Most people think cheerleading is a bunch of girls and guys dancing and throwing girls in the air. Although that’s what it seems like, there are more than that, there are stunts, tumbling, chants, dances, and skills. A sport is an activity including physical, mental, and skill. Cheerleading needs physical, mental, skill, memory, and flexibility. Cheerleading is a sport because it takes time and dedication. Therefore cheerleading is considered a sport and will be in the 2020 Olympics.
There are national cheerleading competitions all the time in different places all around the United States, and cheerleaders take their own time, money, dedication, and teamwork towards the sport. Some may say cheerleading isn’t a sport because it doesn’t use a ball or because it’s not “difficult”. Cheerleading is a sport because cheerleaders compete in national competitions all the time, the leadership between cheerleaders and coaches, and the physical, mental, and memory strength needed. Everyday cheerleaders get told it’s not a sport or the cheerleaders just do it for the popularity.
Little did the people know, was that cheerleadings spend hours a day, everyday working on stunts, chants, tumbling, and dances. When cheerleaders go to competition it’s to show the crowd what the time and dedication worked off. Cheerleaders get hurt on the daily from falling stunts, falling on a tumbling pass and more. The cheerleader’s cheer career can be ruined by a broken ankle or a sprained wrist or any injury. From an article it expressed that cheerleaders get injured, “Cheerleaders suffered 133 injuries during 1,701 athlete seasons (Schulz 1). Although injuries hurt, it makes the cheerleaders better.
Injuries could take cheerleaders out of cheer forever or for a little time, but some injuries push the cheerleader to stay positive. When cheerleaders are out for the season, it makes them sometimes depressed. It makes the cheerleaders depressed because the cheerleaders can’t do cheer for a certain time. Sometimes injuries push the cheerleader to work out and get stronger so it won’t happen again. Some people say that competition cheer is a minute or two routine, which includes tumbling passes, stunts, a cheer, and dance section (Lyman 1).
Also competitive cheer takes time, effort, dedication, and money. When cheerleaders compete it’s not for the banner or the bragging rights, it’s for the recognition and the happiness. Knowing that each and every cheerleader took their own time and dedication to put it together. The heerleaders aren’t poor losers if their team lost, and will congratulate the other team on the victory. Some may say that, “Competitive cheerleading has become a world of its own, and the pressure is on to do bigger stunts, harder tumbling passes, and more dance-packed routines to take home coveted state and national titles. Alex 1)”
Again competitive cheerleading is more than short skirts, pom-poms, and flirting with boys. Competitive cheerleading is a sport that is physically exhausting and makes the cheerleading strong and powerful. Cheerleading makes cheerleaders tired, but it makes the group better because the group is more flexible, stronger, and has a better leadership. Leadership among coaches, cheerleaders and staff is a big part. In the word cheerleader the ending part is leader and every cheerleader is a leader to someone. Cheerleaders take ideas and create routines, stunts, dances, and chants to help to group become better.
Leadership pulls the group together and leadership roles are important, the cheerleaders are motivating, inspiring, modeling, risk-taking and important (Calhoun 1). Over the years of cheerleading the leadership has grown. Leadership is important between every cheerleader and coach because it brings them closer. When there is leadership, people start looking up to people and follow the person’s actions. Leadership in cheerleading is important because of the motivation, inspiration, and modeling for other cheerleaders.
Cheerleader could get injured if there was no leadership and never let anyone pressure you into doing something you aren’t ready for. Then don’t let anyone ruin your safety by goofing off, not paying attention, and doing the stunts wrong (Alex 1). If people are making mistakes by goofing off and not paying attention, that’s where the leadership from cheerleaders come into play. People should never make someone feel pressured into doing something dangerous. During cheerleading, the cheerleaders make everyone feel safe, and when the flyers in the air leadership take a role so the flyer won’t fall to the ground and will get caught.
Knowing that teams have the ups and downs are what a leader helps with. When the team is down a leader brings the team up. Just because every team has it’s ups and downs and very bad days doesn’t mean it can’t be successful. But if the cheer group wants to be successful and be amazing, you can’t let the group be dragged down and sad ( Bean 1). If the team is being dragged down, the team will need some strong leaders to build the team back together. When there is a leader it makes things easier because the leader will have positive energy.
Knowing that the group wants to be successful, but doesn’t want to be brought up, is what a leader is for and the cheerleaders will become stronger physically and mentally because of a leadership role. The physical, mental, and muscle strength, muscle memory, and flexibility are a big part in cheerleading. Physical and mental strength makes cheerleading become a better cheerleader because the stronger the cheerleader is the more stunts hit. The mental strength is needed because the cheerleaders won’t be scared to do the tumbling skills.
Muscle strength is useful because the muscles won’t be sore and will be used to being stretched and muscle memory is when the muscle won’t be sore when conditioning. Flexibility is a big part because it makes sure the bases, front spot, back spot, and flyer are safe from having muscles pulled and makes the flyer have good form. Some may say that cheerleader is not a sport or is just like gymnastics, and “Cheerleading is an increasingly popular sport that has evolved over time to demand the strength, balance and body coordination more commonly associated with sports like gymnastics. Sloan 1)”
Since cheerleading is a popular sport in the sport industry, people think that it’s just a dance or a bunch of girls and guys screaming. Cheerleaders need to be fit, have balance, strength, and memory in the muscles and in the brain. When cheerleaders stretch it is to increase their flexibility so the cheerleader won’t get hurt by pulling a muscle or breaking something. The different things a cheerleader needed is so much of a cheerleader, but if the cheerleader is determined it won’t be bad. Flexibility is a main part in cheerleading, because it makes the flyer look better with the stunts.
When the conditioning is happening it’s to make the cheerleaders stronger mentally and physically. Flexibility will help with muscle development and so the cheerleaders won’t have aches and pains. That is only true when flexibility increases over time (Davis 1). Also flexibility is important to keep every cheerleaders safe from pulling a muscle or hurting themselves. When cheerleaders don’t stretch that will make it more of a possibility to hurt muscles. It’s important to stretch so the cheerleaders will have better toe touches, pike jumps, tumbling passes, stunting, and cheers.
It’s important to stretch all the time, so the muscles won’t hurt or get pulled. When the cheerleaders condition the cheerleaders have lots of time to stretch so the muscles won’t get injured. Cheer coaches and cheerleaders begin to have depression and when there is depression, the group could not be as active or be as good. Physical activity associated with cheerleading can also reduce risk for depression and anxiety, and could maybe reduce sleeping problems ( Thompson 1). The more physical activity happening will cause less depression and cheerleaders will have more sleep.
The more sleep and the more strength will cause the cheerleader’s with depression to not have it no more, and will also reduce the risk for anxiety. The more physical activity the less problem’s cheerleaders have with sleeping, anxiety, and depression. Some parents, students, friends, family, coaches, and former cheerleaders believe that cheerleading isn’t a sport. There aren’t as many good reasons why it isn’t a sport, but there are millions of reasons why it is a sport. A good reason why it’s a sport is that cheerleading will be in the 2020 Olympics.
But some may say the cheerleading isn’t a sport because the competition isn’t the main goal, stunts isn’t hard or dangerous, and doesn’t practice as a group all the time, or doesn’t travel or doesn’t practice for more than 30 minutes. Cheerleading competition isn’t the main goal. But at the cheer competition teams win against each other and win titles, competitive cheerleading is it’s own own thing, and the pressure builds up so the groups do bigger stunts, harder tumbling passes, and more dance routines to take home coveted state and national titles (Alex 1).
Stunting isn’t hard or dangerous. This is a false statement because throwing girls in the air and catching the flyer is difficult, if a base doesn’t catch the flyer, the flyer could fall and hurt itself. Also it takes hours to flyer the flyer in the air and learn new stunts. Stunting is scary because a flyer is being thrown in the air for the bases and back spot to catch. It’s hard to see how the flyer is going to fall into the bases arms and it’s very dangerous. Each year there is tons of ER trips because of the stunt groups. The flyer can be injured if they aren’t caught correctly (or at all) by their bases, and the bases can be injured should the flyer fall on top of them. Similarly, tumbling passes can result in painful falls and collisions if not executed as intended. (Alex 1)” Just because cheerleaders “doesn’t practice as a group all the time, or doesn’t travel or doesn’t practice for more than 30 minutes. ” Just because a group doesn’t practice all the time together doesn’t mean it’s not a sport.
Actually cheerleaders practice at least 3 hours a day and almost every day, and cheerleaders do travel to different places all the time. People don’t think cheerleading isn’t a sport because that person doesn’t understand cheer. Cheerleaders practice every night for at least 3 hours and cheerleading teams all over the world practice more than most of the boys in football or basketball (Alex 1). Because cheerleading is a sport, the cheerleaders compete in national competitions, the different leadership among staff, coaches, and cheerleaders, and the physical, mental strength and muscle memory.
Individuals can make cheerleading be heard by having tournaments, fundraisers, competitions, and different cheer places. Since people can spread the sport, the more people say it’s not a sport. It’s become easier to show people that it is. Cheerleading is a sport that takes time, money, effort, dedication, and leadership. Cheerleading isn’t just boys and girls screaming, it’s more than that. The time, dedication, money, effort, and leadership play a big part in cheerleading.