Is Cheer leading a sport??

[Kitty Kat]

So recently I was applying to a college university and there was a section that had "Extra curricular activities". I pressed the tab and there was a list of; Women's varsity basketball, soccer, lacrosse etc. I was really upset however when there wasn't one for cheer leading.

 

It's great to know that I did it for my high school time being, yet I won't get any recognition for it being a sport/extra curricular activity.

 

so this leaves one question....

Is cheer leading a sport?

 

It seems more controversial than actually being factual but I'd like to have opinions

(Talking about high school cheer leading NOT competitive cheer).... which also wasn't on the list

 

- I ended up putting down "Intramural sport"

 

 

*Idk if this qualifies for the "Sport" thread section. If not I guess move it to off topic or something.

-Since this is a forum page, like usual I feel like half these comments won't be serious.. but I would actually like some relative input

[arottenpickle]

Looks more like a sport than poker and darts.

[Guest harro]

Sport strongly implies a competitive scene (You have to be competing against someone else.). If you aren't doing competitive cheerleading, then it's not really a sport. It'd be more along the lines of drama/dance where you're just pursuing the activity for expressive purposes. I'm guessing competitive cheerleading wasn't on the list because it's not really a norm for most public schools.

[Mandeemoo007]

This was actually a huge controversial article in my high school's newspaper. I'm in marching band and that was also included in the debate that they had. So the definition of a sport is, "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." So cheer leading, involves physical exertion and skill, and they can compete against others if they want to do that, and people watch it during those competitions. The same goes for marching band. Now yes, your probably thinking, wtf do it doesn't you stupid idiot.........but here is where your wrong.

 

Marching Band

 

Involves physical exertion?- Yes, you march around the field while playing your instrument and also doing visuals.

Skill?- Yes, you have to learn how to correctly march and stay in time with the drum major or the beat, while also watching everyone around you to make sure you don't mess up or a person on your team messes up. You also have to know how to play and march at the same time.

Plays against others?- Now here is where almost everyone who doesn't know anything at all about marching band are completely wrong. YES, we do compete against other schools or teams. Most college bands don't, but most high school bands do. There are hundreds of leagues out there for marching bands to compete against people in the state or national. And there are also professional leagues, such as DCI, which stands for Drum Corps International, where they face off against other bands around the world.

For entertainment?- Yes, millions of people watch worldwide. DCI shows their championship in movie theaters around the nation.

 

Yes, I am more towards marching band, but I do really thing that cheer leading and marching bands are both sports.

[michellec]

yes cheerleading is a sport & @capp'n is my cheer captain!!

[Goku]

@Mandeemoo007 I'd argue that marching band isn't a sport, and I guess in the end the point I'm going to make would also apply to a wide variety of things such as gymnastics, cheerleading, ice skating etc. My main thing is, for something to be a sport, you have to be competing against another team or player. And I'm fully aware of marching band contests, but what makes me bring up my point is you aren't necessarily competing directly against them. I'm having trouble putting my exact thoughts to words, but you are performing and being judged. You are then ranked accordingly. And in some cases you aren't even directly competing against teams, such as with UIL in which you are just performing to try to get a 1 (highest score on scale of 1-4). In most sports you are competing directly against someone such as in football, tennis, hockey, basketball, baseball etc. My problem with things such as cheerleading and band is you aren't directly competing against the other teams. It is also often opinion based too.

 

Idk, I know there's probably holes in my thinking, but I just don't really consider marching band a sport, and am lenient in considering cheerleading a sport. I would personally consider both, in cases of the competitive ones, to be just that. Competitive marching, or competitive cheerleading.

 

All that being said, I respect the amount of work that has to go into both. I wasn't in band, but I know that you start in the damn middle of summer in the heat and it takes a huge physical toll on your body. And both cheerleading and band require a lot of skill and dedication. If people want to call them a sport, I won't stop them or argue with them, I just personally don't think of them as such.

 

As for the first part of your post Savage, idk why the hell they didn't have cheerleading listed at the very least as an extra-curricular. Seems like an error on their part.

[Guest harro]

This was actually a huge controversial article in my high school's newspaper. I'm in marching band and that was also included in the debate that they had. So the definition of a sport is, "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." So cheer leading, involves physical exertion and skill, and they can compete against others if they want to do that, and people watch it during those competitions. The same goes for marching band. Now yes, your probably thinking, wtf do it doesn't you stupid idiot.........but here is where your wrong.

 

Marching Band

 

Involves physical exertion?- Yes, you march around the field while playing your instrument and also doing visuals.

Skill?- Yes, you have to learn how to correctly march and stay in time with the drum major or the beat, while also watching everyone around you to make sure you don't mess up or a person on your team messes up. You also have to know how to play and march at the same time.

Plays against others?- Now here is where almost everyone who doesn't know anything at all about marching band are completely wrong. YES, we do compete against other schools or teams. Most college bands don't, but most high school bands do. There are hundreds of leagues out there for marching bands to compete against people in the state or national. And there are also professional leagues, such as DCI, which stands for Drum Corps International, where they face off against other bands around the world.

For entertainment?- Yes, millions of people watch worldwide. DCI shows their championship in movie theaters around the nation.

 

Yes, I am more towards marching band, but I do really thing that cheer leading and marching bands are both sports.

 

Yes, you do have competitions for marching band, but competition is not marching band's main focus. You could call playing piano a sport because there are piano competitions, but it's not. The thing about an activity being counted as a sport is that the aspect of competition is not optional.

[Kitty Kat]

"As for the first part of your post Savage, idk why the hell they didn't have cheerleading listed at the very least as an extra-curricular. Seems like an error on their part."

 

ya haha... I don't exactly know either :c @Goku

[Kitty Kat]

Sport strongly implies a competitive scene (You have to be competing against someone else.). If you aren't doing competitive cheerleading, then it's not really a sport. It'd be more along the lines of drama/dance where you're just pursuing the activity for expressive purposes. I'm guessing competitive cheerleading wasn't on the list because it's not really a norm for most public schools.

 

Wait really? It's at every high school in Florida pretty much, unless its's private etc. I'm pretty sure all the public schools have it though due to the football teams.

[3ni]

i find it a manly sport