This article goes out to all of those numb-brained people who try to say cheerleading isn't a sport.
I guess my first question for you would have to be this: Have you ever tried it? Have you ever actually been a cheerleader? If not, I am afraid you don't really get to try to say it isn't a sport, and if you were a cheerleader at any point in your life you know darn well that cheerleading is one of the hardest sports in existence.
Stunting
Do you know what stunting is? "Stunts are defined as building performances displaying a person's skill or dexterity.Stunting in cheerleading has been previously referred to as building pyramids.Stunts range from basic two-legged stunts, to one-legged extended stunts, and high flying basket tosses."
Cheerleaders throw other 100+ pound cheerleaders in the air with nothing but their own arm and leg strength. The flyers are thrown to great heights and they flip and spin and fly into the air with an amazing amount of grace. After doing two basket tosses in a row and then running across the mat to get to your formation for the rest of the routine you are about ready to collapse.. but you are only 20 seconds into the 2 minutes and 30 second routine.
Tumbling
Tumbling is what most people compare to gymnastics. Cheerleaders do all of the same jumps and flips and everything else that gymnasts do. So gymnastics is a sport but cheerleading isn't? Even though the athletes do the same exact thing?
Jumping
Cheerleaders have a number of jumps they do. Toe touches, hurdlers, pikes.. they do multiple jumps in a row (HELLO AB WORKOUT!) and then many times they have to pull back out of a jump with a back tuck. Jumping sounds like such an easy thing, but in the cheerleading world jumping is taken to an entirely different level.
Dancing
Cheerleading routines also incorporate dance. Now we aren't talking ballet kind of dance here.. we are talking about some crazy hip-hop moves. The dance routines are incredibly fast paced and every single move has to be hit perfectly and with great power.
Cheering
Cheerleading also involves cheering.. weird huh? Cheerleaders have to project their voices to a great extent while also trying to hit moves with the words. It is a lot harder than it sounds. Cheerleaders cannot raise their voices three octaves like most people can to project their voice.. they must keep their voice at a normal to low tone.
If after reading this article you still believe cheerleading isn't a sport, I strongly urge you to read it again, and if that doesn't work you should probably see a doctor because something is definitely wrong neurologically.
