Cheerleading = Sport
Practices, stair runs, routines for every game and a former Utah Jazz cheerleader's verdict: a DaVinci reporter argues cheerleading is a sport.
Cheerleading is considered a sport in many different countries.
The New York Times states that “cheer leading is the fastest growing sport.”
Being on a cheer squad is hard work physically and mentally. You have to be able to keep up with grades and come to all practices. During some practices they run stairs for warm up.
When the coaches pick people for the team they are looking for their spirit and athleticism. They like to see how well the girls and boys do at gymnastics and their dancing skills. Some cheers involve jumping into the splits and doing front kicks.
This year our school has a smaller team, which includes Jessa, Porshai, Marly, Payton, Jacquelyn, Kallie, Leslie, Mari, and Lorin. Many times the girls choose one team leader or captain to lead the team.
The captain is in charge of keeping up with the girls, conducting meetings, and making sure they are getting the moves. The captain or leader of cheers normally starts out the cheers, picks the cheers and lets the girls know when to start.
DaVinci’s cheer squad meets every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after school. They learn routines and cheers. Normally they perform at half time at the basketball games. They try to do a new routine for every game.
DaVinci’s coach, Bradi, is responsible to teach new cheers and dances for half time. Special DaVinci cheers help the team’s and the crowd’s spirit. Some cheerleaders say that the coach is harsh to their benefit.
Coaching a cheer team is similar to other sports in many ways. To be a cheer coach you have to be flexible, know how to do the jumps and be able to teach it to others.
Our cheerleaders cheer for volleyball and basketball. Some girls have had experience in gymnastics before they did cheer. Making sure that the cheerleaders have correct uniforms matters too. Their apparel consists of having their hair pulled up, wearing make-up (mascara), buying a uniform that has the school logo, wearing a bow of school colors, professional cheerleading shoes, and pom-poms.
People always enjoy watching the halftime shows during assemblies, but people don’t understand how difficult it is to be on the right count. Cheerleaders work just as hard as all of the other sports. They are always trying to keep up spirits and entertain, like most sports. “Cheer leading is just as much a sport as basketball is,” says Brie Wadsworth. Mrs. Wadsworth was a cheerleader with the Utah Jazz and worked at cheer for at least 20 hours a week. Each game was five hours of cheer.
The argument since 2015
The question this article asked has picked up official answers in the years after it ran. In December 2016 the International Olympic Committee gave provisional recognition to the International Cheer Union, the world governing body for cheerleading, which was founded in 2004. In July 2021, at its session in Tokyo, the IOC granted the ICU full recognition. That puts cheer in the family of recognized Olympic sports, though appearing at the Games still depends on later decisions.
Closer to home, the American Medical Association adopted a policy in 2014 that cheerleading should be considered a sport. College rules are more mixed. A 2010 federal court ruling in Biediger v. Quinnipiac University found that college cheerleading was not a sport for Title IX purposes, and the Office for Civil Rights still treats it that way. Two cheer-based events, acrobatics and tumbling and Stunt, became NCAA championship sports in 2025.
The article is also a tidy example of the argument writing schools assign: a claim, evidence from practice schedules and an expert, and an answer to the other side. Anyone handed the same kind of paper can compare it with a guide to writing a persuasive essay.
Questions people ask
Is cheerleading an Olympic sport?
Not yet on the program, but it is recognized. The International Olympic Committee gave provisional recognition to the International Cheer Union in December 2016 and full recognition in July 2021. Recognition means the IOC treats cheer as a sport, while adding it to a future Games requires a separate decision.
Does the NCAA count cheerleading as a sport?
Traditional sideline cheer is not an NCAA sport. Two cheer-based disciplines are: acrobatics and tumbling, and Stunt. Both moved through the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program, acrobatics and tumbling from 2020 and Stunt from 2023, and both became full NCAA championship sports in 2025, though sideline squads remain outside that.
