Is cheerleading a sport?

Question

I think it’s 100% a sport 😅
at least competitive cheer is. Sideline cheering isn’t though. Like the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders for example, all they do is dance. They’re talented but I would call them dancers, I wouldn’t call them athletes.

But actual competitive cheer is practically the same thing as gymnastics. Some of the stunts they do are insane.
And have y’all seen cheerleaders bodies? 😳 these little 15 year old girls are out here with bigger muscles and more defined abs than I do lmaooo. Competitive cheerleaders are athletic as fuckkkk.

https://youtube.com/shorts/QnE2JCwzakI?feature=share

WhiteSteve · Accepted Answer

Yeah, pretty much just what you said. Competitive cheerleading is a legit sport, sideline is more of a different animal more akin to dance. I used to see a girl who later was a “Flight Girl” for the NY Jets (BOOOOOOOO👎👎🖕) and she never did any competitive cheer, she was a straight up dancer, got her degree in dance, and she was in New York in the first place to try to be a professional, audition for shows, etc, the cheerleading job was just for extra cash (I think she said it was only like $80 a game, lmfao) and to build her résumé.

She left NYC pretty quickly, bled out financially, and she went to San Diego and she was an ice girl for a minor league hockey team out there. I think they do even less, they like throw out t-shirts in the crowd, and I think I’ve even seen them used to scrape up the blood from the ice with a shovel after someone is cut in a fight or with an errant stick. I don’t know if it’s usual, but I definitely saw a minor league hockey fight video where a dude got split, and they’ve got these hot chicks in sports bras out there just cleaning up the mess, it was absurd, lmfao. I don’t think it required much athleticism though😂 But all the girls doing aerials and all that in competitive cheer are serious athletes.

andreasderjuengere · Accepted Answer

It's certainly physically challenging.
But in the end it's acrobatic entertainment.
Would we call a circus show ''sports''?
Or when a KPop kids ''band'' performs some rhythmic show... is THAT sports as well?

As you mention muscles... a fit construction worker then also qualifies as an ''athlete'' :D

Seriously: I understand that you may want to get into a cheer leader's panties. That's what they basically are intended for. But to spread cheesy compliments makes 'you' (or us) a pathetic hormone driven slobberer.

melanieeeB · Accepted Answer

Definitely it is haha  As a kid I always wished our school would have a Cheerleader team (saw it in movies lol) but Cheerleading was back then more an American thing lol

Xoxocutekitty · Accepted Answer

It is basically gymnastics wearing a different uniform (skirt) and holding pom poms.  So yes, it's a sport.

Chazmatazz269 · Answer

It definitely is. Second only to soccer for most sports-related injuries too. Also, the sidelines cheerleaders are meant to boost morale for whatever team is playing. Wouldn’t be prudent for them to be outperforming the team on the court or field. Ell oh ell! I dated a woman with two daughters in competitive cheer, and the older one also cheered for the skool sports teams. She definitely found it less challenging but more of her friends could do it. Plus she had a growing interest in athletic boys. Haha!

ChrisMaster69 · Answer

They have Break Dancing in the next Olympics…. All bets are off as to what is or is not a sport.

exitseven · Answer

It is now. When i was in high school in the 80s the girls just shook their pom poms and danced a little. Now these kids do real gymnastics and vet complex dance routines. THey are really athletic. Two pro cheerleaders worked out at the same gym I did and they were in amazing shape.

blissinanarchy1 · Answer

Dancing is athletic. Cheerleading is too. Remember, videogames are coming to the olympics and is a “sport”.

Birdlegs · Answer

Competitive cheer is nuts the guys are strong asf and have done some of the highest backflips I’ve ever seen

kellytheman · Answer

It's definitely a sport they throwing people in the air doing insane flips and twists, there also some dancing, and they also need to lift weights and train to do it. Also I think any physical competition is consider a sport.

Adronicus · Answer

For sure. I had several friends that were cheerleaders in high school (I always had more female friends than male ones, I don't know why). They're VERY competitive.

D_Bone_Steak · Answer

I think it is. I'd rather MMA fight than dare to do some of the shit they do.

Blueeyes81 · Answer

Depends. The girls that just stand on the sidelines like when I was in school, no thats not a sport. The cheerleaders who train and do the throws and tumbles, yes that's a sport.

HighValue · Answer

Competitive cheer is, cheering for a team is not. I agree with you.

enocheli · Answer

yes it is go do some flips in the air and tell me how easy it is lol

purplepoppy · Answer

The most common thing a cheerleader breaks is her hymen. Waving a pom pom isn't a sport, I'm sure they put a lot of work into their routines but end if the day they're just dancers. You might as well call poledancers athletes

XXblack88 · Answer

Yes it's a combination of dance' gymnastics and they throw each other in the air that seems athletic to me.

MikeInHawaii · Answer

I think they get injured more than participants in any other sport. With all the gymnastics involved, I’d call it a sport.

peedy · Answer

Never use to be but now they got competitions to go compete at and if you take a look at it they gotta stay in shape they have to practice just like any other sport  So I would have to say yes

JohnK123 · Answer

Doing dances with Pom poms… I don’t think so i cringe how easy it is to make NaTiOnAlS as a cheerleader

qwert1234 · Answer

If video gaming has a sport, then yes, cheerleading has a sport.

jahaims · Answer

Sport- an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

NYCQuestions1976 · Answer

Well there's teams and team events, and they compete against other teams, so yes.

HippieVeganJewslim · Answer

Yes. Cheerleading has elements of gymnastics, a sport.

Is cheerleading a sport?

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