It is definitely athletic! It takes intensive and extensive training. And there are competitions for cheerleading as well. To me, those elements make it a sport.

It is a demanding sport requiring coordination, precision and timing, choreography and strength. Not to mention alot of practice. it is definitely a sport as much as any other HS or college sport.

I'd like to refer to Patrice Oneal's logic on considering things sports. By this way of thinking cheerleading isn't a sport. It may be dangerous, athletic, and need talent to do; but isn't really a sport for the simple reason of there's no other people directly stopping you from performing your talent. In this logic the following are not sports: golf, skiing, bowling, swimming, cheerleading, etc. None of those have competitors that try to stop one another from doing their talent or athletic stunt thing. Again, don't get mad at me, I'm not saying these aren't things that need talent, strong muscles, or wouldn't consider the people athletes, it's just not a sport, really. Throw someone in there who tries to knock the cheerleaders down, or mess someone's golf stroke up, or a person in the bowling lane who tries to move your ball around... then they instantly become "sports" Again, that's Patrice Oneal logic, and it kinda makes sense...haha.

While high school cheerleading is not categorized as a sport, I certainly know from my past experience as a cheerleader that it's physically demanding, and as you mentioned, very dangerous. I think people just see girls out there in short cheerleading suits yelling and clapping. They sometimes overlook the hours of practice it takes to perform a routine correctly. In the case of competitive cheerleading, I believe it is considered a sport. Competitions are held and trophies are awarded. The amount of physical strength necessary to perform some routines would rival the strength necessary to do gymnastics, which are included in cheerleading.

yes! cheerleading is a sport. even though we wear skirts that doesnt mean we dont do a sport... teenis players wear skirts and everyone says tennis is a sport.. even though its not in the olymmpics doesnt mean its not a sport. i mean honestly... table tennis is in the olympics and cheerleading is DEFF more of a sport than table tennis!!

YES OF COURSE CHEERLEADING IS A SPORT I HAVE CHEERED FOR 13 YEARS SINCE IS WAS THREE AND I HAVE HAD TO DO SOME PRETTY NASTY STUFF.ITS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS! ALOT OF PRACTICING JUST LIKE ANY OTHER SPORT

Cheerleading is athletic, but except for cheering a competition, it is not completive so I don't consider it a sport.

it may be dangerous, take altehics, and be hard, but its main purpose is to cheer on others who play sports.. no its not a sport.. but I am a bowler, what do I know!

My neice is a Cheerleader and she has to do Ballet , Gymnastics as well as stamina building and other sports activities just to keep her place on the squad. She works very hard as an athlete, it may appear that it is just a passtime for pretty girls but it is a hard sport too.

I'm sorry. I don't believe cheerleading qualifies as a sport. It is an athletic exhibition (and apparently a highly demanding one), but it is not a sport. My two criteria for a sport are: 1) It must be an athletic competition. So golfers who stub out their cigarettes in their half-empty beer cans before they hit a shot are NOT participating in a sport. 2) It must have clearly defined method of winning the competition (run the fastest to 100 meters, score the most runs in 9 innings, etc.). Athletic exhibitions like gymnastics, diving and figure skating do NOT qualify and, sorry, neither does cheerleading. If it has to LOOK right, not just BE right, then it's not a sport. Just my $0.02

the cheerleading I did in the 70's was not a sport..the cheerleading my dd and neice do now is most definately a sport. Those who believe differently are still looking at cheerleading as it was prior to the mid 90's.

It actually is a sport according to the definition. but so are poker and pool and hunting. Does the fact that its a sport make it any more interesting. nope not one bit. its a sport sure but it doesnt really seem to be anything but group gymnastics and loud yelling. could be considered a form of entertainment or art. only reason i ever watch it is for the hot women.

Cheerleading is a Sport i've been doing it for some years now and idk why ppl say its not:D

Cheerleading is definitely a sport! I've cheered for 10 years and coached/trained for 3. I remember in high school sometimes we did assemblies using our football players and when they actually had to do physical stuff, they confessed FINALLY that it IS a sport and its WAY harder than football. Cheerleading requires a lot of physical strenuous activity. And you're at risk for more injuries and more dangerous injuries than any other sport. Whoever says its not a sport has no idea what they're saying. I agree at some point in time cheer was all about popularity and just sitting there and looking pretty... Turn on ESPN every now and then, watch their championships; After you see what they really do, tell me its not a sport. I'll tell you, you must either be blind or have a really crappy IQ.

I feel you honey, i've been cheering for about five years now, and i constantly get people saying that cheerleading is not a sport. I used to strongly disagree, saying that "cheerleading is a sport," but now i have a different opinion. Cheerleading is not a sport, but we are definitly athletes.

I agree that you guys are athletes, but I wouldn't call cheerleading a sport. Gymnastics isn't really a sport, it's more of a rigorous activity.

no way is it a sport, no competiton. point scoring or teams

Cheerleading is totally a sport. It is way harder than basket ball. In cheerleading you lift people and put their lifes on the line, basketball, you run around bouncinng a basketball. !)

Is Cheerleading a sport? to sum it all up, No, but All I ask is you hear me out. Please. Thats all I ask. That you read my answer, If you believe otherwise, I probably wont change you mind, But at least read my answer 1.)Well, once you get to your competition, you have a routine ready, and you dont change it right in the middle (you might change when you get there because someone is hurt, sick etc, but not during the competition) like in another real sport, you have to change your game plan in the middle of the game based on the competition. That involves strategy. Cheerleading, you cant change in the middle of your routine because of the competition, you just have to hope for the best, there is no strategy involved. 2.)Cheerleaders spend more time worrying if their uniforms are cute enough, or if their hair is perfect, or their face is on right...real sports you go ever your strategy and practice before the game, not worrying about your looks 3.)In sports, there is an impartial judge that ALWAYS determines a CLEAR winner that wont EVER differ. In cheerleading, With one judge, Squad Q could win and Squad C with another, so it is nearly impossible to determine a clear winner. The winner is based on what the judge likes. In Basketball for instance, it is based on how many times each team gets the ball in the bucket, cheerleading it is based on what the judge likes better. In sports, what the judge likes is less important than what time the game starts. 4.)I searched "List of Sports" on google and on the 3 sites I looked on, cheerleading was not on the list 5.)I have never seen Cheerleading on ESPN (which I see a lot) or the Olympics, which both have every sport I can think of. 6.)Here are some quotes I found on some websites ---The physical exercise doesn't make it a sport. If that were true, then digging in my garden would be a sport. The training doesn't make it a sport: If that were true, then dance would be a sport. ---Well my children can pursue their own interests but not when they go against my core values. And one of my core values is that my daughter wiil grow up to be a strong empowered woman who does NOT stand on the sidelines cheering on the team, but who is in fact ON THE TEAM BEING CHEERED. I want her pitching the balls and kicking the balls and making the goals herself. She can be a girlie girl. She just can't be a sissy. On her softball team this season, the girls sang a song "We don't need no mini-skirts. We just wear our softball shirts." That pretty much sums up my attitude ---I wrote a feature about this exact topic a few years ago. After extensive research, including researching the NCAA's policies on what guidlines must be met for an activity to be called a sport, I decided it is not a sport. Athletic? Yes; Competitive? Yes; Risk of injury? Yes ... but still not a sport ---Having fun is one thing, being expected to cheer on someone else's accomplishments is a joke. ---Most reciently concerned parents, coaches, and former cheerleaders all came before the Florida government to plea for cheerleading to become an offical sport. -Those people know its not an official sport. Technically it isn't. ---I love to cheer, but it is most definately not a sport. Keep in mind: 1. There is no offence or defense in cheerleading 2. It is impossible to administer points without a judge (it can’t just be played) 3. There is no interaction between different teams 4. A routine is predetermined. There is no way that the outcome of the routine will be any different than it is planned to be. So although cheerleading is intense exercize and takes a lot of skill, it is not a sport. ---people say cheerleading is #1 injury causing activity in America, well that may be true, but what causes those injuries? Fat Lazy people who cant catch anything. I mean, If the girls could catch, those injuries wouldnt happen ---in the big book of sports, cheerleading wasn’t in it. Some of ya’ll say its a sport because its hard. So is digging a ditch but no one watches ditch digging on sportscenter. if it was a sport it would probably be on sportscenter or in the olympics. but its not. if cheerleading is a sport so is sitting in the stands cheering on your team ---all u ppls should shut up ! cheerleading is ssooooooooooooo a sport ! people can like die .so all u haters who say its not a sport… SHUT UP !!!!! ***well if you jump off a bridge you could die, does that make jumping off a brdge a sport? ---haha ok you people seriously are messed up. No cheerleding is not considered a sport, and honestly i don’t think it should be. You can’t just sit there and say cheerleadings a sport because you think it’s hard cause you have to lift people. Um last time i checked theres like 3 people lifting one, one hundred pound chick. BIG WOOP. In every other sport you have to think quik, especially soccer. In cheering everythings planned out, and the outcomes allways final. which if you dont mind me saying.. is gay. Cheering can’t be “played”. it’s not a game. You have to coordinate moves and dance. Yeah… i don’t really call that a game especially since you can’t “play” it with another opponet or without a freakin judge. Im sorry if i’m offending anyone, yes cheerleaders are great athletes but no cheerleading is not a sport. ---cheerleading is NOT a sport. it is just dancers and gymnasts gone retarted. Gymnastics is a sport though because ITS IN THE OLYMPICS! HA and i dont care what all you perky cheerleaders that think they are all that have to say about it. so like the other person said BITE ME ---one person said of you get tired in other sports, they put in a sub, and you cant do that in cheerleading. Well, from my expeirence in sports the coaches decide when a sub goes in, they could care less if you are tired, you stay in until they take you out, you just dont go up to your coach and say your tired and they take you out, it just doesnt work that way, the only reason they put in subs is because only so many players can play at once and they want everyone to play, and because there is a rule that everyone must play every game unless they are injured, and that is a rule in every sport, everyone must play at least once, and only so many players can play at once. But Cheerleading doesnt have a certain amount that can play at one time, therefore it is not a sport. ---mary jo, you are, in fact, pathetic. if cheerleading is “everything” then you obviously have no life. cheerleading is simply dance. people dance everyday. sure, you throw some people in the air. why? to ensure their death. flyers, and yes, i know my “cheerleader-vocab”, are always at risk. Truly, cheerleading is a perfect reflection of the circus, which is, indeed, not a sport. There is no objective to cheerleading. None at all. Unless you think getting a crowd of mindless fans just staring at your perfectly powdered thighs to yell louder than the whistle signaling any action of the game. People don’t need to be told HOW or WHEN to cheer.And besides, cheerleaders are stuck up, annoying, arrogant, back-stabbing, attention-loving, air-headed, jerks. No one likes them. They talk about everyone behind their backs whether they really know them or not. I HATE cheerleaders ---Ok for all you all that say cheerleading is not a sport. Well your wrong because in most sports you have practices, uniforms to wear, you have to practice often and its VERYYYYYy dangerous!!!!!!!!!! i am a cheerleader and a girl on our squad broke her arm two times (the same arm) because of cheerleading!!!!! so yes it is a sport ***you can break your arm soing nearly anything, hell, you can break your while shopping, or walking on a balance beam at an elementary school playground(I have seen both happen) and those DEFINITELY aren't sports, and Im sure everyone can aree those arent sports ---This has never been a sport, and it never will be. It is hard. It requires tremendous skill and a cheerleader must be athletic, but so do ballet dancers and Cirque Du Soleil “performers.” It is a performance. Ya, you call your events competitions, but it is hardly competetive when you show up to an all day event to perform for 4-5 minutes and then sit and pick your favorite. When has a cheer team been down with 2 minutes to go and pulled out a win? When have they blown out a topped ranked team or when have they been blown out? When!?!? Never. They show up, dance and scream for 4-5 minutes, and wait for a judge to pick their favorite. Nice competition… ***my rebutal on what people said 7.)my school is cutting things next year because of the economy. They are cutting Art, FACS, and Cheerleading. They are cutting those because they cost more money than they bring in. Cheerleading is the least popular extra-cirricular activity in our school, thats why they cut it. 8.)If schools cut their basketball and football progams, they would also cut their cheerleading program, because If there was no Basketball or football, the cheerleaders would have nothing to do, because all they do is cheer on the football and basketball players, Cheerleading is not a sport, because they dont do anything except at other sports games. 9.)A common Arguement that cheerleaders have in this question is "I would like to see you come to our workouts, you couldnt handle it" or "I would like to see you do a backhandspring, toe touch and then be thrown twenty feet into the air. First, They dont go twenty feet, even in professional cheerleading, they go no more than 15. But here is my rebuttal: No, they may not be able to do everything you do in your practice, you may not be able to do everything they do in their practice. I agree cheerleading practice may be difficult, but other sports practices are too. And just because a football player can't do cheerleading doesnt make it a sport. All you Cheerleaders probably cant pitch 40 strikes that are going at least 40mph with 50 chances, Which is what the pitchers on our team have to do EVERY PRACTICE for a WARM UP. Or catch all those pitches and If you miss have to do a "Gorilla Walk" to get to the ball behind you, get the ball, throw it to second base in time to get someone out, which is what I have to do all the time because I am a catcher. Or hit 30 balls to the outfield(line drives, pop-ups and grounders dont count) with only 40 pitches, which my whole team has to do at every practice. Or go to a basketball practice and run laps for twenty minutes (about 2 1/4 miles on average) WITHOUT STOPPING OR WALKING, then run 10 suicides(and they are called suicides for a reason lol) then run up and down the court dribbling the ball against a defender 20 times without getting the ball stolen, letting it go out of control, or stopping. Then not to mention all the shooting, defensive, and dribbling drills. You probably couldnt do all of it. I'm not saying we could all do cheerleading stuff, because not everyone can, but that is a lame arguement because you couldn't do all the stuff at sports practices Another thing I hear alot is football and basketball players through balls, but WE throw girls. well, If I remember correctly, it is at least 3 girls, usually 4, and usually the heaviest and strongest, throwing ONE girl, the smallest and lightest. So lets say the 4 girls on the bottom throw a 100lbs girl. divided by 4 people, thats 25 pounds each, equal to the wieght of the rock you through in the shotput, which the people through a good 30 feet farther. this is a good website, the link isnt working, so I copied and pasted, but its from about.com ---As cheerleading gains in popularity, the controversy rages on about whether it's a sport or not. There are rarely any questions about the athleticism of cheerleaders, so are cheerleaders athletes without a real sport? Definition of a Sport In a dictionary you may find the word "sport" defined as a "physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively." It is the last part of the definition "engaged in competitively" that makes considering cheerleading a sport difficult. According to the Women's Sports Foundation the following criteria has to be met to be considered a sport: A physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of a mass A contest or competition against or with an opponent Is governed by rules which explicitly define the time, space and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared The acknowledged primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants What is Cheerleading? With the criteria above in mind, is the primary purpose of cheerleading to compete? Well, presently no. The majority of cheerleading squads do not participate in any competitions. Their sole purpose is to entertain, motivate and unite spectators of other athletic teams that are competing. Cheerleading is most often defined as the "Act of leading organized cheering, as at sports events." The Future of Cheerleading Although there are many cheerleading squads that do meet the criteria of their primary function being competitive cheerleading. Until the majority of the squads move competing to the forefront and cheering at games to be a secondary function, there is little hope cheerleading will be officially considered a sport. The skills involved in Cheerleading leave no doubt that cheerleaders are exceptional athletes. To perform their activities, they must be as strong as any football player, as poised as any dancer and as flexible as the best gymnasts. They are athletes by every definition of the word. So, does it really matter how cheerleading is defined? Is it not more important to be considered an athlete, even if you don't have an official sport? What's your opinion? Take our poll and sound off in the forum on this topic. OK I have no problems with cheerleader/cheerleading because I do it and it is totally fun, Just not a sport

I love cheerleaders. You're cute, even kinda funny with your big fake smiles. For an ex college athlete, I know way too much about cheerleading, my mother was a cheer coach and later worked for a uniform company. But cheerleading is most definitely not a sport. For the most part, you don't practice you rehearse. You don't condition and run gassers and whatnot on a daily basis. You compete yes, but it's a judged competition, it's like American Idol which despite them having pre and post show, shows...and them apparently making trading cards, is not a sport either. Also, you are just a complete dolt if you think cheerleading is harder than football, baseball, basketball or any other mainstream sport in American high school. And whoever said it's the one of the most dangerous activities is a goddamn fool. Try getting earholed by a 240 pound lineman, or standing in the batters box with someone throwing 90 plus at you. Saying your activity is more dangerous than other sports doesn't give you any credibility and just furthers the assumption you guys are stupid airheads. Some of you are incredible athletes yes. Some of you are better athletes than me. But there's only so much you can do. Your routines are a dance. You don't drill for 6 hours a day everyday and occassionally have to visit the trainer to get your ankles and wrists taped, or to ice a shoulder everyday after practice, and then despite how tired and beat you are have to go throw iron around a gym for an hour and a half. I dunno how they do it down South I know some of those cheerleaders can get pretty nutso. My school out here in California had a great squad, the won like 4 national championships 2 or 3 years in a row. And they never did shit at rehearsal. Which is another thing, there's so many different categories and different championships, and different sections of large school big school, small school, all star team, that who ever really wins? Not only that but who really cares besides you guys? Nobody. Sorry girls, you'll have to face it. You are not a sport. If that's not enough take a real hard high school stereotype maybe you girls can understand. Jocks wear block jackets, even girl jocks. Most people that play sports wear their block jackets hang out with other jocks. Cheerleaders are in their own clique because...you don't play a sport.

Lets add Cheerleading to the olympics - ugh Just another event for the Americans to bloat their egos with and the Chinese to win every year with their 9 years old gymnists 10 years ago Cheerleading was just a way for the girls to get close to the football team. Most of them were not that good but they were hot. Now I would say that it goes with gymnastics and routines... kinda like syncronized swimming... I might be considered a sport to some - but I will not reach the heights of other competative events. I have a friend who competes regularly but she never once has called it a sport - but I think she prefers it to be classified with gymnastics and dance. Dance is not a sport