If you've ever cheered at any point in your life, you know the stigma behind it. We aren't taken seriously as a sport and many people don't believe what we practice so hard to do takes any "skill." We have, without a shadow of a doubt, heard these twelve questions WAY too much and, at this point, we have definitely perfected our responses to them:

1. Cheerleading isn't a "real" sport.

Oh... it isn't? Let me show you this video of some girls KILLING IT at Worlds and then you can decide whether or not it's a "real" sport.

2. Aren't all cheerleaders really ditzy?

My 4.0 GPA would say otherwise.

3. Aren't all cheerleaders really slutty?

Cheerleaders are many things on stage. They are fierce. They are sassy. They are charismatic. They are not slutty. Especially not for you. *Burn.*

4. Do a flip!

...What do you mean? A back handspring? A back tuck? A layout? A full? Please specify. Also, no

5. That doesn't look that hard.

Thank you, I know we do make it look easy. It's not. It's extremely difficult. Thank you for letting us know how talented we are.

6. All you do at games is jump around and wave.

Actually, there are five components to cheerleading: stunting, tumbling, jumping, dancing, and motions. We do a lot more than "jump and wave." Also, games aren't as important as competition so we don't put as much effort into them anyway. Competitions are the only things we really care about to be honest. Games just come with the territory.

7. What do you even do at practice?

....We practice. We stunt. We tumble. We jump. We dance. We run our routine full-out again and again and again, perfecting each intricate motion and facial. What kind of question is that?

8. Do you get thrown in the air!?

Yes, I am a FLYER. I do much more than get "thrown in the air." It's much more complicated than that. It takes technique, it takes practice, it takes talent, to pull the types of skills that flyers pull in the air. We don't just simply get thrown and come down like a damn baton.

9. Lifting a girl seems easy.

Excuse me? Try lifting one by yourself without dropping her while still keeping good form in the middle of a routine after you've just done a tumbling pass and another stunt sequence all while still looking happy and pretty and THEN tell me how easy it is.

10. Why do you spend so much time on one routine?

To perfect it. We only have a few minutes on the floor to give everything we have and show off everything we've worked so hard on.

11. How do cheer teams even compete with each other?

Teams are scored based on each component and how well they are done. We are scored on skill level, technique, difficulty, form, timing, execution, enthusiasm, etc. We have to try and perfectly execute each skill and look like we're having fun while doing it. We get deductions if we make an error, if we fall, if we don't perform correctly. It's a complex process that's hard to explain and we wouldn't expect you to understand.

12. I could do that.

Then do it. I'd like to see you try.