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

[TheQuirkyMaker]

Here:

Defo a sport have you ever watched cheer on Netflix?

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Why cant they wear a tracksuit, if the physical part is a sport why the need for tiny costumes?

Have you seen what gymnasts wear? Or divers?

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are pretty clear that it’s dance, not sport. The weird jumping on to a bloke’s hand doesn’t happen in actual cheerleading, afaik.

There’s quite a few of these activities that hover on the borderline between sport and performance, particularly for women. My view is if they’re expected to smile while doing it, it’s a performance.

Good distinction.

Or female tennis players.

I would say it’s a form of dance, like the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders. But when they’re doing handstands and balancing on top of people’s hands then it does seem more like gymnastics to me. Or an acro dance maybe. Either way, it takes a lot of strength, flexibility and coordination

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.

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 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 🙄

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

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.

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.

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

The NCC is literally a sporting federation lmao

Ballet isn’t a sport!

Tell that to a ballet dancer 🙄

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.

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.

It’s an art, not a sport.

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.

Surely you mean "compeditions"?