Why Cheerleading IS a Sport

Photo Illustration by Ricky Riley l VOX Staff

By India Irish
VOX Staff

A few months ago, after a long-lasting, sweat-dripping, exhausting, three-hour cheerleading practice, I was put on the spot when my friend Mack randomly shouted, “Cheerleading isn’t a sport!” Now of course, Mack is one of those football players who considers football the best sport known to man.

Immediately, I jumped out of my tired and drained mode to quickly defend something that I truly care about: cheerleading! “What do you mean cheerleading isn’t a sport?” I screeched. “We slave long hours to make up routines to cheer your football team on, whether you guys win or lose,” I stated. Unfortunately, Mack failed to agree. He believed no fan in the stands could possibly find girls jumping around and shouting athletic.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of a sport is “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.” Cheerleading includes all of that. And you can’t possibly tell me we don’t work as hard as other athletes do. We risk our lives, show excellent sportsmanship, follow rules and regulations and compete. Yeah, you may not see us tossing a football, but try throwing and catching someone 100 times heavier than any ball while keeping a smile on your face! I would love to see a football player touch his toes in a jump.

My Journey
I began cheering at the age of 6 for a church basketball team known as the Green Pasture Saints. Immediately, I enjoyed cheering because of the crowd’s reaction to our halftime performances. It made me feel as though we were just as important as the basketball team. I loved learning cheers and dances to entertain people and still do.

I’m currently a cheerleader at Redan High School, where cheerleading is taken to a whole different level. I take cheering very seriously and will do anything it takes to master any jump, cheer or dance that is given to me. We just had tryouts for next school year, and we are already practicing. Whereas football and basketball are seasonal sports, cheerleading is year-round, which means we have to condition a lot. Not only do we practice five days a week after school, but our summer vacations are cut short to prepare for upcoming seasons. And on top of all of this hard work, I maintain a 4.0 GPA!

Unfortunately, many people still stereotype cheerleaders as stuck-up, dumb chicks. “That’s not true,” Karalia, an eighth grader and captain of the Tucker Middle School said. “I have been an honor student all my life.”

Tryouts for cheerleading are very stressful. I‘ll never forget my first time trying out for my high school’s squad. My stunt group and I kept having problems getting me up in the air. I hadn’t flown in a while, and I didn’t know how to hold my own weight. Every time I was lifted, I became very weak in my knees and fell out of my stunt. Luckily, I had very strong girls to hold me who never let me fall to the ground.When I was raised into the air during tryouts, I was too nervous to move and we mastered the stunt in disbelief.

History of Cheerleading
Cheerleading started out as an all-male activity. According to the National Cheerleading Association, the first organized and recorded cheerleading squad was at Princeton University in the late 1880s. The all-male campus cheerleaders at the time recited: “Ray, Ray Ray! Tiger Tiger! Sis, Sis, Sis! Boom, Boom, Boom!” Cheerleaders were considered “yell leaders” who got the crowd involved into the game.

In 1965, Fred Gastoff invented the first pompom, and during the 1960s, the Indiana Colts created the first professional cheerleading squad. Today, the National Cheerleading Association estimates that 97 percent of cheerleaders are females.

“Cheerleading is a sisterhood,” said by Moneka, a sophmore on the cheerleading squad at South Carolina State University. “Each of the cheerleaders on my squad are my sisters. We have each other’s back and are always there for one another!”

Nowadays, cheerleading is even broadcasted on ESPN and ABC. In competitions, points are awarded for technique, sharpness, difficulty and creativity. The higher the difficulty of the routine (stunts, tumbling and perfection of delivery), the better the score. The biggest honor is winning the spirit stick. That shows that your team is the finest and greatest team around.

Not only do cheerleaders compete at camps and regional events, but some squads compete for a state title. Elite squads travel to private competitions nationwide. The best cheerleaders can even get athletic scholarships to college.

Cheerleading Today
Cheerleading has evolved from a school spirit activity into an activity demanding high levels of gymnastics skills and athleticism. Conditioning for cheerleading isn’t a breeze. It involves training with weights, practicing mornings and afternoons, running many miles daily and even doing aerobics.

“We have to have stamina and condition to be in shape,“ said from Ashton from Jams All Stars, a competitve cheerleading squad with members from all across Atlanta.

Cheerleaders perform tumble routines that include standing back flips and twists. Stunting is a significant part of cheerleading. This is where the cheerleader is thrown into the air and held in different positions.

Some stunts, pyramids, dismounts and drops are actually banned. Like every sport, cheerleaders have laws and rules they must follow. For example, the helicopter is prohibited during many practices and competitions. The cheerleader isn’t guaranteed to land the same every time so it’s not allowed. Many competitions prefer stunts to be only two people high, and most routines must be completed in fewer than three minutes and 15 seconds and remain within the boundary lines.

Whether you’re learning a play or routine in football or basketball, you must give it your all so you can succeed. When an error is made in a play, your team risks losing the game. Falling or forgetting a routine can cause the team to lose more than a competition.

The American Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research calls cheerleading the most dangerous women’s sport. Every time a cheerleader tumbles or is put into the air, she or he risks being injured.
Cheerleading may have started as a crowd-pumper, but it’s evolved into a sport that involves a lot of skills. It takes hard work to do what cheerleaders do. We use all the athletic skills of other sports. And cheerleaders are the future leaders of tomorrow!

India Irish is sophomore and Varsity cheerleader at Redan High. She says, “Go Raiders!”