Is cheerleading a legitimate sport or not? I think it deserves genuine support

Oh definitely, they're athletes. My friend's DD (in the US) has been a cheerleader since she was tiny. The amount of gymnastic skill involved in itself should warrant more respect.

Cheerleading is a recognised sport, meeting the criteria set by Sport England with SportCheer as governing body, which is also recognised worldwide by the International Cheer Union

It’s a Sport, it is competed nationally and internationally. Like other sports there are those who compete and there are those who just take part as an activity

I think a few people here maybe don’t know the background. There are two different things both called cheerleading. One is basically team gymnastics: no pom-poms, clearly a sport, lots of scary lifts and flips. The other is what the Dallas women do: cheering on a sports team with impressive dancing and poms. They aren’t really the same at all. The former is definitely a sport and runs like one, the latter is more like an athletic dance squad and could be a sport or not depending on how you define a sport.

No, I don't.
Nor darts, nor snooker.
I'd describe them as games. Games you need to practice and have a natural talent for, but games nevertheless.

If men did it, it would be considered a sport lol.

It requires good balance, coordination, gymnastic ability, teamwork, and a lot of strength and dedication. How is that not a sport? My niece competes in national competitions.

I almost levitated recently when I read a top darts player referred to as an ‘élite athlete.’
If you were reading Martin Amis in the 1980s, there’s no way darts could be called athletic in nature, in your world! 🤣
Keith Talent, the drinking man’s Jude Bellingham?

Indeed it is! Cheer squads train very hard and enter competitions often groups are created at uni my daughters squad won nationals a few times. Her best friends from the squad are still besties now even though they all have professional careers and children!

Those who think it’s not a sport - do you think chess should be a sport? To me that is absolutely ridiculous. It’s a game not a sport. But because Very Smart And Serious Men play it, it’s somehow exempt from the fact it requires no physical skill apart from being able to sit in a chair for hours.

Excellent analysis.

Surely you mean "compeditions"?

One of my best friends is a retired former soloist who danced with Rambert and Scottish National Ballet. She wouldn’t consider it a sport! It’s an art form, which, yes, requires enormous athleticism, strength, flexibility etc, but none of that makes it a sport.

It’s an art, not a sport.

If you read my post, you'll see that my objection is the name. The fact they are there purely to 'cheer someone one' rather than being there because what they do is important enough to stand alone.

A former roommate of mine was a compedative cheerleader in college. She trained and worked out as much as other athletes. She also would do gymnastics but wasn't a compedative athlete. I hardly ever saw her because she was either training, at competitions or in class.

Tell that to a ballet dancer 🙄

Ballet isn’t a sport!

The NCC is literally a sporting federation lmao

Definitely a sport and should be recognised as such, so should pole/hoop/aerial sports

The people who say it's not a sport are the same people who think ballet isn't a sport. It's a strenuous physical activity that requires a lot of skill and practice and has competitions and national and international recognition. I'd call that a sport.

They compete against each other at national and international events. It’s evolved from just waving Pom poms around at male team games.

Women are expected to smile while they do everything so there goes that theory.

Cheerleading’s origins may indeed be sexist (I’m not a big fan myself) but to say that because there is a performance element and they are expected to smile means it can’t be a sport is ludicrous. Gymnasts have performance elements to their routines and are also expected to smile.

In sport you are competing to win, how are cheerleaders doing that?
not a sport in my opinion for that reason

It grinds my gears that cheerleading - which requires exceptional strength, balance, coordination teamwork, and artistic skill - isn’t considered a sport but chess and darts are 🙄

I like this distinction.

My impression is that people who are cheerleaders are clearly fit, and co-ordinated and train hard and work well as a team etc, BUT, the very fact the name means they are purely there to "cheer on the main team" makes me look down my nose at the idea of it being a sport I'm afraid.
People doing the same activity and calling it dance or gymnastics or acrobatics or a completely different name, I'd be happy for it to be a sport.

It is a sport. Dallas cowboys are pom pom dancers though called cheerleaders.short costumes in competitive with skin showing actually allow for better grip than clothing which slip easier when being thrown etc. Similar pole which skin is used to grip the pole. Cheerleaders do conditioning and strength training. If actually cheer, lung control and breath to throw voice. They are fearless. Cheer has one of highest injury rates in all sports. Flierslead in this area.