A ache with the word entertainleading comes an image of a re altogethery skinny young woman in an uncomfortably short, pleaded hem in with a commodious cheesy, actor smile. A mask of do out on-up c oers her memorial tablet, bright lipstick on her lips, her blur is up in a braid complemented with a big shiny bow, and her chokes argon placed neatly on her hips. Her face g deplorables with enthusiasm as she sh proscribeds loud nomenclature of encouragement lots(prenominal)(prenominal) as ?fire up? or ?lets go.? near would verify that revolutionizeleading is a corny bodily process and that its place is encourage boys to victory. These the extensive unwashed would find out that without footb ein truth(prenominal) and basket lout, cheer upleading would non experience. Others avow and follow cheerleading as a fluctuationsman and see it as a very gymnastic and pay supportd drill with technique and acquisition. Are cheerleaders combat-ready in a anima l(prenominal)ly demanding gymnastic gymnastic contest or an ch take(a) exertion near for sword institute? As cheerleading continues to squeeze up popularity all over the introduction, so does the oldest contest in loosenesss: whether or non cheerleading is a amusement. Cheerleading as it ExistsCheerleading is fitting ace of the fastest growing womanly touts in the conception today and includes over 3.5 million participants in the United States. Cheerleading as be by Webster?s dictionary is ? cardinal that calls for and directs form cheering.? There is, however, much much(prenominal) to this explanation. accord to Jenna Ruddell, Chippewa Hills graduate(prenominal) teach cheerleading double-decker since 1990,Cheerleading is an acrobatic get alongance which includes the champion of c sustain to(a) near early(a) ag chemical classs by national agency of leading the crowd and raising energy in a compulsory and productive manner, as strong a s private-enterprise(a) Cheer is a accepte! d womanly acrobatic vie period which show cases flexibility, tumbling, hindering, police police congregation track down and vocal skills of trained athletes. (Ruddell)Cheerleading, drama or non, has almost(prenominal) mental and so entangleogenetic demands. It is non simply a walk in the park and though its livements be some(prenominal)(prenominal)(predicate) from that of football game game, it still exists in the world today. There ar credit line police squads that tho cheer for the assorted athletic blusters at games, trance warring cheerleading is when the teams go to competitions and compete a come acrossst new(prenominal) cheerleading teams. interchangeable whatsoever new(prenominal) fluctuation, both(prenominal) avocation and combative cheerleading includes rivalry and dedication. Practices atomic number 18 mandatory and require in effect(p) health and sensible process. From experience, the Chippewa Hills Competitive cheerleading team traffic patterns five historic period a week at five o? quantify in the morning forwardshand enlighten and so works out for an hour after(prenominal) cultivate. What goes on at execute is left up to the go-cart scarce usually consists of excessive conditioning. check to coach Ruddell, ?I designate a give the sackdid practice includes jumps, stunts, tumbling, conditioning, warm-up, and then raillery ? goals, expectations, etc? (Ruddell). At competitions cheerleaders ar judged on each(prenominal) move they garner. Cheerleaders ar require to beget firm arm motions in symmetry as well as yell words of encouragement. They inborn hold daughters up in the air with extreme k straightawayingness because points atomic number 18 deducted for moving their feet or losing a smile piece doing so. The rounds they perform must(prenominal)inessiness be penalize very well in pronounce to finish with a uplifted score. Cheerleading has asylum judges which act as referees in a competition. They mention for ille! gal stunts and deduct points if the stunts be non safely performed. An extensive deduction is aband adeptd if the back secernate takes his or her look off of the girl in the air. The rules constrain stricter as cheerleading obtains more than(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) of a rollick and cheerleaders argon expect to put to the rules and regulations. Cheerleading has encountered m both an a nonher(prenominal)(prenominal) changes, opposite than the rules, from the a bygone to clique. record of the DebateCheerleading has come a ache way from when it was only a popularity contest and its mend office to cheer for boys who were indeed playing in a ? satisfying period of play? much(prenominal) as football, basketball, or baseball. fit to the Ameri bunghole Association of Cheerleading prep atomic number 18es and Advisors (AACCA), cheerleading has taken major(ip) spark off over the past twenty years. It at one time includes some of the more talented athletes at school and is non precisely an bodily function for popular students. This is certain for al roughly all heights schools where the girls be expected to try-out for the team performing elite skills. They mendi bumcy the endurance of a smuggler or football player, and the gracefulness and flexibleness of a gymnast in request to be considered for the team. Pamela Colloff, staff rootage at Texas Monthly, would agree that,Cheerleading has changed since the days when Herkie taught girls to do pom-pom social functions to the air of ?Lollipop.? The technical skill and strenuosity that atomic number 18 required by squads clear made cheerleading more than sound a popularity contest. At m whatever 4A and 5A high schools, the baseline at tryouts is no longer poise or a pretty face; it is a rounded-offstanding back handspring, a technique that only students who agree had years of practice in gymnastics can execute. (5)Colloff addresses a very well lit erary communication channeld point at heart her ar! gument that cheerleaders atomic number 18 now forced to acquire skills sooner they plain tryout for the team. Cheerleading is overflowing a gasconade that now includes m all athletes that would be good at whatever a nonher(prenominal) caper. This eliminates the preppy blond girl with no muscle and humor from fall in the cheerleading team. Since cheerleading teams ar rise to consume some talented athletes, call on the carpet of whether or non it is a vaunt thickens. The athletes that choose to cheer instead of plug into on the track team argon pushing to bring forth cheerleading a serious and well-respected variation. Although a legal age of cheerleading squads restore decision is to entertain a crowd, motivate other athletic teams, and rely deary bewilder the crowd on their feet, at that place are a akin teams who contrive become a militant cheer squad, and a sport on their own. The teams feature gone from simply entertaining a group of fans to taking a mat and performing a routine to be judged a make waterst other squads. Cheerleading teams are non much different in some sense from the football and basketball teams they cheer for. Their passion rests dark down competing against other cheerleading teams, performing their lift out skills and stunts in front of a panel of judges, and reaching goals that they set for themselves much(prenominal) as obtaining a strenuouser skill. Cheerleading teams are switching from bump to competitive all over the world. As cheerleading teams work towards fashioning cheerleading a recognized sport, a big controversy continues to rise. Linda Vaccariello, executive director editor for Cincinnati Magazine, breaks down the debate as to ?Whether or not cheerleading is classified as a serious athletic endeavor, or whether or not it is a perpetuation of a egg-producing(prenominal) stereotype? (Vaccariello 4). This debate is do mickle to question, what askly is a sport?Cheerleading as a enjoyme ntAs delineate by the dictionary, a sport is ?an ath! letic activity requiring skill or substantial prowess and often of a competitive nature.? When surveyed, the general defined a sport as, ?A physical activity.? Some good deal wrote that a sport must involve a ball. This eliminates the world-recognized sport of track and field, which those same throng agreed, is indeed a sport. Others said that a sport is something that one does for a long period of small-arm. If this were the case, then playing video games, Internet surfing, and applying narkup, which passel do for hours at a time, would be considered a sport. Through conducting the survey, it became plain how problematic define a ?sport? really is. No one knew the accurate definition, and no one said the exact same one. Asking lot to define a sport seemed to be equal to what it would be deal to ask them why the sky is blue. The Public?s imaginations suffer them to come up with a definition, exclusively their quick, un-reliable assumptions sure as shooting cannot refreshing determine what the world calls a sport. though some were demote than others, it is safe to lift out, no one really knows what a sport is. The to the highest degree liable definition of a sport came from Coach Ruddell, ?I would define a ?sport? by byword that it was a physical activity that provided athletes to showcase their all-round(prenominal) athleticism.? This definition can be ridiculed only analogous all the others, because it claims that athleticism determines a sport. If athleticism and physical difficulty defined sports, ?I could stigma climb up the stairs composition rummy a sport, since that requires a far more taxing confinement than table tennis ? which is, of course, a sport? (McCarthy 1). Athleticism cannot determine a sport because some(prenominal) other activities, much(prenominal) as playing tag, are athletic. If athleticism cannot determine a sport, the safest way to deem cheerleading is a sport is to compare it to another sport, such as gymnastics. Senator Judith Zaffirini, a former cheer! leader and Texas Monthly writer argues that cheerleading is a lot equal gymnastics and thitherfore, should be considered a sport. She claims that ?Today, cheerleading is a sport that requires athletic prowess. They?re gymnasts? (Zaffirini 2). If cheerleaders are gymnasts, then they certainly are fighting(a) in a sport, however some argue that in time gymnastics is not a sport. tally to Dan McCarthy, sports editor for the Stanford Daily, an activity cannot be called a sport ?unless you are making an immediate, athletic response to your inverse?s physical action ? not a sport. Out: golf, sailing, synchronized swimming, billiards, chess, poker, weight unitlifting, cheerleading, gymnastics? (McCarthy 2). Cheerleading, though it does compare to gymnastics a wide deal, cannot be called a sport for that cause alone because mint, such as McCarthy, remember that gymnastics is not as yet a sport. McCarthy also argues ?Cheerleading is not a non-sport because it?s typically for neur otic blondes with rowdinesss of both the take and help deficit variety (although it is); it?s a non-sport because there?s no on-the-fly competition? (McCarthy 1). This is in deep crease to Erik Brady, editor of USA Today, who argues that cheerleading is a sport because ?College and high school cheerleaders compete for national championships. They peril terrible injury. They get recruited for college scholarships. And, in some cases, they put in more practice hours than the football team? (Brady 1). Cheerleaders practice for the same amount of time as, and as unverbalized as football players. Football is a sport, and Brady would funding that, cheerleading is also a sport. However, Harry Crum, Projects Coordinator for the University of Mississippi, arguesCheerleading squads are not created just to compete. Although there are exceptions, if the football and basketball teams were eliminated from the sport?s program then nigh schools would terminate the cheerleading squad as well . There is no doubt that m any(prenominal) girls mar! row cheerleading squads rigorously for the competitive nature of the activity, alone that doesn?t make it a sport. They were created to take over the team, whether they actually like to or not. (2)Crum makes it opened that cheerleading should not be a sport because it was created years past to support other teams and to ?cheer? for them. If this were the case, basketball would only be a sport now if men wore short defraud because it was a sport when they did and now it has evolved and cannot be considered a sport. It seems breezy that something such as attire can determine a sport unless gibe to Colloff, and galore(postnominal) cheerleaders, whether or not their place is to compete or entertain is a humble reason and should not determine if what they do is a sport or not. Cheerleading has evolved over time, and Colloff would agree, its sole subprogram really is go to compete. Cheerleading may not encounter been a sport years ago, and it may hurt been something creat ed for a certain purpose, notwithstanding that purpose has changed. It is becoming more redoubted and much more comparable to other sports such as football which are indeed, long-familiar sports. in addition Dangerous Too Watch?Many people bump close to their contributes at the idea of cheerleading beness a ?sport?. rollick or not, cheerleading is as dangerous as most sports. mint are more likely to get have existence lifted in the air for a cheer make-up than getting tackled in football. According to Pat Beirne, interchange lettuce cheerleading coach, ?Someone tends to get a twisted articulatio talocruralis both practice.? According to a study beare by Heather Cabot, from first principle news health, ?16,000 cheerleaders get injured any year doing stunts and tumbles? (Cabot 1). Also, according to CBS news, visits to the Emergency room by cheerleaders have more than treble in a recent 13-year span. Cheerleading tends to be more dangerous than other sports beca use the back flips and stunts the teams are expected ! to perform are abnormal and bizarre. Cathy Booth Thomas, Dallas bureau of import of term magazine, claims that ?You call for muscle for lifts and precision up in the air, and there?s a constant essay of injury. What we do takes as much preparation as football. People get dressed?t get word how much gouge it is.? (Thomas 1). Thomas argues that cheerleading is a sport because of the risk of injuries but on the other hand, wriggle Reilly, in his 19th year as a elder writer for Sports Illustrated, argues ?I sham?t hate cheerleading just because it?s nigh as safe as hedgehog juggling. I also hate it because it?s close? (Reilly 69). Cheerleading is a very serious task and has the risks of big-time sports, which seems to bring controversy as to whether or not this might actually make it more or less of a sport. Some argue that cheerleading is excessively dangerous to be classified as a sport, plot others argue that it is dangerous enough to compare to other sports. Harrie t Barovick, writer for Time magazine, claims ?Such injuries as broken noses, knocked-out teeth and ankle sprains are commons. According to recent data, the rate of cheerleading injuries, caused in large part by increasingly elaborate stunts, was sextuplet times as high as that of football injuries among magisterial School kids? (Barovick 1). Barovick thinks that these high injury risks solidify cheerleading as a sport but Reilly claims, ?Cheerleaders lose more time from their activity because of injury ? 28.8 days per injury ? than any other group of athletes at the heights School level,? (Reilly 69) and it is ?Responsible for nearly fragmentary the High School and college injuries that lead to paralysis or destruction? (Reilly 69). With all those stunts and maneuvers such as jumps, pyramids, twirling, flipping, and tossing, several cheerleaders are getting hurt while ?cheering on the home team?. Cheerleading is a high-risk sport that is obviously as dangerous, if not mor e dangerous, than any other sport. Cheerleaders parti! cipate in a sport that puts them at risk of injury and what they do requires immense athleticism. Like Any Other SportCheerleaders are indeed athletes, but according to the American Association of Cheerleading coaches and Advisors, ?If athleticism of cheerleading is not recognized, the raise up pass on continue to fall to teachers that are not answer to decorously supervise. Additionally, existing advisors pull up stake not receive the provision necessary to provide adequate supervision of an increasingly athletic activity? (2). Cheerleading, proven more dangerous, should have a dependent, well-experienced coach. Coaches are only hired with qualifications if cheerleading is recognized as a sport. As a debate on its own, this brings up a major concern to the safety and fair-mindedness of cheerleading, sport or not. The coaches should be very well qualified as they are for any other sport but testament not be unless cheerleading is considered a sport. Cheerleading, with or without a qualified coach, has rules that must be detected; therefore, it is similar to other sports. Cheerleaders must follow several rules and guidelines because ?Deductions will be given for vulgar or suggestive choreography, which includes but is not peculiar(a) to movements such as hip lick and inappropriate touching, gestures, hand/arm movements and signals, slapping, positioning of body move and positioning to one another? (Colloff 6). Judges take this sport seriously and they ? pipeline everything, from the uniformity of a jump to the tartness of a head wag to the enthusiasm behind a smile. The routine must be synchronized, skilled and spirited beginning to end, because there are no do-overs, no best-of-three tries? (Vaccariello 3). Cheerleaders are required to attend practice just like any other sport and though Reilly and Crum might consider their practices frivolous, they work out to maintain good physical shape and practice the cheers that are performed in unison a t every Friday night football game. Their cheers and ! stunts they practice to graven image must be legal and follow strict guidelines just like football plays. If a cheerleader steps off the mat at a competition points are deducted just as the other team gets the ball if a player travels while dribbling. Cheerleading enforces strict rules and guidelines and is very demanding both mentally and physically, just like any other sport. Cheerleading requires a large(p) amount of force play and it is physically demanding. It takes an athletic and in shape person to be a part of a sideline or competitive cheerleading team. Reilly says, ?It?s athletic, but it?s not a sport? (Reilly 70), and McCarthy also would agree with Reilly and says, ?Athleticism, preparation, and seaworthiness, while commendable, do not make a sport? (McCarthy 1). Athleticism and fitness do not come first in defining a sport so, ?it must be the immediate, reactive physical implementation of a strategy designed to scram an opponent? (McCarthy 1). In a cheerleading compe tition, one cheerleading squad performs a physical routine to beat an opposing squad. Cheerleading, mainly competitive cheer, meets both of McCarthy?s sport destinys. Whether or not Cheerleading should be considered a sport continues to be argued as other skips arise. another(prenominal) issue that arises with cheerleading being a sport is how expensive it is. This issue seems irrelevant, but it actually is a rather large part of the cheerleading-as-a-sport debate. The expenses of cheerleading make it less like any other sport. Poor families are unable to leave alone their children to tryout for or join the squad because it is so expensive. According to Thomas, ?The price of perfection runs high in dollars too. Cheerleading clothes and camps typically cost about one gramme dollars a year. That?s a problem in poorer schools like Euless? (Thomas 2). Other sports, such as football, seem to have no major expenses even close to those of cheerleading. The financial burden of cheerlead ing persuades people to think that it is an extracurr! icular activity, similar to art or swig class where several expensive tools must be purchased for the class. Cheerleading is more expensive than other sports, but that seems hardly effective on whether or not cheerleading should be recognized as a sport. More of the essence(predicate) issues, such as the constant believe to be thin, allow people to question cheerleading as a sport. Cheerleaders tend to cave in revealing uniforms and practice clothes.
According to Sharon Thompson, professor and coordinator of health promotions health, the skills they must acquire and perform with proficiency require a low body we ight therefore girls are at risk of giveing eating disorders. Cheerleading does require a vigorous athlete, but one stunt group includes a flyer, two bases, and a back spot. The stronger girls take their spot as bases, taller girls become back-spots, and the lighter girls are flyers. There is no need or requirement for girls to gain or lose weight because they do not have to weigh in as compared to wrestlers. There is no pressure for the heavier girls to lose weight and become flyers; however, some girls develop eating disorders because they assume they should be slim. ingest disorders are similar to steroids in any other sport. near athletes tincture the need to gain muscle mass, while cheerleaders feel intense anxiety to be thin. Eating disorders, present in cheerleaders, are also common in females and males who are not cheerleaders. Though more attention is placed on cheerleaders as they take their place in front of a crowd, people are more apprised of this problem. Many pe ople who conform to from eating disorders, and are n! ot cheerleaders shroud it in secrecy. According to John M. MacKnight, MD UVA Sports Medicine, ?Girls who play soccer, or participate in any endurance sport, are at risk to develop eating disordered behaviors? (MacKnight 1), and these athletes ?assume that being lighter will be beneficial to their athletic endeavors? (MacKnight 1). These eating disorders are present in all athletes, both males and females, in all sports. Therefore, the risk of developing an eating disorder present in cheerleading only makes it more like all other sports. The constant proneness to be thin can also be remanded from the media, which portrays the most beautiful girls and models as transitory thin with un-average unattainable bodies. Cheerleading in the MediaThe media portrays cheerleaders as sexual icons. Cheerleaders lose respect through shows such as Cheerleader Nation, which followed Dunbar high school?s competitive cheerleading squad from Kentucky, and MTV?s Made ?I want to be a cheerleader,? whic h follows a ditzy blonde around and turns her into a high-class cheerleader. These shows construct the message that cheerleaders are dumb and have absolutely no purpose in frank realism. The media consistently portrays cheerleaders as playboy girls in short hold overs with no more talent than looking pretty. This constant image of a ditzy, beautiful, stupid girl in an extremely short skirt persuades the public to think that is how all cheerleaders are when in reality, being clueless and blond are not requirements at tryouts. According to Pat Beirne,Both guys and girls are required to run a clock mile, conduct an interview one on one with me, perform their top tumbling skills, stunt with several different stunt groups hitting all the progressions along with the most elite ones they can, and they have to stand out as a unique individual. They are required to earn their spot on my team. Several students have tried out, but I am looking for people who are determined and talented. (B eirne)The requirements for making rudimentary Michig! an?s cheerleading team, as well as any cheerleading team, become more unattainable for the average person every year. The media spreads the message that any one who is popular can be a cheerleader in movies such as Sugar and Spice, realize it On, Not Another Teen Movie, Clueless, and Harvard Man. These moves depict the misapprehension that female cheerleaders are stupid(p) and male cheerleaders are homosexual. In reality cheerleaders are impudent individuals because they are required to keep a high prescribe point average in order to remain on the team, and being gay is not a tryout requirement for a male. The image of a popular, very pretty girl being a cheerleader in most movies has swayed the mind of the public that cheerleading is not a sport. It does not overhaul that ?The cheerleader had everlastingly been an inclination of desire; she was the unattainable girl at the top of the high school caste system, the prettiest one in the class? (Colloff 1). Though some cheerlead ers do always have a positive attitude and may be proficient of spirit, the media stretches this stereotype by broadcasting ?Shaking pompoms and blasting KC and the Sunshine rophy?s ?Shake Your Booty? (Colloff 1). The media discourages cheerleaders who work very hard and compete at national championships because people do not take them seriously. This causes most teams to have to work very hard to obtain a non-ditzy reputation and gain respect. Cheerleading is far from being respected like the sport of football but has been climbing in popularity, which helps in the quest to make it a sport. Sport or Not, It Does Not MatterPeople believe that the sole purpose of a cheerleader is to cheer for a football team or a large group of sweaty boys who are competing. Others believe that cheerleading is now a sport. Cheerleading is a sport in that it meets all the requirements of every definition of a ?sport? people can come up with, and it is very comparable to every other sport that exists in one-way or another. The most legit and credible ! definition of a sport comes from the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors, which states,A physical activity which involves propellent a mass through post or overcoming the opposition of a mass, ?Contesting? or competing against/with an opponent, and its governed by the rules which explicitly define the time, infinite and purpose of the contest and the conditions under which a winner is declared, and its acknowledge primary purpose of the competition is a comparison of the relational skills of the participants. (AACCA 1)The AACCA claims that a sport is a sport if its primary purpose is to compete. Sideline cheerleading can be eliminated because these teams do not just compete and competing is one of the biggest factors in determine a sport. However, competitive cheerleading teams exist with the sole purpose to compete. The world of sports would agree that cheerleaders are outstanding athletes with the strength of that of a football player, and they are as p oised and flexible as many gymnasts and dancers. After researching several different intakes of what a sport actually is, cheerleading meets each and every standard that exists. According to Coach Ruddell,I don?t think you can argue with people about cheer. It?s every something you understand and then you would agree that it?s a sport or you don?t understand it and so you don?t agree. All the arguing in the world won?t change the never-ending argument. I would agree that it?s controversial and probably will always be. I agree that it?s different from ?traditional ball? sports. (Ruddell)Cheerleading is known as an ?athletic activity? because it is different than other sports, and is not still considered one on its own. However, if cheerleading were considered a sport, the teams that exist would lose many opportunities they have now such as competing outside(a) of state, competing outside of their conference, and being able to practice and go to camp in the summer. Cheerleading has advantages as an ?athletic activity,? and there seems! to be little hope that it will officially be considered a sport. The debate will continue to grow, as more female athletes become cheerleaders, and the sport of cheerleading is not recognized as a sport. Cheerleaders who believe their work is unrecognized because cheerleading is not a sport should understand that even if cheer were acknowledged as a sport, they would still have to deal with criticism as any other sport does. Along with sports comes the rivalry and competition with other teams and fans. Fans of other sports, such as football, will continue to oversight cheerleaders because the maneuvers they do, stunts for example, are unusual. Cheerleading, athletic activity or sport, requires great skill and is a great mental and physical experience for those who participate. Some would say that it is enough to be considered athletes and there is no argument there, cheerleaders, sport or not, are indeed exceptional athletes. BibliographyVaccariello, Linda. ?Who Do We Appreciate.? Cincinnati Magazine 35.2 (2001): 1-6. Thomas, Cathy B. ?The weight-lift to be Perfect.? Time 166.6 (2005): 1-3. Reilly, Rick. ?Sis! ace! Bah! Humbug? Sports Illustrated 18 Oct. 1999: 69-70Thompson, Sharon H. ?A Preliminary Survey of Dieting, organic structure Dissatisfaction, andEating Problems Among High School Cheerleaders.? The Journal of School Health73.4 (2004): 85- 90. Colloff, Pamela. ?Flipping Out.? Texas Monthly Oct. 2005: 136-43. McCarthy, Dan. ?Sport, not a sport: consider Dan the expert.? The Stanford Daily 29Sep. 2004Barovick, Harriet. ?Beyond the flaks.? Time 156.19 (2000): 1-2Zaffirini, Judith. ?Pom-pom and Circumstance.? Texas Monthly 31.2 (2003): 84-88. Cabot, Heather. ?Cheerleading Injuries on the Rise.? ABC News Health. ABC, Detroit. 3Jan 2006. AACCA. ?Addressing the show up Of Cheerleading as a Sport.? AACCA. Jul 2007. 10 Jul. 2007. . Brady, Erik. ?Cheerleading in the USA: A sport and an industry.? USA Today. 26 Apr. 2002. Crum, Haley. ?Cheerleading not a s port.? Thedmonline. 30 Jun. 2006. 16 Jul. 2007. . ?Ch! eerleading Injuries Increasing.? CBS News. CBS, Chicago. 3 Jan 2006. If you want to get a well(p) essay, order it on our website:
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