Poll: do you concider cheerleading a sport

[lizards]

Reading the posts in this thread, i have to wonder if the people replying are aware what cheer leading is. Cheer leading is not just the preppy girls from your local high school shouting tired lines to an uncaring crowd while the home team puts on a display of epic mediocrity. Okay maybe thats what its like allot of places, I'll make that concession. And maybe posting about cheer leading on a gaming culture website would naturally draw allot of ignorance. I would wager most people here only think about them as side line decoration in Madden *year* (or other sports game). However whether you recognize cheer leading as a sport or not is irrelevant, cheer leading is a sport, and here is a couple reason to care.

Firstly cheering is a form of group dance. Performance dance on is always a challenging experience. to make that performance exciting to the audience coordination is forged in the fires of unending practice. A single routine may take months to hammer out before its ready to be preformed for an audience. Long hard hours of potentially dangerous practice that comes down to a brief few moments where precise execution is required or else failure, humiliation, or worse injury. Which leads to the next point, Danger.

Cheer leading, on a professional level can and often does require extensive gymnastics, without a safety net. Accidents happen. More accidents happen to cheer leaders than most other athletes, and what else would you expect. On top of that those gymnastics are made to be done at precise moments to coincide with music. Throwing and catching people flying through air all for the sake of entertainment, glory, And to see the face on the rival team. Bringing us to what makes cheer leading a sport rather than just an extreme form performance art.

Cheer leading is a sport tied to another sport, the cheer leaders travel with the "main" team so that when the face there rivals they can be more exciting than their foes cheer leaders. Direct competition between teams. The face off to try and be more exciting than their adversary, and if nothing else that fact alone makes cheer leading its own athletic event. In fact there are events that are solely dedicated to cheering. teams get together and preform their most complex and intricate routine in hopes of winning a trophy. Hear that, teams spend months on choreography, planning, training, and all for a trophy. just like any other sport.

Next time your bored look up some cheer leading on you-tube, you can find some incredible things.

while that may be true i dont consider dancing nor cheerleading a sport because there is no goal

 

[agrandstudent]

No, it´s basically just dancing or gymnastics.

People saying that it´s a sport because it´s competitive, well, ever hear of dancing compititions?

Woah there. You saying gymnastics isn't a sport? If so, we may have to scrap.

I'll say its not a sport. That doesn't me it non-athletic or doesn't take a lot of hard work and dedication to be really good at it. I wish I had done some gymnastics and if I knew any gymnast I would have a lot of respect for all of their hard physical work they did.

 

[ninjamann]

just because you have to practice and have specialized skills at something dosn't make it a sport. its like if two big groups of people had a giant dance- off, ranked by judges and watched by people at football games. i'm not saying if its good or bad, just that its not a sport. minimal rules, no strategy or plays, no direct team- against team competition.

 

[Sampsa]

Well, my knowledge about cheerleading is based mostly on american high school movies and the fact that I knew a girl during my own high school time who praticed that. From the looks of things I'd say that it requires good stamina and serious practice which can be applied into most sports so why not into cheerleading?

 

[Anonymous Overlord]

Reading the posts in this thread, i have to wonder if the people replying are aware what cheer leading is. Cheer leading is not just the preppy girls from your local high school shouting tired lines to an uncaring crowd while the home team puts on a display of epic mediocrity. Okay maybe thats what its like allot of places, I'll make that concession. And maybe posting about cheer leading on a gaming culture website would naturally draw allot of ignorance. I would wager most people here only think about them as side line decoration in Madden *year* (or other sports game). However whether you recognize cheer leading as a sport or not is irrelevant, cheer leading is a sport, and here is a couple reason to care.

Firstly cheering is a form of group dance. Performance dance on is always a challenging experience. to make that performance exciting to the audience coordination is forged in the fires of unending practice. A single routine may take months to hammer out before its ready to be preformed for an audience. Long hard hours of potentially dangerous practice that comes down to a brief few moments where precise execution is required or else failure, humiliation, or worse injury. Which leads to the next point, Danger.

Cheer leading, on a professional level can and often does require extensive gymnastics, without a safety net. Accidents happen. More accidents happen to cheer leaders than most other athletes, and what else would you expect. On top of that those gymnastics are made to be done at precise moments to coincide with music. Throwing and catching people flying through air all for the sake of entertainment, glory, And to see the face on the rival team. Bringing us to what makes cheer leading a sport rather than just an extreme form performance art.

Cheer leading is a sport tied to another sport, the cheer leaders travel with the "main" team so that when the face there rivals they can be more exciting than their foes cheer leaders. Direct competition between teams. The face off to try and be more exciting than their adversary, and if nothing else that fact alone makes cheer leading its own athletic event. In fact there are events that are solely dedicated to cheering. teams get together and preform their most complex and intricate routine in hopes of winning a trophy. Hear that, teams spend months on choreography, planning, training, and all for a trophy. just like any other sport.

Next time your bored look up some cheer leading on you-tube, you can find some incredible things.

while that may be true i dont consider dancing nor cheerleading a sport because there is no goal

the goal in this case is triumph over the other teams chearleaders, triumph in the form of an ecstatic crowed. cheer leaders play the audience as there score board, goal and judge. its a different sort of game but it doesn't make it any less of a game. and its merit as a sport shouldn't even be up for debate. the men and women who do join a cheerleading squad work just as hard as a football team, and risk just as much in terms of physical health an personal time.

 

[Alex Cowan]

For it to be competitive, results have to be judged on cheerleading alone. You can't call it competitive it's two teams of cheerleaders at a ball game trying to outdo eachother, because the outcome is decided by the ballgame, not the cheerleaders - they're just there to get morale going.

On the other hand, if the cheerleading itself is being judged in a separate contest, then it is a sport like any other.

Also - slightly bad poll there - there is no middle ground. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either - the sides are so extreme that I find myself disagreeing with both.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

No. Cheerleading is just running around trying to motivate an audience for their team. An idiot with a bullhorn could accomplish the same goal.

Yes. Gymnastics is most definitely a sport, because it requires athleticism, timing, balance, and many other sportlike qualities.

 

[PhiMed]

removed due to double-post

 

[lizards]

Reading the posts in this thread, i have to wonder if the people replying are aware what cheer leading is. Cheer leading is not just the preppy girls from your local high school shouting tired lines to an uncaring crowd while the home team puts on a display of epic mediocrity. Okay maybe thats what its like allot of places, I'll make that concession. And maybe posting about cheer leading on a gaming culture website would naturally draw allot of ignorance. I would wager most people here only think about them as side line decoration in Madden *year* (or other sports game). However whether you recognize cheer leading as a sport or not is irrelevant, cheer leading is a sport, and here is a couple reason to care.

Firstly cheering is a form of group dance. Performance dance on is always a challenging experience. to make that performance exciting to the audience coordination is forged in the fires of unending practice. A single routine may take months to hammer out before its ready to be preformed for an audience. Long hard hours of potentially dangerous practice that comes down to a brief few moments where precise execution is required or else failure, humiliation, or worse injury. Which leads to the next point, Danger.

Cheer leading, on a professional level can and often does require extensive gymnastics, without a safety net. Accidents happen. More accidents happen to cheer leaders than most other athletes, and what else would you expect. On top of that those gymnastics are made to be done at precise moments to coincide with music. Throwing and catching people flying through air all for the sake of entertainment, glory, And to see the face on the rival team. Bringing us to what makes cheer leading a sport rather than just an extreme form performance art.

Cheer leading is a sport tied to another sport, the cheer leaders travel with the "main" team so that when the face there rivals they can be more exciting than their foes cheer leaders. Direct competition between teams. The face off to try and be more exciting than their adversary, and if nothing else that fact alone makes cheer leading its own athletic event. In fact there are events that are solely dedicated to cheering. teams get together and preform their most complex and intricate routine in hopes of winning a trophy. Hear that, teams spend months on choreography, planning, training, and all for a trophy. just like any other sport.

Next time your bored look up some cheer leading on you-tube, you can find some incredible things.

while that may be true i dont consider dancing nor cheerleading a sport because there is no goal

the goal in this case is triumph over the other teams chearleaders, triumph in the form of an ecstatic crowed. cheer leaders play the audience as there score board, goal and judge. its a different sort of game but it doesn't make it any less of a game. and its merit as a sport shouldn't even be up for debate. the men and women who do join a cheerleading squad work just as hard as a football team, and risk just as much in terms of physical health an personal time.

during a game then its not a sport such as football and others like it

competitive cheerleading is a sport because of the stuff mentioned above

ya i relized i wasnt exactly saying what i thought

 

[PhiMed]

Poll: do you concider consider cheerleading a sport

Fixed

And no. It started out as what it is called. They lead cheers. Now its evolved into sexist gymnastics.

You want to participate in something similar? Start a gymnastics team. Any sport with over 50 "National championships" all sponsored by the same megacorporation is just a way to steal money from popularity-obsessed inappropriately thin girls.

 

[Slycne]

My thoughts almost exactly. I respect that it takes a great degree of skill, training and stamina. But in my personal estimation, a sport is something that the competitive element of it is decided specifically by the action of the activity. At the end of a basketball game, the victor is made clear by the point talley. In a race the victor is made clear by who crossed the finish line first. In cheerleading or any sort of judged activity, the victor is decided not ness. on the action of the activity, but on the opinion of those who are judging.

There are plenty of sports based on subjective rulings though. Are you going to tell me with a straight face that boxing isn't a sport? Baring the specific conditions surrounding a KO, rulings are made by the judges and referee. There is some measure of point tallying based on components like punches landed, but it still remains largely an opinion based decision -- often leading to claims of upsets or being robbed a win.

 

[Skratt]

Anyone who says cheerleading isn't a spot is basically saying that gymnastics or martial arts are not sports. Cheerleaders have to be more flexible and physically fit than a basketball or football player and have enough coordination not to land on their cranium for some of the more complex routines which they get to do with little spotting and almost no safety equipment.

I will clarify that not all cheerleaders leave the ground or tumble around on concrete competitively, but the primary thing that declaring it a sport would do is create standard safety rules and regulations that all other activities we call sports are entitled to. Don't worry, I promise you won't catch "the ghey" if it ever does become an officially recognized sport. You probably already have it.

 

[SecondmateFlint]

Penn and Teller did an interesting episode on cheerleading not long ago.

I had never realized how many injuries cheerleaders have, some of them fatal or life-threatening. I mean, they do crazy crazy stunts which require an enormous amount of training and physical prowess.

I think it should be labeled a sport because they do not have the same access to trainers that other sports have. By calling it a sport, they can have better access to medical attention.

 

[Scolar Visari]

No, it´s basically just dancing or gymnastics.

People saying that it´s a sport because it´s competitive, well, ever hear of dancing compititions?

Woah there. You saying gymnastics isn't a sport? If so, we may have to scrap.

Oh wait..gymnastics is a sport...
Eh, perhaps I´m biased due to the image cheerleaders have.

Semi-Apology thing accepted. Admittedly the two are somewhat similar however, gymnastics involves a wider array of skill sets and maneuvers.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

if chess is a sport, cheerleading is a sport

 

[Eggsnham]

It's a sport.

The girls that do it need to train like crazy and be in good physical condition to even think about joining a cheer-leading team.

Plus it's fun to watch

 

[Zero-Vash]

If golf and poker are sports then so is cheerleading. I used to date a cheerleader; and in certain things she was way more fit than me when I was playing football

 

[Signa]

No, but that Penn and Teller episode convinced me otherwise.

 

[Marcu5]

Any competitive activity that requires any form of training to do well in qualifies as a sport.

This includes gaming. Even if you do not make any money on it.

This

No, it´s basically just dancing or gymnastics.

People saying that it´s a sport because it´s competitive, well, ever hear of dancing compititions?

Those are sports, too...