Abigail Fricke

Mrs. Stanford

ENG 231

8 March 2019

Cheerleading ≠ Sport

Although it was once a task that included only the use of pom-poms and chants like “​I’m

sexy, I’m cute, I’m popular to boot!” f​ rom the 2000s’ movie, ​Bring It On!, ​cheerleading has now

become a serious and competitive activity (Barovick, 2000). Not only do participants practice for

hours and engage in advanced tumbling and stunting routines but as a result, they sometimes end

up spending more time in the gym than the basketball team they cheer for on Friday nights

(Johnson, 2013). When compared to other physical activities, cheerleading also has one of the

highest injury rates, with an average of 30,000 cheerleaders going to the hospital for concussions

or broken bones each year (Johnson, 2013). But, do these things make cheerleading a sport?

There’s no denying the athleticism behind completing a full-out1 routine, but the prejudice and

controversy that surrounds cheerleading being considered a sport-like activity makes this

question a hot topic of debate in today’s society. When discussing it verbally, people will

commonly support their side of the argument with phrases such as ​“Cheer is obviously a sport.

You've got to have athletic ability to be a flipper and a jumper...” o​ r “​They sweat but plumbers

sweat too. This doesn't mean it's a sport”(​Sports Illustrated,2001)​.​ However,​ ​in a written and

more professional environment, these statements would prove to be unreliable due to the bias

behind them so the NCAA definition of a sport is often used in their place. As it stands today, the

1
​When everything within a cheerleading routine is completed; every jump, stunt, and tumbling pass must be hit.
Facials, tight motions, and an energetic attitude are expected as well.
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definition reads: ​“an institutional activity involving only physical exertion with the purpose of

competition versus other teams or individuals with collegiate competition structure.

Furthermore, sport includes regularly scheduled team and/or individual, head-to-head

competition (at least five) within a defined competitive season(s); and standardized rules with

rating/scoring systems ratified by official regulatory agencies and governing bodies.”​ When

taking this into account, it’s clear to see that although cheerleading is physically demanding, it

fails to be a sport because it lacks a set of standardized rules and its participants are judged, in

part, on non-physical criteria.

Before beginning the argument, it’s necessary to describe the different types of

cheerleading so there is no confusion as to which one is being referred to as “cheerleading”

within this essay. As a recent study on the activity shows, there are three general types of

cheerleading squads: ​sideline, hybrid, and competitive ​(Johnson, 2013). First, sideline

cheerleading squads are the most traditional form of cheerleading squads. Participants are mainly

female and they attempt to raise the spirits of fans and spectators at sporting games by chanting

and tumbling, often with the use of aids like pom-poms, signs, banners, and megaphones

(Johnson, 2013). At no point in their season do sideline cheerleaders participate in competition

style cheerleading. Next, hybrid cheerleading squads have participants who engage in an activity

similar to those of sideline cheerleaders but they are more likely to compete against other teams

and include males on their squad (Johnson, 2013). At competitions, cheerleaders will commonly

engage in crowd chants with the aid of pom-poms, signs, banners, and megaphones, while also

providing the audience with an array of different tumbling, jumping, and stunting skills. Lastly,

competitive cheer squads have no ties whatsoever to sideline cheerleading, they’re most likely to
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include males, and they only compete against other competitive cheerleading squads in events

held by a very small number of for-profit cheer organizations (Johnson, 2013). At events,

competitive cheerleaders rarely do crowd chants and will engage in mostly tumbling, jumping,

and stunting. Although each can be proven unfit for the “sport” title, hybrid cheerleading is the

type of cheerleading that is going to be focused on within this essay. Seeing as it’s a mix

between sideline and competitive, hybrid ultimately proves to be the most inclusive form of

cheerleading as well as the best choice for debating whether or not cheerleading should be

considered a sport.

Throughout their eight to nine month long season, the average cheerleading squad will

enter six to seven competitions (Johnson, 2013). Regardless of where the competition is being

held, spectators can expect to see the same thing: squads cramming in last minute preparation,

frantic parents screaming from the stands while their son or daughter is performing, and most

importantly, a panel of judges scoring participants without a set of standardized rules. These

judges, although hand-selected and extremely high-ranked, are one of the most crucial factors in

proving that cheerleading is not a sport. This is because, as previously mentioned, they score

participants without a set of standardized rules. Standardized rules, by definition, are “the strict

guidelines made by specific sports governing bodies that determine how a team can gain points

during a game, match, or tournament” (Johnson, 2013). For example, a standardized rule in the

sport of basketball would be that “a basket scored from the free-throw line is worth one point”.

Cheerleading judges, having nothing like this to relate back to, are forced to score participants

purely based upon their opinion and how well they feel the squad executed their routine.

Therefore, if a judge enjoyed one squad more than another, they will score that squad higher
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even if the other executed more difficult skills (Johnson, 2013). Having a scoring system such as

this, in place of a set of standardized rules, proves that cheerleading fails to qualify as a sport

because the definition provided by the NCAA clearly states that in order for something to be

considered a sport, it must have “​standardized rules with rating/scoring systems ratified by

official regulatory agencies and governing bodies...”.

In addition to this, judges also score cheerleaders in part, on non-physical criteria

(Johnson, 2013). Commonly referred to as “performativity”, non-physical criteria can range from

crowd appeal (including enthusiasm), to showmanship (including confident eye contact and

genuine smiles), and crowd response techniques (including volume, consistent, encouraging

vocals) (Johnson, 2013). While the completion of these criteria may seem necessary in a

competition setting, an analysis shows that “performativity” is another crucial factor in proving

that cheerleading is not a sport. This is because although it might seem difficult after doing a

variety of jump sequences or a tumbling pass, “performativity” itself takes no physical effort to

engage in. For example, when comparing the difficulty of showing a genuine smile and speaking

in an energetic tone to that of running up and down a basketball court to shoot a foul shot, the

foul shot will always prove to be more physically demanding. This is not to say that providing

entertainment completely strips a competitive athletic activity of its status as a sport because

basketball spectators are often entertained by the games they watch (Johnson, 2013). The

difference is that the object of a basketball game is not to entertain nor are basketball players

given points or even judged, in a sense, on how well they can entertain the crowd. Yet, the

elicitation of a certain kind of audience response is the object of a cheerleading competition and

something cheerleaders are judged upon. Therefore, it is common to find that the cheerleading
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squads who place the highest at competitions are the ones who excite the crowd more and

demonstrate a higher usage of “performativity” rather than the ones who executed the highest

level of physical skills (Johnson, 2013). Being judged on “performativity” instead of the

execution of physical skills proves that cheerleading fails to qualify as a sport because the

definition provided by the NCAA clearly states that in order for something to be considered a

sport, it must be “​an institutional activity involving only physical exertion”.

While it may be true that cheerleading lacks a set of standardized rules and that its

participants are judged, in part, on non-physical criteria, some might argue that the acrobatic

skills displayed within a cheerleading routine are enough to make it a sport. Acrobatic skills can

range from a simple, standing back-tuck to a variety of different stunts that all involve a

cheerleader being hoisted seven feet up in the air. Regardless, the successful completion of these

things commonly gives cheerleading the allusion of being a sport. This is because all

cheerleaders must have a certain level of physical ability to ensure that they can engage in these

skills, which is a characteristic that a lot of normal sports athletes have (Johnson, 2013).

However, when reflecting back on what was previously stated, acrobatic skills don’t prove

cheerleading to be a sport due to the fact that at competitions, they’re judged alongside

non-physical criteria that can be seen as more influential in determining a squads rank (Johnson,

2013). Furthermore, they are, just like non-physical criteria, scored without a set of standardized

rules. By NCAA definition, that is already enough to prove that cheerleading isn’t a sport. So,

although the execution of acrobatic skills can be impressive and lead people to think that

cheerleading is a sport, in the end, they only add to the list of things that make cheerleading fail

to qualify as a sport.
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Cheerleading, despite once having participants who were no more than a glorified group

of sideline supporters, has now become a quite serious and competitive activity (Barovick,

2000). Not only do current participants practice for hours and engage in advanced tumbling and

stunting routines but as a result, they sometimes end up spending more time in the gym than the

basketball team they cheer for on Friday nights (Johnson, 2013). Additionally, cheerleading also

has one of the highest injury rates, with an average of 30,000 cheerleaders going to the hospital

for concussions or broken bones each year (Johnson, 2013). But, do these things make

cheerleading a sport? This is the question that was put under speculation for the purposes of this

essay. It was discovered that while cheerleaders might engage in physically demanding acrobatic

skills, certain aspects of cheerleading disqualify it as a sport under the NCAA definition: ​“an

institutional activity involving only physical exertion with the purpose of competition versus

other teams or individuals with collegiate competition structure. Furthermore, sport includes

regularly scheduled team and/or individual, head-to-head competition (at least five) within a

defined competitive season(s); and standardized rules with rating/scoring systems ratified by

official regulatory agencies and governing bodies.”. ​The aspects of cheerleading that

disqualified it as a sport are that the activity lacks a set of standardized rules and has participants

who are judged, in part, on non-physical criteria. Having no set of standardized rules leads

judges to score purely based off their opinion and this proves that cheerleading fails to qualify as

a sport because the definition provided by the NCAA clearly states that in order for something to

be considered a sport, it must have “​standardized rules with rating/scoring systems ratified by

official regulatory agencies and governing bodies...”. ​Additionally, being judged on

non-physical criteria proves that cheerleading fails to qualify as a sport because the NCAA
 Fricke 7

definition clearly states that in order for something to be considered a sport, it must be “​an

​ hese things, although meant to disprove

institutional activity involving only physical exertion”. T

cheerleading unfit of the title “sport”, they aren’t to say that cheerleading doesn’t hold promise

for change in the future. Seeing as there was a drastic change in the attitude, actions, and attire of

cheerleaders over the last twenty years, the way they are scored and what they’re scored on could

possibly change as well to ensure that cheerleaders get the respect and recognition they deserve

in the future. However, for now, cheerleading participants can only jump, stunt, and tumble until

their heart's content, but they can’t expect to ​Bring it On! ​as an actual sport.

Works Cited

Barovick, Harriet, and Hilary Hylton. “Beyond the Pom-Poms.” ​Time​, vol. 156, no. 19, Nov.

2000, p. 109. ​EBSCOhost​,

starkstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr
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ue&db=a9h&AN=3714710&site=ehost-live.

Johnson, Andrew B., and Pam R. Sailors. “Don’t Bring It on: The Case against Cheerleading as a

Collegiate Sport.” ​Journal of the Philosophy of Sport,​ vol. 40, no. 2, Oct. 2013,

pp. 255–277. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1080/00948705.2013.785421.

Raabe, Johannes, and Tucker Readdy. “A Qualitative Investigation of Need Fulfillment and

Motivational Profiles in Collegiate Cheerleading.” ​Research Quarterly for

Exercise & Sport​, vol. 87, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 78–88. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1080/02701367.2015.1124970.

“Sport? Not a Sport? THIS WEEK: CHEERLEADING.” Sports Illustrated, vol. 94, no. 1,

Jan. 2001, p. 22. EBSCOhost,

starkstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr

ue&db=a9h&AN=3943349&site=ehost-live.