingo alone that cheerleading shares with more traditional sports.  There’s teams, coaches, practices, varsity, junior varsity, meets, competitions, uniforms, and the list goes on and on.  And then there’s the fact that sports and cheerleading go hand-in-hand.

All-Star Cheerleading meets the competition test by all standards.  It’s also important to consider that a great number of high-school level squads compete, while almost all collegiate level cheerleading teams participate in regular competition.  Of course, with a bias towards entertainment, professional league cheerleading tends to take on a slightly different purpose altogether.

So call it what you will, but if it looks like a sport and acts like a sport, it’s pretty difficult to say with complete authority that cheerleading is not a sport.

The Bottom Line

In the end, it’s technically a judgment call. Those arguing either side are not very likely to budge in their opinion of the matter. All stereotypes aside, though, remember that cheerleaders are doing some very athletic drills—whether it’s on the sidelines supporting the team or at center court in full-fledged cheerleading competition.  They definitely deserve all of the accolades they can possibly receive!