cheerleading is not a sport

I am sick of seeing t-shirts that say cheerleading is a sport. It isnt. nuff said.

Hey, something that requires that much athleticism is most definately a sport.
I think cheerleaders are silly, IMO, but I respect the hell out of their athletic ability!

-B.

Woah now. Listen, I was a male cheerleader in high school, so arguments like this offend me. You are just plain ignorant to think that cheerleading is not a sport.

Dictionary.com defines a sport as:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
A particular form of this activity.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.

If we go by this definition, it's easy to see that cheerleading is a sport. First of all, cheerleading is a very exerting physical activity. I can honestly say that I think cheerleaders might get injured more frequently than football players (not saying worse injuries). The physical prowess it takes to be able to toss a person into the air and hold them up with just your two hands (for a male cheerleader) or the ability it takes to be able to balance yourself on one leg many feet up in the air and be able to hit different poses (for girl cheerleaders) is incredible. Not to mention the ability it takes to be able to do all the tumbling (backflips) involved in cheering.

A sport is defined as having rules and competition. Cheerleaders compete against other squads every season. Some squads choose not to be a competition squad, but the ones that are competition squads do much more than cheer for football games. Practices every day, grueling workouts, tons of strength and stamina lead cheerleaders to win competitions. They dont just sit back and say "rah rah" Cheerleaders are atheletes just as much as any football player, there's no question otherwise.

Thanks very much I hope I made my point clear.

I was in this sport in grade school and some of hs. I always loved the weight lifting, the dance moves, and gymnastics. I used to be in gymnastics as well, so I know the two go together hand in hand.
Yes it is a sport. It requires running, gymnastics, weight lifting, and dance choreography.
It most definitely is a sport. I've seen more people fall on their ass, sprain their ankles, injure their knee, and unfortuneatly sometimes injure their head. Can you say you see more injuries in football players or lacrosse?
Not as much.
There is much physical activity in this sport, there are rules to the sport, and they compete against other teams. This isn't a sport???

But I shouldn't waste my time talking to someone who can only spew out one liners and not back anything up except for saying "nuff said"...
Tres imbicile.

And Banshee, some are silly, but some aren't. Cheerleaders need to be positive, and I think that rubs off on them when they aren't on the floor. They are very cheerful , they like to have fun, and have fun doing it.
There is nothing wrong with that. I do too however, think "some" cl are silly. But not all.

Well said, Truelies. I'm glad that not everyone is as ignorant as the original poster.

Sports are games.

Golf
Tennis
Football
baseball

Competition is not a game:
Swimming
Cheerleading
Track
etc


It does not deminish their athletic effort, but nevertheless they are not sports.

Hey, did you not see the definition of sport that I posted? It does not define sport as a game, it defines it as a competition. If game=sport then I assume you're throwing Parcheezi and Scrabble into the list of sports also?

Sport is competition. Hence, the term "competitive sports" Hence cheerleading = sport.

Let me add, that there is such thing as Olympic Games. Stuff like swimming, gymnastics, track, etc are included in those games; along side things such as hockey, basketball, tennis, etc. This would lead one to believe that either track is a game, so it is a sport. Or that basketball is a game, so it isnt a sport. Which one is the answer? I'm afraid the answer is that they're all sports, just the same way cheerleading is a sport.

[Edited on 6-4-2004 by Faisca]

Huuumm... I believe that anything that require physical effort and that isn't work could be called a sport, almost...

So I think Cheerlinding, yes, is a sport. And Faisca, you were a male cheerleader ... BUHAHAHAhahAHHAHhahaHHAHAHAH !!!!

Just kidding dude.. I have much respect for you, seriously....and capoiera =

Originally posted by m0rbid
I believe that anything that require physical effort and that isn't work could be called a sport.

You mean like getting my lazy ass off the couch for another vodka and coke?

Originally posted by m0rbid
Huuumm... I believe that anything that require physical effort and that isn't work could be called a sport, almost...

Ok someone was going to say it so it might as well be me. Does that mean that sex is a sport?

Granted, sometimes it can be alot of work as well.

Originally posted by John Nada
Does that mean that sex is a sport?

Yeah, sure it is. And it's my favorite sport

But unlike many sports, you don't need any special shoes to practice it lol...

Originally posted by KrazyJethro
Sports are games.

GolfAre you not competing against other players??
TennisAre you not competing against other players?
FootballAre you not competing against the other team?
baseballAre you not competing against the other team?

Competition is not a game:Competing goes with sports, it's part of the "game" What are your definitions of a sport??? You've sparked my curiosity
Swimming
Cheerleading
Track
etc


It does not deminish their athletic effort, but nevertheless they are not sports.

Thanks for the respect on the male cheerleader deal. It took a while for me to get used to people making fun of me, but then I just thought "Ok, I hang out with some of the hottest girls in the school all the time. Jocks hang out with other guys in showers and spank eachother's asses all the time. Who's the more gay?" Once I stopped letting people get to me, it was an awesome experience.

And yes, capoeira is quite awesome as well.

Originally posted by Faisca
"Ok, I hang out with some of the hottest girls in the school all the time. Jocks hang out with other guys in showers and spank eachother's asses all the time. Who's the more gay?"

Ahahahahaha...Good one. But it's still true.

Yeah, I find Capoiera to be the most awesome martial art ever. Shame I'll never find a school or a teacher around here, cuz that would have been my choice.

Morbid, where do you live? I might be able to find a school around you or know of one. You'd be surprised how many capoeira schools there are.

Canada, Quebec province, I live near Montreal.

Hmm... yeah I don't know that many schools up there off the top of my head... But here's a link to a school list with a couple of schools in your area, dunno how close by tho. Hope it helps, everyone should be able to enjoy capoeira.

www.capoeirista.com...

Most cheerleaders are hot!!!

Faisca

Hey, who would have thought there were so many school around here?!?! I didn't knew it was so popular.

There must have around 10 schools in Montreal only. I'll have to check that out.

Thanks a lot for the link !

Geez people. This is MY definition of sports.

A sport (TO ME, like I even need say that) is an athletic game (on the whole, there are obviously exceptions either way)

Just because it is in the olymics does not mean it is a sport.