Is Cheerleading a sport?

[NiPah]

What do you think of cheerleading? Is it a sport or just an excuse for attractive females to wear short skirts? If you knew any of them did they fit the stereotype of snobby, slutty, and dumb?

The second part is irrelevant, intent to wear short skirts would not be exclusionary of cheerleading being a sport, even if the sole reason for a person joining a sport was the apparel if the base sport meet the definition of sport then it'd be a sport. Maybe a boxer joined because he had a fetish for gloves, boxing is still a sport and his proformance is still playing a sport.

As for rather cheerleading is definable as a sport the crux is the competition clause of the sports definition, the definition:

Strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same

So would a cheerleader who is cheering for a team without competition still be a cheerleader? There are of course cheerleading competitions with points and judges which by all means meet the definition of sport, but the definition of cheerleading does not necessitate such competition which leads to the activity being in a sort of gray area, as cheerleading can be done in the absence of competition thus making the sport classification only relevant when competitions are held.

As for the second part of your question because my old job used to host cheerleading camps for breakfast/dinner they just seemed like your average group of kids with an odd amount of flare (IE anything shiny or sparkly). They're hardly any different then the soccer or ballet camps that rolled through, just a higher female to male ratio (although there were quite a few males in the group).

 

[Calico_Asshole]

Anything that results in as many injuries as cheerleading does, is probably a sport.

What do you think of cheerleading? Is it a sport or just an excuse for attractive females to wear short skirts? If you knew any of them did they fit the stereotype of snobby, slutty, and dumb?

Is that the stereotype, or just the stereotype of cheerleaders in high school? I submit to you the reason they're dicks is the "High school" part and not the "Cheerleader" part. I appreciate your overly simplistic approach to the concept of it all though, really very admirable.

 

[JoJo]

I'd say it's more of a dance, you wouldn't call ballet a sport.

No, but ballet is more of a spectacle, for others the entertainment of a crowd. While Cheerleading does that as well, it is also more orientated on working with a team, and there are team based competitions around it.

I don't know, you have team-based dance competitions too, and that doesn't make dance a sport, in my eyes at-least.

 

[fezzthemonk]

If people are gonna try and label league of ledgends as a sport, than cheerleading is definitely a sport

 

[lacktheknack]

What do you think of cheerleading? Is it a sport or just an excuse for attractive females to wear short skirts? If you knew any of them did they fit the stereotype of snobby, slutty, and dumb?

Spoiler: Me coming into most Escapist threads these days

Cheerleading is more of a gymnastic hobby than a sport. That doesn't stop it being hard work and physically demanding, not an "excuse for" wearing short skirts (last time I checked anyone can wear a short skirt for literally any reason).

And yes, I've known a cheerleader. She was a fucking sweetheart. Because we don't all live in Stereotopia, where everyone acts like they're in a shitty high school movie.

Also "females".

All this.

The dude-cheerleader I had the privilege of being friends with really enjoyed it, although it nearly killed him several times. I don't know/care if it counts as a "sport", all I can say is that it left him ripped.

And also, he fit basically no stereotypes, so that was cool.

And the OTHER dude-cheerleader I knew was very-down-to-earth and a total nerd, so he was the anti-stereotype.

Man, I know way too many dude-cheerleaders. xD

On the whole, my understanding of cheerleaders is that they're very dedicated individuals who will work WAY harder than you will for no reason beyond showing support for friends. The poor people will actually risk their flipping lives to nail a particularly flashy toss. What did you do today? Did you literally sail fifteen feet over the ground head-first hoping to God that the person on the other end won't botch the catch? No? Didn't think so.

 

[Odbarc]

I believe if you call cheerleading a sport they have to abide by a more stringent set of rules and the excessive amounts of injuries sustained by them would pile up and require them to wear protective gear instead of uniforms and a bunch of other regulations that would destroy cheerleading as we know it.
I saw a documentary on it by someone. One kid attempted a flip and landed on her neck and became paralyzed. Everyone has broken or sprained something to the point where they could trade stories and no one doesn't have one. Also the adults show little concern for the people involved and when someone does get seriously injured it takes them a few minutes to even get up to check up on them and even then they try to pass it off as not as serious as it appears.

What it should be is banned.

 

[BytByte]

It's one of the most dangerous sports out there. Like Jeebus is it dangerous. But pretty awesome when it's pulled off correctly

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

How is it not a sport?

Physical activity. Score Based. Competitions.

Just because they are not actively trying to hurt someone else to score the points, it's not a sport?

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

I measure whats a sport or not with two factors, degree of physicality and degree of competition. Now cheer-leading isn't necessarily competitive except for those actual cheer competitions. Here's the thing though, I wouldn't consider something where the opposing teams or persons take turns doing something a sport, unless of course the degree of physicality was that much higher, for instance, I wouldn't call bowling or cheering sports, but I would say that pole-vaulting would be a sport. In short, no, I don't think cheering is a sport, besides, if you look in the stands you'll see the fans have way more pageantry than the cheerers.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I'd say it's more of a dance, you wouldn't call ballet a sport.

Yeah I would says this sum up cheerleading for me.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

There's cheer-leading competitions.
Looking at how high the bar's been raised, it's also extremely dangerous at times. I'd say it is, at least in some elements.
It's definitely worthy of respect in my book.

 

[K12]

Sure, why not? Gymnastics, figure skating, diving, dressage and synchronised swimming are Olympic sports and competitive cheerleading has just as much claim to being a sport as those do. Very competitive and physically demanding while having an organised clearly set out rule structure.

In the UK we have "Sports Acrobatics" which is a branch of Gymnastics that is thematically very similar to competitive cheerleading but slightly less dance-like.

I suppose the main reason people might be resistant is that the competitive aspect isn't inherent to the activity. It isn't a sport when it's just half-time entertainment and physically you might be doing the exact same thing as when competing.

I don't have a problem with that myself. It's just like saying that running isn't a sport but racing is.

It's more of a sport than Golf.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Something does not need be athletics to be a sport, in fact, something does not even need to be acrobatics to be a sport, any discipline that requires rigorous practice and skill and can be set in a competitive environment can be called a sport.

Also, who the fuck needs an excuse to wear skimpy clothing?!

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'd say it's more art than sport, like Pro-Wrestling, it's more like a dance. And Art Competition is a thing.

That said... Like, it's weird right? The whole traditional idea of parade the girls out to dance during the football game thing.

But I have a natural bias against them, and hell football team too. When I was in high school every september they'd drag us all students out to the field to celebrate the football team and show off their cheer routine. "School spirit" week, yeah I'm gonnna have real spirit caring about that fucking place. How much of my parents tax money was wasted on that stupid football team because James Carol's idiot family thought he was gonna go on to be a NFL play... *deep breath* sore subject.

 

[kasperbbs]

Seems more like a dance to provide some distraction for the crowd during breaks. Perhaps it's different in the US, i only seen their performances in movies and they are a lot more complex than what we do here.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

There's 'cheerleading' then there's 'cheereleading'. One is essentially a bard-song meant to inspire their team on to greatness and the glory of victory. The other is a competition between two teams of gymnasts to see which team is the most agile overall. I think one or the other should have a name-change to be honest but both require a sort of flair when it comes to timing, choreography, etc. I would consider them both to be more sport-worthy than something like Golf anyway. [sub]Almost said 'Nascar' there but anyone who's driven for any extended period knows how much of an endurance test that kind of event has to be[/sub]

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Even if it lacks a clear winner/loser state like Football, I consider it a very vigorous sport performed by incredibly skilled athletes in the same vein as gymnastics.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

If gymnastics, synchronized swimming, dressage, poker, and fucking video games count as sports, cheerleading shouldn't even be near the bottom of the list as far as "what counts as a sport" goes.

 

[ManutheBloodedge]

What do you think of cheerleading? Is it a sport or just an excuse for attractive females to wear short skirts? If you knew any of them did they fit the stereotype of snobby, slutty, and dumb?

I find it interesting how the only option here is "Do you know any cheerleaders?", and not "Are some of you cheerleaders?". Casual stereotyping or knowing your target audience? You make the call!

For real though, I know some people who both play a sport and game regularely. There is this one guy I know who both plays rugby and guild wars, and he keeps up somewhat with the gaming news.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

The more I think about it, the dumber cheerleading seems as an activity. I mean, I'm looking at it from over the Pacific so maybe it's just distance. But why the fuck do you guys even do it?

If it's about showing off, you've got dance class. If it's about the athletic competition, you can go do gymnastics, which is probably safer and more prestigious.

But for some reason you get two dozen girls together, put them in short skirts, and use them as half-time entertainment for your dumb-as-shit version of football.

Edit: I just google-fu'd my way into finding out that there's a Australian cheerleading league/competition. So, uh...glass houses, etc.

IT'S STILL DUMB

For real though, I know some people who both play a sport and game regularely. There is this one guy I know who both plays rugby and guild wars, and he keeps up somewhat with the gaming news.

I got into rugby because my dungeon master played it. And that was like ten years ago, when no-one knew who Iron Man was; I think the jock/nerd divide has thinned even more since then.