Federal court decides that Cheerleading is NOT a sport.

Like they really had nothing better to do (like prosecuting banksters or anything...), the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals had handed down its ruling, saying that cheerleading is not a sport.

Federal court rules once and for all that cheerleading is not a real sport

Is cheerleading a sport? The question holds an eternal position in the pantheon of great sports debates, with advocates of both sides incredibly vocal about their beliefs.

Now there is an official response to that debate: Cheerleading is not a sport, at least in the opinion of the federal courts.

As reported by the Associated Press, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Hartford, ruled that Quinnipiac University's attempt to classify the school's cheerleading squad as a varsity team sport was not valid, because as of 2010 cheerleading did not reach "the level of a varsity sport."

Yahoo News

Sure, this has been an ongoing argument in bars and around dinner-tables for ages and it seems neither side is much willing to budge. Some point to the fact that cheerleaders are injured more than participants in any other sport except football as proof that it is a sport but, one has to wonder, why did the federal courts need to step in to settle this argument?

Quinnipiac's drive to have cheerleading declared a varsity sport was an open attempt to remain in compliance with Title IX regulations while eliminating the school's women's volleyball program.

Now, because of the 2nd Circuit Court's ruling, the Bobcats may have to bring a volleyball program back on board, though it may do so while also gaining the wrath of other female athletes everywhere.

A school wanted to eliminate an unpopular woman's sports program from its roster to save money but, Big Brother, intrusive government rules know what's better for us I suppose.

Maybe if they dressed the girls in their volleyball program like the beach volleyball chicks from the Olympic team, the sport wouldn't so unpopular.

I'm sure this decision won't be popular with a whole lot of women who have worked hard at their sport (oops, can't call it that anymore, I guess).


So what do you think, is cheerleading a real sport or just a pretty distraction that should be kept along the sidelines of REAL sports?

If Olympic Curling is a sport, then Cheering is too.

That's about all I have to say. The Federal Court meddling speaks for itself.

Honestly.....Who really cares?

Originally posted by FortAnthem
Some point to the fact that cheerleaders are injured more than participants in any other sport except football as proof that it is a sport but, one has to wonder, why did the federal courts need to step in to settle this argument?

I am not on any side on this (I don't even care) but this argument just jumps out. So pointing out how cheer leading is different from most sports (more injuries) should somehow be an argument that it actually is a sport.

Well, when I am in a bar, I drink a lot more beer than during any sport (except for darts), so being in a bar must be a sport also .

Well. Duh. However that does not mean that it does not require athleticism and that it cant be competitive (when cheerleading squads compete against each other)...but cheerleading squads do not score goals and any such competition would have to be subjective.

Subjective like a ton of similar sports like gymnastics, figure skating etc? It's a sport. A court can spout whatever nonsense they want but it wont change reality.

Originally posted by CosmicCitizen
Well. Duh. However that does not mean that it does not require athleticism and that it cant be competitive (when cheerleading squads compete against each other)...but cheerleading squads do not score goals and any such competition would have to be subjective.

That's also true of Olympic gymnastics and figure skating. If you look at the vid in the OP, you will see that some cheerleading teams are just as athletic, if not more so, than any Olympic athlete.

IMO, it's a sport.

And should be an Olympic sport.

Also how a court in US decides that it's not a sport while competitions are international? Doesn't make any sense.

I think Cheerleading is every bit as valid a sport as Gymnastics and for the same reasons. I'm male, so never did such things of course.....but I sure have known a couple Cheerleaders as friends and they work their butts clean OFF to get all that right and maintain the shape and strength necessary to put on the show they do.

Speaking of shape and such.....I agree on the Volleyball Uniforms. Gee.. in the rough and wild world of girls bodies in High School and the viciousness by how all that is graded among peers...I can't possibly imagine why more girls wouldn't want to prance around half naked. I'm sure they ALL look just as model-like as the two in the pic. If that was the uniform, the perv who picked it needs canned. Geeze.... Sexualizing the HS girls much? lol...

In all fairness to the court though, if someone hadn't sued and then kept riding appeals, the higher court wouldn't have seen such a thing to rule on and the whole end result wouldn't have happened. Hmm.. Then, as OP points out, if Uncle Sammy didn't run every single school in our VERY diverse 50 states like they were cookie cutters, this wouldn't have happened either.

It may not be a sport but I'd rather watch cheerleaders than any actual sport I can imagine. Well except for professional wrasslin'...

God my therapist is going to have a field day with this post....

~Heff

Well I will add my comment to this, I played College Baseball, I had several offers from Division 1 schools for full athletic scholarships coming out of high school. I played for 2 years before an injury ended my career. My daughter received a partial athletic scholarship to a Division 1 school in what is known as "National Collegiat Association of Acrobatics and Tumbling" officially but it is really called "Competition Cheerleading". She placed "All American" her Freshman Year (1st year of the program for this school). They may have ruled it a non athletic program but she worked out physicaly harder and more hours than I ever did in College (4 hours a day) minimum. By the way the University mentioned in the article also has a program and competed last year in the Nationals.

Definition: ALL forms of competitive physical activity which,through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants. Guess someone should have brought a dictionary to the court room

Cheer leading is an activity, not a sport.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Spend months upon months watching your kids practice for countless hours to pull together national champoinship caliber routines and see how hard they work and then tell me it isn't a sport.

WTF is the government doing in the debate anyway?

Any orthopedic surgeon will tell you the highest number of injuries of high school sports comes from cheerleading. If they are athletes getting sports injuries, then it sure ain't tiddly winks!

I'd much rather have on pads and helmets and take my chances on the gridiron. No pads and being tossed two stories up in the air, no thanks. That's scary.

Definitely a sport in its current manifestation.

Originally posted by GAOTU789
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

WTF is the government doing in the debate anyway?

The gubment sticks their noses into everything else, why should this be any surprise?

This was the result of a Title IX regulation which says that there has to be a certain percentage of female sports for all the male sports in college to ensure the women aren't discriminated against. Just another gubment quota system to meddle in everybody's affairs.

Ridiciously. Anyone who has been a cheerleader knows that it is in fact a sport. One must be very very athletic and in shape to be a cheerleader and there are HOURS & HOURS of practice and gym time


on them!

Is cheerleading a sport? Who cares? What difference does it make? Well, what's at stake is the health of our children and millions and millions of dollars. Now, if you have a Federal court case involving millions of dollars vs. the health of children, guess who won.





I didn't know any of this until I saw the show a couple of years ago. Varsity Brands Inc. would lose millions if cheerleading was declared a sport. And state laws would require protective gear and certified instructors for cheerleaders if it were delcared a sport.

"Apparently, the word 'sport' carries more legal weight than the phrase 'our children are being hurt' " - Penn

Originally posted by Fitch303
Cheer leading is an activity, not a sport.

It's funny how the very definition of a sport disagrees with you. Well not really that funny... but