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

[TheQuirkyMaker]

Here:

Yet is is. Bullfighting, cockfighting, hare coursing?

I hate all of those; but only the first one has become established as a recognised sport - and in fact features in the Olympics, which I can't see bullfighting doing anytime soon.

I suppose the nicest thing you can say about boxing is that at least the participants are all humans who are doing so of their own free will (and very, very rarely end up dying as a result) - and I guess there is an attempt to fairly match opponents as far as possible.

It's still legalised thuggery, though.

Where is the line between dance and sport?

Arguably the best definition I've heard is if it requires judges is art if it can be measured or use a score board its sport.

But that puts gymnastics into art along with figure skating.

Depends if you can win or lose. If you don't win or lose its a performance. If you can win or lose its a sport.

Thats very similar to the 'requires judges' only performances require judges.

But it seems wrong for gymnastics, paraellel bars, vault, or beam etc being classed as a performance.

However Ice dance is more like a performance than a sport including the music

But you know what, we want children and adults to be active. How they are active really shouldn't matter. Maybe one of the things that is wrong in the UK is the desire for everything to be competitive.

Recreational dance and sport should be encouraged every bit as much as competitive sport and dance. I know kids who have dropped out of dance and sport because they were getting beat all the time sapping their enjoyment of the activity.

And this is my only issue with the 'sport'. Why does everything how to be, 'sexy?' and young girls picked for being attractive?

On footie and rugby you have a ref & linesmen judging if xyz happened.

In gymnastics, diving, Cheer the judges decide how well something is executed. The difficulty of the move has been predetermined. The score sheets are very detailed and precise with points gained, deducted etc. Dance is far more judges opinion than points.

Even in athletics you have the was it a false start, did they go into someone else’s line, were they doping.

Its actually less clear cut than you think of you start digging a bit more.

After all “the hand of god” that was a “judge” decision.

And its all aimed at the male gaze. Only difference is they are not gyrating or twerking.

Everything is "allowed to be considered" a sport.

Having considered it, I don't think it is.

Others are free to disagree.

Does that mean the Eurovision is a sport? 🤣

To the death!

Fair enough: you can categorically disagree that boxing is a sport if you like, as opposed to simply saying that it's a sport that you hate (as would I).

Just like you could disagree that blue is a colour, or that Northampton is a town, or that Vauxhall make cars or whatever; it's a free country!

Football and rugby the game is won on points / goals scored the ref and lines men are just there to ensure the rules are followed. The game isn't intended to be won or lost on a linesmans judgment the way even gymnastics is.

Its an Art, it doesn't score points like football, rugby, tennis etc nor can it be measured in any form like racing either against others or the clock.
Nor measured in distance or height like jumping sports (Long jump, pole vault or ski jump etc)

Peoples votes are like judges votes.

Like Gymnastics.

Gymnastics and figure skating are about the only sports I can think of that are based on a judges score.

Where's the line between gymnasts and circus acrobats, many started out as gymnasts, likewise where is the line between competion skaters and performance Disney on Ice etc.

But if you argue gymastics and figure skating are sports then so is Cheer.
But if Cheer is a sport, does that also make street dance, ballet, highland and irish dance a sports too?
Break dance made it to the Olymipics.

Then think of all the various martial arts only judo is classed as an olympic sport.

Well my DD competes with her 2 cheer teams at a national level. Does that help? 🤔

DNephew does competitive cheer. He’s represented team England and is a double world champion, so yes I’d say it’s a sport. Until he started doing it, I had no idea of the ins and outs of it, and how much in entailed. He trains really, really hard and is very fit.

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.

This. They should rebrand the gymnastic version as team tumbling or team gymnastics etc to make the descriptor more aligned with activity. Or refer to it as Gymnastic Cheer and Dance Cheer or something. I'd class the competitive gymnastic type as a sport.

I've spent a bit longer looking at the competitive aspect. My goodness, the trust and skill of the flyers, and the strength and skill of the people supporting them- there are clearly two different branches of Cheer!

Is this comment about cheer? (Apologies if it's not). Because our team had men in it, and female bases who were physically stocky and muscular (because to be a base you have to be very strong, and ideally have big hands). Everyone was valued and appreciated for the invaluable roles they had. I was tiny when I was on the team so that's why I was a flyer, because I was easier to throw/catch.

I think we all looked good and yes the outfits were attractive and we all wore them and felt good (from stocky bases to little flyers to muscular blokes-the blokes had form fitting outfits too but obviously different from ours). It's what I loved about the sport tbh, all body shapes are needed (despite stereotypes).

@Needspaceforlego and diving and synchronised swimming, there are probably more! Also show jumping it’s time the plus or minus for “faults” and the judges asses the faults.

The scoring for Cheer is very technical.

My conclusion is there is a very fine blurry line between what is sport and art.

What difference does it really make if it's sport or art?

Funding and sponsorship 😄

Or smiles - as @HeddaGarbled suggested!

As an ex cheerie this is totally cool. I hope you and your daughter are having a ball.

Often people judge the sport very very unfairly. It's incredibly hard and an amazing part of your child's life, no doubt, that she'll look back on with so many wonderful memories. I personally say (also as an ex ballet dancer) that it's a very gymnastic sport but not as physically potentially damaging as being on pointe for years.