When it comes to the topic of whether cheerleading should be considered as a sport, many people have their own opinions and beliefs, but the only opinion that really is taken into account is that of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The OCR is in the United States department of Education, and they are the people that make the final decision of whether an activity can be seen as a sport. The OCR does not recognize cheering as a sport because its initial purpose was to support athletic teams. They state that they cannot make blanket statements as to whether cheerleading is a sport just because of competitive cheering. In order for cheering to be considered as a sport, all aspects of it must meet the criteria that the OCR goes by.
The OCR follows a set list of criteria in order to determine whether an activity can be called a sport. The list of criteria include: Recognition by the state association; Requiring team tryouts, regular practice sessions; Standing alone as the primary event without being scheduled simultaneously with another event and more. Although competitive cheerleading follows all of the criteria, it still can not be thought of as a sport because not all aspects of follow the criteria. In order for cheerleading to be considered an official sport, both competitive and sideline cheering have to abide by the rules.
Rhonda Blandford – Green wrote this article to inform readers as to why cheerleading is not a sport, and she did just that. As a cheerleader myself, I was confused as to why cheerleading was not seen as a legitimate sport. Cheerleading requires just as much blood sweat and tears as any other sport, if not more, but yet it is just seen as an activity. Being someone that has cheered both competitive and sideline, I now fully understand why cheerleading is not seen as a sport. Competitive cheerleading requires a lot of athleticism and it meets the criteria, whereas sideline cheering requires little to no athleticism and does not meet all the criteria. Just because competitive cheerleading meets the criteria to be considered as a sport, it does not constitute for the other aspects of cheerleading such as sideline. I believe that in order for cheerleading to be considered as a sport, both sideline and competition cheering has to follow the criteria made by the OCR.
Knowledge Issue: Is cheerleading a sport?
Blandford-green, Rhonda. "Cheerleading Is Not a Sport - Can Cheer and Competitive Cheer Be Considered?" Highschool Today 11 Nov. 2011: 12-13. Web.
