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

[TheQuirkyMaker]

Here:

I didn't mention cheer leading, I was responding to someone who mentioned about ballet being a sport. If there is competitive ballet then I would agree that's a sport. But in that case, not all ballet is sport. I suspect the same applies to cheer leading.

In my view, a sport is something physical where you play against an opponent to win or lose in a match style event, rather than just being a competition. Lots of things have competition - writing, cooking, poetry etc. but we don't say they're sports.

Cheerleading is definitely physical - arguably more physical than a lot of sports - but you don't win or lose by playing directly against an opponent so in my mind it's not a sport.

And I wouldn't see chess or darts as a sport either tbh.

They are very talented dancers, gymnasts, acrobats, but they are not participating in sport to my mind. They don't normally compete and there is no winning or losing in their day to day. They are support cast for actual sports and affiliated with sports teams. Pre-show and half time entertainment like mascots and musicians.

If you are going to post your opinion on something, at least know what you are talking about. There are cheer teams up and down this country and in the US which have absolutely nothing to do with supporting any sports teams. They exist solely to take part in competitions against other cheer teams.

Fair enough, I've only really seen them at football in the UK and don't follow US sports. The one's associated with the local team here have other jobs and cheer on the side, same as the mascot. None of them have it as a career.

This is hilarious.

So many posters saying it’s dance and not competitive despite numerous people explaining there are completely different types of Cheer.

One isn’t a sport aka Cheer Teams for US Football Teams

The other usually US college and All Star Cheer is. It’s highly competitive. They are judged on difficulty of tumbles and stunts, technical achievement and execution. There is about 20 seconds of “dance” in the routine - similar to women’s gymnastics floor routine, blink and you miss the dance element.

This sort of Cheer is recognised as a sport in the UK. In Scotland & Wales they can apply for sport funding. In the UK they are still working towards being eligible to apply for funding. There is work internationally for it to be showcased at the Olympics and included thereafter.

There are no professional competitors yet the same as in so many sports - most athletes work alongside competing. Footballers are the exception.

England, Wales, Scotland have their own Cheer teams representing their countries at international competition. We have all female teams and Co-Ed teams as well.

So sorry to those that don’t agree but it is now a sport in the UK.

if at the end of the day it comes down to someone's opinion who is best then I don't think it is a sport.

So boxing isn't a sport when there's no knockout, and it has to be judged on points?!

DD does competitive cheer after being a competitive gymnast. It’s hard work, arguably slightly less than she found gym as she’s training 5 hours per week rather than the 9 she’d be expected to do in gymnastics.

theres routines, team work, strength, tumbling etc. She’s a tumbler and base for one team which requires flips etc plus holding her teammates up in the air safely - and a flier and tumbler for the other team which involves her being held up in the air while also being able to move between different poses. She’s not just standing in a stadium shouting woop at a football team by any means.

She attended 4 national comps last year and will be doing 5 this year. All judged, with a winner being announced by trained judges who closely look at all elements of the routine. One slip from one athlete can ruin the score for them all so there’s pressure. The goal is hitting zero which means no point deductions and obviously getting first place is amazing.

she’s not at a high level yet with her still being in primary school but I know of a lot of older girls who compete internationally and spend the majority of their evenings training for various clubs. There’s no money in it despite it being quite an expensive sport to be involved in.

Pom dance is competitive also btw. It’s brilliant to watch.

DD used to do cheerleading. It was intensely physical (gymnastics combined with weightlifting in my eyes 😂) and the cheer teams entire raison d’etre was to compete in local and national competitions. I can’t fathom why that doesn’t make it a sport

No, it’s not a sport, but my granddaughter did it, and it was fun. 👍

All of the above qualities are part of high-level dance.

Dancing isn't sport.

The criterion mentioned up thread - "anything where you get extra marks for smiling isn't a sport" - is genius.

These teams are made up of phenomenal athletes who train year round & compete. It is absolutely a sport, it's too physical not to be surely? Entirely different from the US school/college teams who actively cheer at football games. As a PP said if these teams were entirely male it would have been a recognised sport from the get go.

That could be training for a circus act.

It's clearly physically intense and highly skilled. That doesn't make it a sport.

No chess is definitely not a sport either. Nor is darts, tiddlywinks, that cheese race in Gloucestershire, or competitive over-eating.

I think it's silly that chess is considered a sport, yes. Sport should involve some element of physical exertion or co-ordination. You can play chess by post! Anything you can do by post is not a sport!

Darts is a sport. Tiddlywinks, yes. Dominoes and Scrabble, no.

Circus.

At some UK universities - & I imagine universal rule - Cheer receives funding as a sport, competitive dance does not.

The following are all forms of dance, IMO, it’s participation levels in organised competition that makes some a ‘sport’.

Dallas Cowboys cheer
Netflix ‘Cheer’ cheer.
ballet
ice dancing
Gymnastics
Synchronised swimming.

All require athleticism and are technical, and are primarily about performance. Also all full of sexist stereotypes affecting both the men and women dancers / gymnasts.

Actually, most gymnastics isn’t primarily performance. And Netflix cheer is essentially group gymnastics.

definitely a legit sport

How could ballet be a sport? What is the scoring method and who wins? No one gets a medal for being the best swan at the end of the performance. Although maybe that should be introduced it might make it less dull.

Cheering leading is no more a sport than hot dog vending or being a mascot. They are just there to enhance the atmosphere for the sport.

When dd did gymnastics, they had to keep smiling through their floor routine. They could also get deducted if their hair wasn’t right or their underwear could be seen. Yet gymnastics is considered a sport.

There are some individual ballet competitions, just not enough people participating or interested in paying to spectate to make it big (= sport).

Not by me.

Anything with judges, rather than referees, isn't really a sport..