Somewhat recently, there has been a very drawn out debate based on whether people think cheerleading itself is a sport or not.

And no, I am not talking about your local high school cheerleading team who at best has one girl who can kind of do back handspring, which is what it seems like most people first think of when they hear the word 'cheerleading.'

I am talking about actual competitive cheerleading. I have seen videos on twitter of championship teams with cheerleaders who defy the laws of nature with their routines and move their body in such unnatural ways. Yet, people still comment on these videos and have the audacity to call what they do a “hobby.”

Before I can defend my argument, we have to know what makes something a “sport.”

The dictionary definition of a sport is as follows:

Sport: /spôrt/ noun: 1. an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Okay, so the first and most important thing that makes something a sport is something involving physical exertion.

I think we can all agree that throwing a human being into the air and doing very complicated flips and jumps involve quite an extensive amount of physical exertion.

And almost everyone can agree that these teams are most certainly competing against one another and that people do watch it for entertainment.

Now let us look at what makes something a “hobby.”

Again, the dictionary definition is as follows:

hobby^{: /}ˈhäbē/ noun: 1. an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

The key word in this definition is "leisure."

If there is anyone who thinks that what these cheerleaders do is leisurely, then I suggest they try it for themselves.

If you do dare to try these stunts without experience, then you will see that there is nothing “leisurely” about what they do.

This is because it takes years of physically training your body to have crazy amounts of strength, flexibility, and endurance to do what they do.

I have also heard the ignorant argument that a sport “has to have a ball.” I have actually heard people say, “If there is no ball involved, then it's not a sport.”

First of all, as stated above in the official definition of the word “sport,” nowhere does it mention the requirement of a ball.

Second of all, plenty of sports are universally considered a sport even though it doesn’t involve a ball. Just a few examples include track and field, cross-country, skiing, swimming, diving, and many more.

Therefore, the argument that a sport must include a ball is not even an argument at all.

Also, the concept of whether cheerleading is a sport or not is not just one's opinion; it’s something that can be proven factual not only by definition or by the technical side of things but can be proven in the physical appearance of their bodies.

You don’t get the kind of built thighs and hard abs that they have by practicing anything leisurely like knitting sweaters or baking a cake (which both are in fact a hobby).

If you can go out and adequately lift a 100+ pound person, throw them 12+ feet in the air, do high kicks and do the splits without ripping your balls off, and perform crazy amounts of various flips, then maybe you could argue the opposite point.

But guess what, none of us can do these things without the extensive physical conditioning that most sports require because yes, cheerleading is, in fact, a sport.