Well Cheerleading, at it's roots, is not a sport. All-Stat/ Competitive is, but that's not really "Cheerleading" it's a whole different animal. We're doing everything a cheerleader does, minus the actual cheering part.
And injury statistics, while valid, does not make it any more of a sport. Also, the article didn't seem to mention anything about competitive cheer or its evolution into all-star.
It seems to me that when this discussion is being had it never is about the competitive aspect. We think ifnim that way, but that is because we live in the competitive world of cheer, not the sideline. Having sai that, that's where STUNT and other such programs have come from. It gives everyone a way to differentiate the two, because lets face it, those of us who do all-star are not really "cheerleaders" at all. We are more gymnasts than anything. Which would be why Cheerleading if added to the Olympics would be a subsect of gymnastics, like the trampoline, acro, and rhythmic.
People don't realize that everything we do as cheerleaders is a form of gymnastics, including stunts.
Having said that there are a surprising number of people who would say that gymnastics is not a sport either.
Basically if one delves a little deeper I think it could be viewed as a sport but it would have to be called something else at the very least for people to understand it.
However it doesn't matter what people in the outside think of any of it; it's all about the people involved. And as this is something like the top fastest growing sport along with soccer(?) or whatever else. I don't think we need to worry about classification. We are the majority. Whatever the case I don't really care. It's something I'm passionate about and that's all that matters.
Just something I was thinking about a little bit earlier today.
