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            There are about 3 million cheerleaders in the USA, and 1,500 cheerleading programs in 613 gyms (Brady 26). The world of cheerleading no longs means sideline cheerleaders who only stand there to look cute and shake their pom-poms. The Varsity Spirit Corporation has 50 companies and produced up to $50 million in revenue on cheerleading alone last year (Brady 26). 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” (Feizer 2008). A lot of people think cheerleading is not a sport, but cheerleading takes skill, strength, and flexibility.

Skill is a main ingredient in the cheerleading mixture.

            Cheerleading does not just involve standing in one place and yelling to the crowd. It has advanced into tumbling, stunting, and jumping, all of which take massive amounts of skill. 50% of injuries are from cheerleading alone (Feizer 2008). The cheerleaders today have to be able to twist multiple times in the air precisely in order to not risk injuries. Tumbling is another form of flipping through the air, cheerleaders and gymnasts must practice several times over and over to perfect the right body movements required to hit the trick perfectly. The flyer is the most important part of any stunt. Flyers also have to twist multiple times in the air and make sure that they are back in a laid out position so that the bases can catch her. Practice, Practice, Practice are so important to the progression of the advancement of cheerleaders. Strength is one of the most unacknowledged part of cheerleading but the most important.

            Throwing a girl up seven feet in the air takes a lot of strength. During a regular week cheerleaders can practice anywhere from 20-25 hours in order to perfect their tricks and skills (Brady 27). Most often coaches break practices up into different focus days, every other day having strength and conditioning, and the other days, working on perfecting their every move. Running, jumping, and practicing cheers are just simple aspects of an everyday practice. Push-ups, sit-ups and toe-touches are another part. All of these things put together make up the fascinating world of cheerleading and all of its amazing abilities. Cheerleaders are probably the

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strongest girls you will ever meet. Cheerleaders work and train just as much as any other athlete does. People just do not understand the strength that it takes, and no one gives the bases the credit they deserve. All they see is the flyer flipping but they do not see what is behind the flipping and twisting. Flexibility is another aspect of cheerleading that is probably the most recognized part of the stunts.

Contorting one’s self into different positions while standing on one foot? Sounds crazy, but it is a part of a flyers everyday lives. Any wrong movement and she could come to ground. Also smiling or saying a cheer while balancing on one foot. That is why it is important for flyers to be flexible in order to not risk falling and injury. Stunting is not the only reason that cheerleaders must be flexible. Tumbling also takes tons of amounts of flexibility, flipping through the air several times is not easy, and required girls to ones again contort and twist into several different body movements while at the same time make sure every other aspect is perfect. Jumps may be the least exciting part about watching a cheerleading routine, but cheerleaders put just as much time and effort into the height of their jumps as they do in their tumbling and stunts. It is not just jumping off the ground, cheerleaders have to pull their legs up, point their toes, squeeze their abs, keep their arms straight, and do it all with a smile on their face.

            Cheerleading includes chants, cheers, routines, jumps, tumbling, gymnastics, partner stunts and pyramid building (Feizer 2008). Competitive cheerleading has skyrocketed and all of the listed items above have become the simple yet most critiqued part of the competitive cheer world. All of those things need skill strength and flexibility. 17-20 states say that cheerleading is a sport (Brady 28). Skill, strength, and flexibility are all aspects of cheerleading, competitive or sideline, football or basketball. All of those points are included in the definition of a sport, and often the cheerleaders can and will work harder than the team they are cheering for. Once people can see for themselves how cheerleading has grown, all 50 states will agree that cheerleading is in fact a sport, and people will give cheerleaders the credit that they deserve.

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Works Cited

Brady, Erik. “Cheerleading in the U.S.: A Sport and an Industry.” USA Today 26-28 Apr. 2002: 1A-2A. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. 13 Oct. 2008 <http://www.sirs.com>.

Feizer , Rachel. "Cheerleading is a sport." The Round Up. 07 Apr. 2008. The Round Up Newspaper. 13 Oct. 2008 <http://www.roundupnews.com>.

O’Keefe, Bryan. “Maryland’s Cheerleaders Stand by Definition of Squad As Sport.” KRT News Service 17 Nov. 2003: n.p.. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. 13 Oct. 2008 <http://www.sirs.com>.

Pennington, Bill. “As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So Does the Danger.” New York Times 31 Mar. 2007: A1+. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. 13 Oct. 2008 <http://www.sirs.com>