CHEERLEADING IS A SPORT

CHEERLEADERS ARE ATHLETES


As many people say, "Cheerleading is not a sport"but indeed it is a sport. Cheerleading is a sport that uses organized routines made from elements of some tumbling, dance, jumps and stunting to direct the event's spectators to cheer on sports teams at games and matches or compete at cheerleading competitions. The athlete that are involved are called cheerleaders. The growing presentation of the sport to a global audience has been led by the 1997 start of broadcasts of cheerleading competition by ESPN International and the worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring it On. This recent exposure, there are now an estimated 100,000 participants scattered around the rest of the world in countries.

History on Cheerleading

Cheerleading first appeared in the United States in the late 1880s with the crowd chanting as a way to encourage school spirit at athletic events. The first organized, recorded cheer was yelled "Ray, Ray, Ray! A few years later, Princeton graduate, Thomas Peebles introduced the idea of organized crowd cheering at football games to the University of Minnesota. However, it was not until 1898 that University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed a crowd in cheering "Rah, Rah, Rah! Sku-u-mar, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!”, making Campbell the very first cheerleader and November 2, 1898 the official birth date of organized cheerleading. Soon after, the organized a "yell leader" squad of 6 male students, who still use Campbell's original cheer today. Cheerleading started out as an all-male activity, but females began participating in 1923, due to limited availability of female collegiate sports. At this time, gymnastics, tumbling, and megaphones were incorporated into popular cheers. Today it is estimated that 97% of cheerleading participants are female, but males still makeup 50% of collegiate cheering squads. Cheerleading is most closely associated with American football and basketball. Sports such as soccer, ice hockey, volleyball, baseball, and wrestling sometimes sponsor cheerleading squads.

Types of Teams

School Sponcer

Most American high schools and colleges have organized cheerleading squads made up solely of students. Several colleges that compete at cheerleading competitions offer cheerleading scholarships. Some military academies use their drill team or color guard team instead of a cheersquad at athletic events.

Young Leagues

Many organisations that sponsor youth league football or basketball sponsor cheerleading squads as well. Pop Warner organizations are an example of this.

Sport Debates

Cheerleading among others has had debate on whether or not it truly is a sport. Supporters consider Cheerleading as a whole as a sport citing the heavy use of athletic talents while critics do not see it as deserving of that status since sport implies a competition among squads and not all squads compete along with subjectivity of competitions. There are also some that believe that only certain aspects, namely Competitive Cheerleading, can be considered a sport. While individuals and organizations have their own beliefs, no one answer has emerged.

Dangers of Cheerleading

As a Cheerleader, they have many injuries that have to do with stunting and tossing. As a result of the fall, the Missouri Valley Conference banned tossing or launching of cheerleaders, and no pyramid could be higher than two levels during that conference's women's basketball tournament. Additionally, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators recommended banning basket tosses and high pyramids without mats. Though the group has no authority to prevent such routines, the NCAA requires cheerleading squads to conform to the group's requirements. The AACCA rules committee made the bans permanent on July 11, 2006.