Is Cheerleading A Sport?
Hayden Wyrick
I feel like almost every american has gone to some type of football or basketball game in their lifetime, everyone is cheering on their team hoping that they win. But do you realize the cheerleaders are the ones leading the crowd, trying to get their energy up getting their team more excited to win. A lot of people think that cheerleaders are on the sidelines doing “nothing” and that cheerleading isn't a sport. I’m a cheerleader myself, so I strongly disagree with this statement for many reasons.
Varsity, a very well known cheer company says it is a sport. They state the few definitions of a sport which is on their website "Being a Cheerleader - Is Cheerleading a Sport?" Being a Cheerleader - Is Cheerleading a Sport? N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2015. The first definition is “contesting” or competing against/with an opponent is required” which cheerleaders do when they are at competitions. Another definition was “It must be governed by rules that explicitly define the time, space, and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared” Cheerleaders have a certain time limit when performing, they have to have the correct mat size and also score sheets. The last definition was “Acknowledgement that the primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants.” Every year they have a national competition called Worlds held at Disney World that is on ESPN every year. Cheerleading meets all the definitions of a sport but what do the courts say about this?
I made a survey to see what other people thought about this, Wyrick, Hayden. “Is cheerleading a sport?" survey. Google forms 29 January 2015 .The question I asked them was is cheerleading a sport? Four people said no and 24 people said yes. Another question that I asked was why or why not do you think this? Emma W said ”it isnt a sport because I don't know much about cheerleading but I feel like there is no competitiveness to cheerleading like the NFL they just dance I don't consider that a sport. If it is not in the Olympics besides baseball or football it is not a sport to me.” Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but just because something isn’t in the olympics doesn’t mean its not a sport baseball and football aren’t part of the olympics but they are still considered a sport. Emily H said “I did cheer for a long time and I think that it has everything that is needed to be considered a sport. I would love to see if a football player could do half of the things that a cheerleader can do.” I agree with this person because people honestly don’t realize how hard cheer is! We practice for hours lifting others flipping our bodies, building muscle everyday. Nesta F said “yes because they work very hard at what they do and it takes a lot of practice.” I can definitely agree with this because cheerleaders practice almost everyday of the week for hours.
I hope that after all of this i can convince you that cheerleading is a sport! Cheerleaders work just as hard as any athlete and were all after the same thing, winning! Cheerleading is a sport to me even though it may not be to you, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Just remember the next time says something about cheer not being a sport give them a few of my reasons.
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Good job Hayden! I really liked how you gave your advice, said what others had to say about it and how you included how everyone has there own opinion and I agree completley on that note. One thing that I learned from this editorial is that cheerleading is a sport, because cheerleading is a hard working thing to do and in my own opinion I would definetley agree with you. One thing that you maybe couldve included is maybe how at football games if there wasnt cheerleaders doing their job, how it could make a difference. Over all I think you did a great job! :)
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ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job on your editorial! I loved that you had quotes from people on both sides of the argument. I still don’t know why people don’t think that Cheering is a sport. Have you ever been told to your face that cheerleading isn’t a sport? How do you respond? I too did my editorial on this topic. And something that I found funny, we used the same source! I totally agree with you that cheerleading is a sport! Great Job!
I really loved your paper!! Although I don't do cheer I completely agree you with you that it is a sport. I know for a fact that you guys work hard at what you do and it's not just doing” nothing” or “dancing” you actually practice for hours on end. something I learned from your paper is the definitions and more technical terms for cheer names and I liked how you added that in. I have one question how long do you think it takes to become a great cheerleader. Years? I honestly think its really interesting that some people don't think its a sport, and like you said it takes everything that a regular sport would take, practice, skill, and lots of tim
ReplyDeleteHayden, I really loved your explanation and how you attempted to convince people! One thing that I LOVED about yours, was how you gave definitions to support your claim. A lot of people didn’t do that. When I was younger, I did cheer, and I personally find cheer to be a sport. You have to have strength and courage to do well. A definition for a sport I have found is “something active/productive that gets you in shape” and cheer does exactly that. Besides gymnastics, cheer is the only sport its good to be flexible in...Thats one requirement that no other sports have. One question I do have, is why did you choose this as your topic. Overall, GREAT job!
ReplyDeleteGood job Hayden, my sister is a cheerleader and hearing about what she does makes me believe that cheerleading is a sport, they work just as hard as other sports to flip and run and do crazy stuff that I could never do. I thought that it was interesting that 4 people said no, I would think more people said no than 4. Great job Hayden!
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