Cheerleading – a showcase activity or a real sport?
A major controversy has been raging since a long time, whether cheerleading can be put in the sports category or not. According to the dictionary the word “sport” means “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature”.
Which brings about a question, what is cheerleading?
According to the Merriam-Webster the word “cheerleading” means “one that calls for and directs organized cheering”. Cheerleading’s sole purpose is to lead and cheer at a sporting event keeping the spectators and team’s spirits high, which means primary purpose for cheerleading is not to compete.
Cheerleading squads usually do not take part in any sort of competition but serve as motivators for their respective schools or colleges sports teams. Their main purpose is to keep the crowd entertained while, demonstrating different athletic moves and cheers.
Traditionally, cheerleading is considered to be a highly feminine performance-based activity, although men have started taking part in it quite avidly. Another fact that hinders cheerleading to be identified as a sport is because critics say it is heavily based on physical beauty, which contradicts what a real sport is all about, masculinity. Similarly ice-skating and synchronized swimming are often ridiculed by sports analysts. As our society says that sports is all about manliness and not about looking good, marginalizes the so-called sports, horse racing and auto racing because not much physical effort is required in both games.
But why do cheerleading devotees think it should be considered a sport?
Cheerleading teams do not compete very often unlike the NCAA sports. However in the recent years major competitions have been held, in which teams from all over the United States come together and exhibit variety of dance moves, which is credited by a panel of judges.
In the competitive cheerleading contest, contestants are betrothed in a high physical activity, which makes cheerleading extremely dangerous because many have faced catastrophic injuries over the years.
According to the paediatrics, the percentage of cheerleaders who have suffered from, concussions, sprains and broken bones has increased over 100 percent. Recent studies showed that in USA cheerleading accounts for 65.1 percent of all sports injuries, with more than 20,000 cheerleaders being admitted to the hospital in the 2002 because of major injuries.
Moreover last year on 27th January, a lawsuit was filed due to an accident that took place during a practice. Wisconsin Supreme Court lined cheerleading out to be a full-contact sport in the state. Although according to the federal court, cheerleading is not qualified as a sport for purposes of Title IX but might be in the future.
Women’s Sports Foundation says for the activity to be considered a real sport, certain a criteria needs to be met.
*A physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of a mass.
* "Contesting" or competing against/with an opponent.
* Governed by the rules which explicitly define the time, space and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared.
* Acknowledged primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants.
Is there any future for the striving cheerleaders who are constantly told off by sports critics?
There is no doubt that many cheerleading squads do meet the criteria when they compete on an annually basis after going through rigorous training. The skills and determination required in cheerleading does prove they are outstanding athletes and as strong as any boxer or footballer.
However, it still does not change the fact that most squads don’t compete instead forefront at sporting events and keep the competition as a secondary function. Experts say, for the cheerleading nation to hope they’ll be officially categorized as a sport is far from happening anytime soon unless they start compete more often.
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