All-Star Sport Or Not

[stuntaholic]

So do you look at the illinois hs cheerleaders as more of a sport than what Top Gun did last year at Worlds? Simply because they are modestly dressed versus TG competing in those white uniforms from worlds?

Feminine girls can play sports too

Arena Football, Lingerie and XFL all had different scoring than the NFL and NCAA, Overtimes are completely different, there are different rules about how you are allowed to tackle people and how you can start a play and how many people you can have on a team, they have different sized fields and different size balls. I would say the differences in the various footballs are greater than the scoring variances between competition companies. At least we follow the same rules and use the same performance surface.

I am not saying that feminine people can't play sports. But that is the challenge that we are facing most people see feminine girls and assume that it isn't a sport. And on your top gun comment I have seen people just completely make fun of top guns uniforms from worlds last year rather than actually watch the performance. If people can't get past the uniforms to watch the athleticism how are they going to realize we are actually athletes.

The size of the football argument is relative to cheerleading. We may use the same performance surface but we use a different number of mats in different levels of cheer. The size of the football varies because the size of the players vary.

 

[stuntaholic]

xfl didn't have kicked extra points and had the choice of either a 2 point conversion or 3 point conversion after touch downs
AFL you can get 4 points for doing a drop kick
Lingerie Football league has way skimpier uniforms and no field goals or kicked extra points and has 1 and 2 point conversions based on where you start from

and that is just the scoring differences, there are tons of rule differences, but they are all still football which is considered a sport.

At least allstars uses the same rules and the same performance surface There are just scoring variances between companies.

Could it be better? of course. But is it a legit reason to say that allstar isn't a sport? no.

The leagues that do differ from the NFL do not last long or arent very popular or respected. XFL didnt last long as far as I know. The AFL had suspend its 2009 season. And the Lingerie Football League is not respected by anyone it is just a way for guys to watch girls in skimpy uniforms and get enjoyment. So if we are going to compare this to football it appears that there needs to be one overall "head" of cheerleading and everyone else needs to be in line with this in order for it to work and be respected.

 

[stuntaholic]

***And with regards to the Illinois high school cheerleaders' "look": having lived a lot of places the last 20 years, I don't think it's any different than high school cheer across the country. They look just like any other high school cheer team anywhere. So I'm not sure why it's Illinois being used as example, as opposed to just HS cheer in general.

The only reason I am using Illinois high school cheer as an example is because I have not lived anywhere else and I didnt want to make the assumption that all high school cheer was the same. So i was just pulling from what I know. I can now use just high school cheer as an example rather than illinois high school

 

[Ashley]

And the Lingerie Football League is not respected by anyone it is just a way for guys to watch girls in skimpy uniforms and get enjoyment. So if we are going to compare this to football it appears that there needs to be one overall "head" of cheerleading and everyone else needs to be in line with this in order for it to work and be respected.

That's a good point, and one I was going to make as well. The women who play in the lingerie football league may be the most bad-booty female football players we've ever seen, but they're not taken seriously because of how they dress and what they wear. Wearing the uniforms and makeup we do doesn't make us any less of a sport, but it does affect how seriously outsiders take us. I don't think anyone in the lingerie football league expects to be taken seriously, but we do.

I'm not saying that we should ditch the bows and go the route of Stunt or NCATA, and obviously we shouldn't have to do that appear legitimate. I love my skirt and bow just as much as the next girl, but I do think it's slowing the progress of how seriously we're taken outside of the sport.

 

[stuntaholic]

That's a good point, and one I was going to make as well. The women who play in the lingerie football league may be the most bad-booty female football players we've ever seen, but they're not taken seriously because of how they dress and what they wear. Wearing the uniforms and makeup we do doesn't make us any less of a sport, but it does affect how seriously outsiders take us. I don't think anyone in the lingerie football league expects to be taken seriously, but we do.

I'm not saying that we should ditch the bows and go the route of Stunt or NCATA, and obviously we shouldn't have to do that appear legitimate. I love my skirt and bow just as much as the next girl, but I do think it's slowing the progress of how seriously we're taken outside of the sport.

I agree that the bow and skirt does not need to go. But maybe limited make-up and no crop tops?

I understand that we are performers and the defense of the make-up because we are performers. But I am not aware of any "sport" that uses as much make-up as we do in cheer.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

The only reason I am using Illinois high school cheer as an example is because I have not lived anywhere else and I didnt want to make the assumption that all high school cheer was the same. So i was just pulling from what I know. I can now use just high school cheer as an example rather than illinois high school

Fair enough. I just thought there was supposed to be something different and I hadn't seen anything.