Cheerleading VS Sports
Cheerleading is known as skill to get the crowd hyper and leaders of bringing fourth the school spirit. Cheerleading is know for there chants, stunts, jumps like toe touches, pikes, and pyramids.
Cheerleading dates back in American history as far as the 1880’s. The school to give credit to that brought fourth a cheerleading is Princeton University in the cheer spirit year of 1884. Tom Pebbles who was a Princeton Graduate have introduced cheerleading to the University of Minnesota. According to the History of Cheerleading article by Keith Bean it was stated that it wasn’t until 1898 that fellow University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed what was the very first cheer ever in November of 1898. The story behind it was the University of Minnesota during that time was losing games and thought cheering was just boring, the people wanted to see something new that would keep the crowd pleased like positive chants not just your ordinary “Go Team” shout. So the development of a cheerleading squad became an existence, which started out with nothing but a male dominate squad.
Although women cheered in the stands during seasons, during the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s it was an all man sport. The 1920’s became the era of the admittance of women becoming a dominating force in cheerleading and it still continues to present day. The question is why doesn’t cheerleading have an effective governing body and why isn’t it respected as a sport?
Cheerleaders are respectively known to cheer on their respective team and to engage the crowd in lifting the spirits. Ever wonder if cheerleading was still a male dominated, would it be consider a sport under Title IX. Cheerleaders work just as hard as any sports, they do allot of gymnastics movement which require allot of intense stretching on the regular basis; they do stunts which is skill that has to be taught to refrain from serious injuries. Cheerleaders also do toe touches, herkies, spread eagles and pikes that are also a skill. Cheerleaders also have to use there voices to be loud and clear for the crowd to hear them. When you put flexibility, jumps, stunts and flips (Cartwheels, back flips, front flips) you get a skill that needs insurance, should be under title IX, needs a mandatory physical like any sport. Football players when they are training has to be in the weight room, run laps and stretch so they want be injury prone and so does cheerleaders has to do the same as well to put on an a great performance as well as teams to win that game.
Why isn’t cheerleading consider a sport? Is it because it’s a girly sport and most sports administrators don’t think its that important, because they feel that cheerleaders don’t have as much endurance like the other sports team do. They just think cheerleaders are supposed to just stand on the side lines and look pretty; what good is that for the team.
Cheerleaders are just as much part of the team with the sports team; you have cheerleaders that travel with the team most of the time. Cheerleaders have cheer camp and clinics before the season starts just like the other sports team that has to arrive before season starts to get there strength up and learn there plays for the season.
If cheerleading was still a male sport like it was originally in the 1880’s would it be consider a sport. Is America sports administration/board a bit sub-consciously sexes when it comes to cheerleading? Someone from the Sports board needs to start coming up with an universal governing body of rules and regulations for cheerleaders for it to be consider a sport. Someone from the sports administration preferably male needs to go to those cheer camps and see what cheerleaders go through to keep that energy and their game time presents on the field and court.
