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

[TheQuirkyMaker]

Here:

‘Also all full of sexist stereotypes affecting both the men and women dancers / gymnasts.’

Whilst I’m not exercised about whether it’s a sport or not I agree. I know I’m an old feminist but don’t get women want to take part in cheer or pole dancing which to my mind completely perpetuate sexual stereotypes no matter how much they claim not to

Yes it does, it's competitive cheerleading. I know this as I used to be a flyer. It's statistically one of the most dangerous sports in the world because it's so fast, physical and complex when it comes to executing set moves. You have to have huge trust in your bases to not drop you, catch you incorrectly, etc.

Competitive cheerleading is completely different from what the Dallas cheerleaders do. They are dancing. We and teams like ours were stunting teams. It's basically team gymnastics.

But most cheer leaders aren’t cheering on a sport. They ARE the sport. My DD will be thrilled that she’s being compared to a hot dog vendor, at least she’d be earning some money 😂

high jump, shot put and things like that have judges too, right? With a single measure to determine who wins.

A lot of people on this post (and in general) don’t realise there are different types of cheerleading - the Dallas cowboys and stereotypical cheerleaders we see in American movies who dance with Pom poms and cheer on the team are performing sideline cheer, they are vey talented and use a lot of skill but it is not the same as All star cheer which is a recognise ls sport in the UK and has competitions with defined rules and scoring systems. All star cheer teams are not actually cheering for anyone in particular but are combining gymnastics, dance and tumbling.

My dd’s both do All star cheer, they work really hard and the skill level at the competitions we’ve been to is amazing. I fail to see what is ‘not feminist’ about it as previous posters have so confidently stated, even though they know nothing about it?

They have line judges who are there to determine if the rules have been followed correctly.

They don't judge who wins. The person who wins has jumped the highest or thrown the furthest.

because it has its roots - however different it is arguably now - in activity that objectified women for the gaze of men?

I’m a cheer Mum! The training, discipline, choreography, time, cost definitely a sport in my bias eyes. Dd does oodles of strength training as a base goes to the gym twice a week plus PE at school. Trains twice a week, 3 if there’s a competition coming up. What I like about it is it’s for everyone whatever your height age or size.

It should be seen as adjacent to gymnastics, but then it's also in the dance area, so it's kind of in a venn diagram of sport and dance/performance.

Is it trying to be recognised as a sport in the Olympics? Or for funding purposes? As long as it has it's own following and competition and structure then does it matter whether it's classed as sport, dance, performance?

So applying your criteria @MasterBeth diving would not be a sport either.

And perhaps even boxing and martial arts, don’t those involve points and some subjective judgment?

Netflix’s Cheer made clear the athletic achievement, danger, close teamwork of the dance/sport, and the ridiculous sexism (and homophobia)

What about dressage? Thats just Horse Dancing....

There’s two different types of cheerleading - that that the Dallas Cowboys do, and then there’s competitive cheerleading which is more like gymnastics with flips and pyramids etc. The latter is more of a sport than the first.

I guess it depends what's being judged. If it's an objective count of movements completed, I will allow it. Once it becomes a subjective judgement of what's aesthetically most pleasing, then I don't think it's a proper sport.

Martial arts? Aren't they mostly trying to judge how many times Player X kicked Player Y in the head, or whatever?

Boxing? Not a sport. Legalised thuggery.

Yeah, absolute bullshit "sport". And even if you should give out medals for it, the horse should win it.

To be fair breakdancing can be the olympics, cheer leading can.

True, but breakdancing shouldn't be.

Well, that goes for any sport involving animals.

It’s not judged on what’s aesthetically pleasing though, it’s about the skill and difficulty ratings. If they’re doing basic moves/stunts where the other teams are doing more challenging moves then they won’t score as high. Same if a team fall from a stunt vs one that doesn’t. Not dissimilar to diving judging etc.
They aren’t being judged on their outfits which tbh are often quite modest, there’s a lot of bling but I’m far happier with my daughter in a skirt with built in shorts and a bodysuit than the Leo she had to wear with no knickers underneath with totally bare arms and legs. Yes some wear crops and shorts but a lot don’t.

If there's an animal in it, it's not a sport.

Do they lose marks if they don't smile?

Our team had men in it and two of them were huge because they used to be in the football team (great for bases - strong with big hands). I was amazed that they stepped over that line from football to cheer and didn't care what people thought. Nobody seemed to care. They weren't for the male gaze (unless you count gay men?). Times change. Let's just support the young athletes that get so much out of it.

I'll be honest, as a former stunting cheerleader I'm not into the dancing by the sidelines kind of cheerleading. I feel like it was nothing like what we did.

Yeah, I see no reason against it being in there. I think they withdrew breakdancing sadly though due to the scandal with that Aussie woman!

You'd hope. Even the better ones were just rolling around on the floor.

It was a Demo sport... the host country picks them. Next time it includes Flag Football (like Tag rugby) in Los Angeles.