Sports. A word known by 265 million people, but what does it really mean?As per an English dictionary, sports is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. There are over 8,000 sports in the world. Football, hockey, baseball, boxing and more, but the question remains is cheerleading a sport?
|
Till today there are debates going on globally, whether or not cheerleading is a sport. Cheerleading s not recognized as one of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted in favour of including cheerleading among the provisional Olympic sports and we might see it in the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo.
There are over 3.3 million cheerleaders in the U.S., and 1.3 million are frequent participants who cheer more than 60 days per year. Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous types of physical activity and it should be considered a SPORT. |
One needs to have very strong core muscles, as well as upper body muscles. Flexibility, an important aspect of many sports, is also necessary in order to complete complicated tumbling. The skills required to do a cheerleading tumbling pass is equal to the skills needed for gymnastics. Many tumbling passes in the Olympics are identical to those done by competitive cheerleaders. |
One qualification for an activity to be a sport is "athletic ability requiring skill or physical prowess." Cheerleading is a sport because there is high amount of athletic ability required in order for skills to be demonstrated. Great tumbling skills are one aspect of competitive cheerleading that is highly athletic and should contribute to its consideration as a sport. Tumbling requires a relatively high amount of athletic ability because it takes a lot of training and conditioning in order to do it right. |
More Challenging tumbling can involve three complete rotations of the body in the air! Stunting is a very challenging activity involved in cheerleading that requires a high amount of physical fitness and strength. There is an extreme necessity for complete physical fitness in order to do a stunt successfully.
Cheerleading meets every single qualification required in order to be considered a sport and involves many parts of weightlifting, gymnastics, hurdles from tracks, and dancing. It requires a very high amount of skill and athletic ability in order to be done correctly and is extremely competitive, both between different teams and individuals within a school. This is why I believe that cheerleading should be considered to be a sport due to its competitive nature, the athletic ability that it requires, and the rules that govern it.
Written by: Simraan 9C
Edited by: Hiya 9B
Photos by: Alizeh 10A
Compiled by: Tanya 9B
Edited by: Hiya 9B
Photos by: Alizeh 10A
Compiled by: Tanya 9B