COMPETITIVE CHEER AS A SPORT

Shania Bracamonte Orcutt Academy High School Frosh Core

WORLDS
.

Worlds is basically the Olympics for cheerleading. Worlds is where the best of the best teams go and compete against one another to earn the Letterman jacket with the worlds ring, medal, trophy and banner!

SCHOOL CHEER VS. COMPETITIVE CHEER

School cheer (not a sport) Competitive cheer (sport) Competitive cheerleading is about showing off your skills and giving the performance of your life every time your team hits the floor. Competitive cheerleading is split into several levels based on skills and difficulties. competitive cheerleading squads are private companies in which the girls pay to belong to the gym(coed)

High school cheerleading is about leading the crowd to root for your schools team. Schools can require different abilities for their cheerleaders than competitive gyms do.
school teams are generally public, with an open tryout mostly for girls

THESIS
competitive cheer is a sport because its a physical activity and you have an opponent and there are rules and regulations you have to follow.

QUALIFICATIONS
Dictionary.com defines a sport as "an athletic activity that requires physical prowess or skill and often a competitive nature."

IS COMPETITIVE CHEER A SPORT OR NAHH?!

On Jan. 27, the Supreme Court held that cheerleading is not only a sport, but a contact sport, within the meaning of the states recreational immunity statute . ( Tony Anderson)

Football vs. cheerleading

FOOTBALL VS. CHEERLEADING

Football
Throw a 15 ounce ball. Sit out whenever they want. Protection(padding, helmet, mouth guard). Second most dangerous sport.

Competitive Cheerleading
We lift people Dont get a break. We have no protection(only the mat we compete on). Considered the most dangerous sport.

CLASS SURVEY RESULTS

Do you think competitive cheer is a sport?

yes no

As you can see the majority of the class thinks that competitive cheer is a sport.

COMPETING
Just like any other sport, in competitive cheer you travel all over the place to compete against an opponent to win a title of some sort. There are many different levels of competitive cheerleading. It ranges from level 1-6. There are baby teams and super teams(18 and up)

COMPARING
The truth is, there really isnt a solid definition of official sport. When necessary, the office of Civil Rights makes this determination on a case by case basis. The Womens Sports Foundation has narrowed the field down of what is considered a sport to these elements that are commonly agreed upon to define a sport: It must be a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of mass. (Stunting) Contesting or competing against/with an opponent is required ( Competition) It must be governed by rules that explicitly define the time, space, and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared. (Time limit, mat size, score sheets) Acknowledgement that the primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relative skills of the participants. (You know those competitions on ESPN? Those are national championships)

CONTINUING
So far, competitive cheerleading is four for four! But there are still two more qualifications to meet for cheerleading to be considered a sport. The Womens Sports Foundation makes it clear that any physical activity in which relative performance can be judged or qualified can be developed into a competitive sport as long as: 1) The physical activity includes the above defined elements. (got them!) 2) The primary purpose is competition verses other teams or individuals within a competition structure comparable to other athletic activities.

CLASS SURVEY RESULTS

Would you ever want to be a competitvie cheerleader?

yes no not really never

As you can see not as many people would want to be a competitive cheerleader.

WHY WOULDNT COMPETITIVE CHEER BE A SPORT?

It has ALL the qualifications of a sport We travel to compete against other teams We train just as much as any other sport

So why shouldn't it be considered a sport ?

COMPETITIVE CHEER IS A SPORT!

I play soccer I play football I play basketball I play cheerleading? No. We dont play cheerleading. Why? Because its much more than a game, its a lifestyle .

WORKS CITED
Works Cited
Lauchaire, Nicole. "Being a Cheerleader - Is Cheerleading a Sport?" varsity (n.d.): 1.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY SHANIA BRACAMONTE