There has been a constant debate about whether cheerleading is a sport or not. I believe that general cheerleading should not be considered a sport.

I see cheerleading as two categories: general cheerleading and competitive cheerleading. I consider general cheerleading to just be shouting chants and doing a few moves, but that is it. I see competitive cheerleading to have people being thrown in the air, tumbling, flips, and difficult choreography. According to the Oxford Dictionary a sport is, “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” In my opinion, general cheerleading does not take a lot of physical exertion or skill.

Some may say that it takes a lot of skill to memorize the routines and that is why it is a sport. However, students in drama club have to remember so much more, while singing and dancing, but drama club is not considered a sport. If drama club is not a sport, then neither is cheerleading. Also included in the definition of a sport, it says that the team is “competing against another.” In general cheerleading, you are not really competing against another team. A person at a football game can be cheering for their team and booing against another, while cheerleaders are doing the same thing. The regular person is not in a sport while cheering, so neither is a cheerleader.

Competitive cheerleading is a sport when it involves flips and tumbling. It actually requires skill to be able to do this. Not everyone can do a back handspring, but many can find it easy to wave pom-poms in the air and chant. If you are a competitive cheerleader, and you are in a competition, you are competing against others.

So is cheerleading a sport? Cheerleading is only a sport when it involves flips, turns, throws, or things that require skill. Other than that, general cheerleading is not a sport.