is cheerleading a "sport"

[Xanatos19]

cheerleading is not a sport its just a form of entertainment for the fans. Its no different than an atress or actor.And ya any other sport burns more calories than cheerleading, I'd like to see someone from cheerleading do some hockey workouts

[Kotoba Yafeh]

No. If it were a sport, it wouldn't be played during other sports... like football. Like Xanatos said, it's only entertainment for the fans.

Cheerleaders are annoying and they distract from the game with all their shouting. I wanted to throw bricks at them whenever I went to a high school football game.

[bigblockletters]

I have to say no, although I give them credit for being very athletic and working out all the time... well the ones here do, I don't know about anything else. Just because something burns calories doesn't make it a sport. You burn calories sitting... sitting isn't a sport. And to the person that said cheerleading burned more calories, I'd love to see you do the panther reminders our football team does, you'd have a heart attack and puke your guts out.

[Naruea]

OnePiecePirates

dancerchicka07

of couse it is, you have to have a LOT of endurance to do it, and you burn more calories than when you would play football...but i do like wareing the outfits....

NO YOU DON'T BURN MORE CALLORIES. YOU ARE THE DEFFINITION OF A CHEERLEADER. THEY ARE SOOOOO STUPID. I PLAY FOOTBALL. FOR VARSITY. ITS COMPLETELY PHISICAL. INFACT I THIINK PRACTICE IS DEADLY. I PRACTICE TWICE A DAY WHEN SEASON COMES. ONCE BEFORE SCHOOL AND ONE AFTER SCHOOL FOR FOUR HOURS EACH. CHEERLEADING DOESN'T BURN AT ALL AS MUCH CALORIES AS FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim exclaim scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream scream evil evil evil evil twisted

I really, really, really, really really hope that you're being sarcastic because I have never ever read a post this retarded in my years on gaia.

[Naruea]

In Sorte Diaboli

no.. its the most pointless way to spend time. jump around in small cloths, in front of a lot of ppl.. if you think about it,,, its similar to pole dancing, but only in the planet mars... Suomi!! eek !!

: )
You really should do more research.
Cheerleaders, no matter for highschool, college, or a competetive team, do more than jump around in short skirts. They flip, toss each other into the air, etc etc etc.
The real reason for the short skirts is so that flyers can bend their bodies abnormal ways while standing on one food seven or so feet in the air, hold up by to other girls. Also that tumblers can flip and twist their bodies in the air without any casualties.
Lastly, how is cheerleading pointless and other sports arn't?
Soccer? Lets kick around a ball and try to get it into a net?
Football? Lets run into each other and try to get a ball across a line?
Cheerleading? Lets flip, scream, chant, dance, and perform stunts so that when the other sport is so boring the spectators have something interesting to watch, or so that when the team is so down from getting their a** kicked, we can cheer them back up and get their adrenaline pumping again so that they look good.

Get it?

[Sweets Song]

There is an insanely huge steriotype about cheerleaders being ditsy girls who hop around in little skirts like pole dancers.
This is the 21st century, people! Cheerleading IS a sport. Most people only see cheerleaders as being mean girls at football games cheering, but there is such a thing as STUNTING, hunny buns. It takes a lot of hard work and practice. Just like football or hockey or whatever. I mean think about it: Imagine lifting someone 3/4 of your weight with one hand very high above your head.
I'm not saying that some cheerleaders aren't brats about being a cheerleader, I think a lot are. But I also think that movies put the ideas of "oh shes a cheerleader, she must be a stupid, mean, slut." (pardon my language.) in the heads of TONS of young adults.
Cheerleading is a sport, and if you don't believe that, then you should go to a local cheer gym and watch people stunt.


P.S.
I myself am a cheerleader and so are two of my very best friends. We are very friendly, we deffffffinitely aren't popular, and we work extremely hard for this sport. It really stinks when we hear people saying that cheerleading isn't a sport.

P.S.S.
And cheerleaders arent dumb. Do you think a dumb person could memorize a 5 minute dance routine and 12 stunts while in front of a humongous crowd? Idts. Plus, I'm in all honors classes--and acing all of them.

[kyonkyonkun]

Song Kimura

There is an insanely huge steriotype about cheerleaders being ditsy girls who hop around in little skirts like pole dancers.
This is the 21st century, people! Cheerleading IS a sport. Most people only see cheerleaders as being mean girls at football games cheering, but there is such a thing as STUNTING, hunny buns. It takes a lot of hard work and practice. Just like football or hockey or whatever. I mean think about it: Imagine lifting someone 3/4 of your weight with one hand very high above your head.
I'm not saying that some cheerleaders aren't brats about being a cheerleader, I think a lot are. But I also think that movies put the ideas of "oh shes a cheerleader, she must be a stupid, mean, slut." (pardon my language.) in the heads of TONS of young adults.
Cheerleading is a sport, and if you don't believe that, then you should go to a local cheer gym and watch people stunt.


P.S.
I myself am a cheerleader and so are two of my very best friends. We are very friendly, we deffffffinitely aren't popular, and we work extremely hard for this sport. It really stinks when we hear people saying that cheerleading isn't a sport.

P.S.S.
And cheerleaders arent dumb. Do you think a dumb person could memorize a 5 minute dance routine and 12 stunts while in front of a humongous crowd? Idts. Plus, I'm in all honors classes--and acing all of them.

I'm glad someone finally brought up stunting. There different TYPES of cheerleading. there is the classic thing at games, sideline cheerleading isn't really a sport it's a recreation in my opinion. There's danceline. Personally I don't consider danceline in its self a SPORT but it does take athlitisim. It's not easy to move around to the sharpness you need in order to compete. There's stunting, which requires a lot of strength. As an ex-stunter I can say it is not easy lifting a girl who is only about 50 pounds smaller than you and keeping them up there. There's there is the REALLY competitive stuff that combines danceline and stunting. I consider this a sport. It takes strength, accuracy, precision, and lots of hard and dedicated work. In addition there are two days (at least) in which this kind of cheerleading is broadcasted on ESPN, this being a SPORTS station one could only assume that what they show on there is SPORTS.

[3llo]

YES YES YES it is!

[Superchelsea]

yessiree

[Mimt]

Okay people...

I'm a 'band geek'. In our world, cheerleaders are generally our worst enemies, but you have to give them some credit. They practice and get their fair share of lecturing and shouting from their coach/director. I agree with the clapping of the pom poms and the cheers, but they also compete. They may not spend ours running and being screamed at for 10 or more hours a week like marching band or football, but they still put effort into what they're doing even if some of them are complete bitches.
I wouldn't call is a technical term of sport, but when people say 'sport' they tend to interperate something that isn't a sport as an easy and ridculous thing. I know that band and cheerleading aren't sports, but we still spend a great deal practicing in the heat.
Don't call band or anything stupid or easy until you see their practices. I've watched football practices. I admit that the guys probably run alot more than us, but we spend just as many hours practicing. Football guys practice tackling and rutines and band practices memorizing our positioning and keeping their upperbody perfectly still.

[maxykun]

Awhile ago, Norway made DDR a sport. Also sportnetworks have been airing Poker tournaments. Cheerleading is more of a sport than that, but I guess anything can be a sport these days.

[3llo]

Kotoba Yafeh

No. If it were a sport, it wouldn't be played during other sports... like football. Like Xanatos said, it's only entertainment for the fans.

Cheerleaders are annoying and they distract from the game with all their shouting. I wanted to throw bricks at them whenever I went to a high school football game.

Actually cheerleading is a lot more than girls/boys cheering on between periods in other sports.. There are some really serious cheerleaders out there that compete (yes, there's competitions in cheerleading, check out youtube for some vids.) and practise, practise, practise! Maybe it isn't a sport but we don't need to pull cheerleading down. Just like in, well, let's say fotboll people practising it can be bitches, that doesn't mean everyone is. There's cheerleading in a lot of countries and yes, it has different types of it.

[3llo]

iDop

Okay people...

I'm a 'band geek'. In our world, cheerleaders are generally our worst enemies, but you have to give them some credit. They practice and get their fair share of lecturing and shouting from their coach/director. I agree with the clapping of the pom poms and the cheers, but they also compete. They may not spend ours running and being screamed at for 10 or more hours a week like marching band or football, but they still put effort into what they're doing even if some of them are complete bitches.
I wouldn't call is a technical term of sport, but when people say 'sport' they tend to interperate something that isn't a sport as an easy and ridculous thing. I know that band and cheerleading aren't sports, but we still spend a great deal practicing in the heat.
Don't call band or anything stupid or easy until you see their practices. I've watched football practices. I admit that the guys probably run alot more than us, but we spend just as many hours practicing. Football guys practice tackling and rutines and band practices memorizing our positioning and keeping their upperbody perfectly still.

Cred for you guys to then, biggrin

[Alexandre Olli]

In Sorte Diaboli

no.. its the most pointless way to spend time. jump around in small cloths, in front of a lot of ppl.. if you think about it,,, its similar to pole dancing,

hahaha that made me laugh. it's so true!
drummer chick- your so right. you play football? kewl.

[Kai Ryuken]

Ok... all of your fail to understand the true concept of a sport.

Something being a sport has nothing to do with the movement of an inanimate object nor does it have any limitation as to the the harming of another human being.

A sport is simply a competition in which the acquisition of scoring points is determined directly by one's own actions and are not received from the opinion of a third party judge.

In ancient Greece, even pitting a Man against some manner of beast was considered a sport simply because the scoring point, being the win, was achieved by eliminating the opposing force. These arena battles are sports because one is considered victorious based on how many points they receive. However, the points simply are not counted and the Victor is considered the winner simply because he still lives, making all those who died losers.

Reason for this definition being the most concrete and logical is because in the other activities being argued here, a win is acquired by the opinion of persons uninvolved with the event and in these event, an opposition is not required.

Let's try Football vs. Cheerleading. In Football the win is accomplished by being the team who's successfully gotten the ball to the appropriate end zone. If team A has done this 7 times and Team B has done it only twice, then Team A has won based solely on their own actions and this is indisputable. However, in competitive Cheerleading, each group goes on "stage" and gives a performance to an audience of people who will judge their performance based on their individual opinion. Yes, an individual opinion backed by a certain level of arguable "expertise" in the given competition. Therefore the win can be altered by something as flimsy as one of the judges having a bad day, and the competitor will have no say in the subject.

Then there are also competitions which can sometimes be considered sports. and other times.... not and also events which fall in ambiguous lines. Such as Motocross or Nascar racing. Yes, a win is achieved by one's passing the finish line as, yet (especially in Nascar) the means by which one reaches the finish line is accomplished solely on the proper functioning of a machine. The driver's purpose is simply to keep the vehicle on course and to dodge obstacles. HOWEVER, both of these activities require extensive training and a win it more easily accomplished by experience. However, if these two can be considered sports, where the training isn't so much physical as it is mental... then for that matter video game tournaments such as a Halo or Street Fighter tournament could also be considered sports.

Examples of Sports:
Football
Baseball
Fencing
Gladiator/Arena Sports
Discus
Boxing (as the win is usually achieved by K.O. and not score)
Races

Not Sports:
Cheerleading
Gymnastics
Strong Man Competitions (excluding discus like events where the distance decides the win)

Now I'm going to say this one time and one time only...
JUST BECAUSE IT'S NOT A SPORT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS MEANINGFUL OR IMPRESSIVE.. Because if this were true that means that I'd have more respect for Halo tournament players than I do for Gymnasts.and that's just not true. Honestly I have more respect for cheerleaders than I do Halo tournament players. The fact that a Halo tournament champion can be fat while a cheerleader cannot, is the exact reason why