Is cheerleading a sport?

Many people still debate whether cheerleading is a sport or not?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

In an article title "whats the point of cheerleading?" it raises the question if cheerleading has evolved too far from its roots and intended purpose. Cheerleading originated in the 1800's at a students attempt to arouse the crowd from the slump it was in. Cheerleading was started and meant to get the crowds interest and spirit involved in the game.  Now cheerleading involves stunting and gymnastics which is the cause of many of the catastrophic injuries in the sport.
     In Wisconsin, Supreme Court ruled cheerleading as a contact sport in that state to prevent law suits against schools,coaches, and other cheerleaders. I think the problem is although cheerleading squads originated to cheer on the team and crowd a spin off of school cheerleading has been created. All star cheerleading which is not meant for cheerleaders to cheer but rather to show off their athleticism by doing stunts,jumps, and tumbling. When cheerleaders for schools start doing what All Star cheerleaders do thats when a majority of the injuries will happen. It is hard to track the amount of injuries because the amount of cheerleaders is not recorded. Some researchers think that the number of injuries and visits to the emergency room may be a little bit more than other sports that have team doctors.
     As you can see there are many different levels of athleticism involved in cheerleading.
College


NFL Colts Cheerleading

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