Throughout the years, there has been a debate that has been occurring since the late 1940’s when the first cheerleading organization was formed: Is it a real sport or not?

Experts, coaches, cheerleaders, and even the federal government have had a say in the debate, but there is no clear answer. Cheerleading may be a physically and emotionally taxing activity which takes hours of practice, but can it really be considered a sport? Based on the rate of injuries cheerleaders have gotten, some believe the sport debate is unnecessary because of the overwhelming research done with cheerleading being the largest cause of concussions in any high school activities. In a case in Wisconsin, it was ruled that cheerleading is a “contact sport,” and if a cheerleader was hurt while stunting or cheering, they could not sue the people involved or the school district for their injuries, causing cheerleading to be called a sport.

Cheerleaders and coaches have been through the same argument, with cheerleading being a sport for just as long as the government officials and experts. Based on the work and effort put in, it would be plausible to think that cheerleading is a sport, but coming from a cheerleader, cheerleading should not be a sport. Cheerleading was meant to bring up the spirits of the team and the spectators, and if cheerleading would be made an actual sport, there would be no ability to cheer at the football games or attend pep rallies because sports are all about competition. All the focus would be on the competitions which would take away the great part of cheerleading.

The love of cheerleading would change completely, altering the way of the game and the reason cheerleading started to begin with.