Competitive cheerleading has been my passion ever since I was six years old, but not until I became an athlete at Kansas City Athletic Cheer did I fall in love with it. Being a part of the highest level team at Kansas City Athletic Cheer, Platinum, meant that cheer would become my entire life. I lived for the hard practices, competing in front of thousands of spectators around the country, and most importantly being a part of something that was bigger than myself. This place was filled with coaches and teammates that unfailingly brightened my day. Whenever I had a bad day or just felt down, it was always my place to go to escape reality and release stress.
Most people think cheer is not a sport, but they are only half true. All-Star cheerleading is considered a sport because you have to compete against other teams, and travel to places as far as Europe or Asia. Sideline Cheer, however, does not compete and is not technically considered a sport. Depending on what type of cheerleading it is, cheer can be considered harder, and more dangerous than football and basketball. “In high school cheer or sideline, it can be a lot of waving pom poms and doing back tucks and front handsprings.
Specific training is required to learn how to stunt correctly and safely. If something goes wrong in a stunt, there is a very high risk of someone injuring themselves. Communication is also crucial in a stunt group in order to fix any stability issues that occur when in a stunt. In order to be a cheerleader, it is necessary to have a loud voice, a strong memory, good timing, flexibility, and excellent communication skills. Since I had a traditional dance background prior to starting cheerleading, I was very flexible, could remembers long routines and was able to stay in synch with the rest of the squad.
On March 11, 2017 the world’s best all-star cheerleading teams will be at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in DisneyWorld for the most prestigious cheer competition of the year. The teams there have qualified by getting bids from regional and national competitions, similar to how gymnasts qualify for large meets by competing well in smaller meets. Throughout the competition hundreds of teams will perform their routine filled with the most elite tumbling and stunting sequences ever performed. The tosses and baskets will be so high that if they were performed in a smaller building the flyers, or girls in the air, would hit the ceiling. The tumbling will be so fast and so powerful that if someone was to radar gun the pass, they would be going over
Today, people often think of cheerleading as a sport meant for girls, even though girls didn’t start cheering until the year of 1923. It was only when women joined cheerleading that they began to use
The word sport is defined as "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment”. Cheerleading isnt a sport but people are working really hard for other people to accept it as a sport. Cheerleading is an activity where you make a routine and perform it for points, and even win awards at competitions. When you perform you are against many teams in your division. Cheerleaders take a lot of time to train and prepare for the competition, also cheerleading is more physically demanding than other sports, lastly cheerleading meets all the requirements to be a sport.
Being a cheerleader takes a positive attitude and the willingness to work hard! It takes commitment, self-discipline, and dedication. It takes energy and skill and it takes each of us working together to be our very best! Cheerleaders are role models at school and in the community.
When it comes to competitive cheer, there is a lot more than yelling chants. Cheerleading requires sharp/quick motions, strength, along with perfect timing. Cheerleaders have to have the ability to throw 100+ pound girls in the air and be able to catch them. In conclusion, cheerleading is dangerous, competitive, and takes time and dedication. These are all the components of what society considers a “true sport.”
We’re not here to show you high school cheerleading. We’re here to show you the young women and men putting all of their free-time into a stuffy old gym. Trusting each other with their lives and defying gravity. We’re not here to show you the average athlete.
The technical definition of a sport, defined by the Oxford Dictionary is, “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment” (“Sport”). Cheerleading requires these key characteristics that determine a sport. Cheerleading is split into several different types. The most commonly known type of cheerleading is
Cheerleading isn’t a real sport When people think of sports they think of homeruns being hit, touchdowns being thrown, goals being kicked, hockey players beating each other up, and hearing the swish of the net. Not a bunch of girls running back and forth doing flips and tricks. I believe cheerleading is not a sport for one of many reasons. First of all when a sport is being played whether it’s Baseball, Football, Soccer, Hockey, or Basketball there’s always periods, halves, quarters and the game usually takes about 3 hours. With cheerleading, they perform for about 3 minutes to a song in front of a couple judges.
To be on the cheerleading squad there is a required try out. For the tryout you perform a dance, cheer, and three chants within a small group. The other requirements are that you assemble a cheer and perform it by yourself along with three to four jumps. At my last tryouts I made varsity for football and basketball cheerleading. Another team that I participate in is volleyball.
Cheerleading goes beyond shaking poms and chanting cheers on the sidelines of a football or basketball game. In similarity to every other sport, with it come sprains, breaks, and severe injuries. In my mindset I was too well trained
Pom pom’s, short skirts, and lipstick. This is probably what first comes to your mind when you hear cheerleader. However, there is a lot more to cheerleading than that. Throughout these past four years Columbia athletics hasn't just taught me my physical strength, but also the values of commitment, hard work, dedication, leadership, and trust. These values have shaped me into the person I am today and I will continue to use these skills to guide me through my future life.
Many people have good and bad experiences about the sports or hobbies they love. For myself, cheerleading is one of those that I have excelled in due to the amazing coaches that have taught me. It is not only a skill, but a respectable title in my eyes. Although I have grown a love and passion for cheer, it was not easy at first glance. Unfortunately, failure came before success.
