Have you ever asked the question what is a sport? There are a lot of different definitions, but the question is “what really is a sport.” Cheerleading tries to get the crowd spirited to help the player and support the team. Isn’t the whole purpose of a sport to build teamwork and leadership? Therefore Cheer is a Sport.

Doesn’t a sport require athletic ability? A player that plays any sport must have strength, endurance and flexibility. Cheerleading requires even more than the “regular sport.” Workouts for cheerleaders consists of running, jumping, and throwing an average of 100-120 pound girls. While football players throw a 16 ounce football. When comparing Cheer to other sports like golf, cheer requires much more athletic ability.

Sports have been evolving through the years and require more from the athletes. However, when Cheerleading decides to push the limits by requiring more athleticism from their cheerleaders which brings on more intense competition, the NCAA still will not acknowledge it as a sport. Within a team, the player strive to be as good or even better than the other team-members, which is competition. How competitive does it have to be for it to be called a sport.

Cheerleading is more than just rallying up the fans, if that was the case anyone could be on the team.  Cheer is about leadership, trust, synchronism, encouraging others and having a positive attitude. Cheerleaders lead the crowd to support the team. The Flyers who are up in the air when stunting trust their bases with their life, which also builds friendships and teamwork. Synchronization plays a key role because in order to lead you’ve got to come together as a team. Lastly cheerleaders encourage others by having a positive attitude and just showing pride for the school/team.

Cheerleaders hold all of the attributes of being an athletic and they are competitors, so why wouldn’t it be a sport?