All-Star Competitive Cheerleading, A Sport?

[SuperCMAC18]

Hello my fellow cheerleaders!
My name is Clara, and I'm writing a research paper on cheerleading and why its the most dangerous SPORT, and why it should be considered as a sport. I'd love anyone to comment below and tell me why you think it should be considered a sport, and why you love cheerleading. This absolutely has to do with All Star cheerleading, not high school. But, feel free to express your opinion about high school as well.. This would be a great help. If you have anything else you would like to add, feel free to email me at [email protected].
Thank you all so much.
Happy NCA & Keep stretching!

 

[WinstonsGirl]

Start with basic definitions of sport:
An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others. (not my wording. Stolen from an online dictionary)

As well, look to SportAccord, which is the organization for all international governing bodies of sport (Olympic and non-Olympic) :
SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:

• The sport proposed should include an element of competition.
• The sport should not rely on any element of “luck” specifically integrated into the sport.
• The sport should not be judged to pose an undue risk to the health and safety of its athletes or participants.
• The sport proposed should in no way be harmful to any living creature.
• The sport should not rely on equipment that is provided by a single supplier.

That can be found on Wikipedia, and I copied it from the SportAccord page. From all of this, cheer, both all-star and competitive school cheer fits the description. Where you will see argument is from people who don't understand the sport and are going on preconceived notions of what cheer is and their thoughts on what the definition of sport is.

For example, I have a friend who believes that any "sport" that is judged (cheer, skating, gymnastics, diving, etc.) should not be called a sport as they are being ranked based on the beliefs of others, and not a specific non-biased benchmark (timing, for example). But that is his opinion, and isn't based on academic work. A lot of people will determine that cheer isn't a sport simply because they view it as cheering on the sideline and shaking pompoms. Competitive cheer isn't widely known or recognized by people outside of the sport or by those who don't know people involved. And a lot of people aren't willing to change their views either.


My suggestion, start with internationally recognized definitions of sport and show how competitive cheerleading meets those requirements through examples in cheer. That's how I'd write that paper. Good luck with it.

 

[LabbyGirlMOM]

WinstonsGirl said exactly what I was gonna say. :)