There has been much debate when determining the status of physical activities such as cheerleading and dance. The Courier discusses these athletics and what exactly defines a sport.
Cheerleading and dance deserve recognition as sports
When many people think of serious athletic activities, traditional sports like football, soccer and basketball come to mind. They fail to acknowledge cheerleading and dance; however, these sports take just as much talent and physical strength as other classified sports. Although they may look easy, much time and effort goes into every jump, stunt or leap. These “arts” should be considered sports because they require a fierce competitive nature as well as physical strength.
Each year the Universal Cheerleaders Association National Cheerleading Championships are broadcasted on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. The American Pediatric Association (APA) has also recently decided that cheer should be a sport in order to put a limit on practice time and to provide the cheerleaders with better medical care. According to the APA, 29 states have already mandated cheer as a sport.
“Cheer is not just ‘rah-rah’ like everyone thinks,” said cheerleading coach Rachel Kay. “The cheerleaders are constantly conditioning. They run, do push-ups and crunches, all to better their stamina and to build strength.”
In 2010, Gatorade chose to sponsor the television show “So You Think You Can Dance,” and Gatorade now officially recognizes dance as a sport and dancers as professional athletes. Dancers must possess strong athletic ability in being agile and maintaining a strong core and powerful legs. This is essential to their success in performances.
“The dancers are required to have an extreme amount of strength, agility, flexibility and coordination,” said dance teacher Kristen Furino. “It is meshing both art and sport, hand in hand.”
Additionally, dance and cheer are similar to Olympics sports such as gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics, which use the same principles of flexibility and choreography as cheer and dance.
“Our goal is to be respected as a sport,” said Kay. “We want to be considered a sport because of how hard we work.”
Written by Laura Mishkin – Staff Writer
Sports are more than dancing and cheering
According to www.dictionary.com, a sport is defined as “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature.” A few sports such as baseball and tennis are then listed. Despite the fact that both dance and cheer are strenuous activities, this online dictionary does not include either one in its definition of a sport. Cheerleading is defined as “the action or skill of a person who leads spectators in traditional or formal cheering,” and dance is defined as “to move rhythmically in a pattern of steps.” Although cheer and dance do involve physical aspects, neither are conventional sports.
“For something to be a sport, a team’s performance has to directly affect the opposing team,” said an anonymous senior. “Dance and cheer do not directly play against other teams.”
For centuries dance has been considered an art form. The creative contour of the body as it flows across the stage is considered a beautiful display of artistic creation. Art is considered by many to simply be a pleasant pastime or hobby. Many dancers take classes in preparation for a recital or simply for fun, not to win a tournament or a game against their biggest rival.
Although dance’s future as a sport is yet to be determined, a recent United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit case declared cheer not a sport because it does not meet the standards of a varsity sport.
According to CBS News, the Court released a statement saying, “Like the district court, we acknowledge record
evidence showing that competitive cheerleading can be physically challenging, requiring competitors to possess strength, agility and grace. With better organization and more defined rules, [cheer] may someday warrant recognition as a varsity sport.But, we conclude that the record evidence shows that that time has not yet arrived.”
With unclear criteria and lack of set rules, dance and cheer cannot be considered legitimate sports.
Written by Peyton Herzog – Staff Writer
Do you consider these activities sports?
100 CHS students were polled. 89 percent voted that dance is a sport and 21 percent voted that dance is not a sport.
100 CHS students were polled. 98 percent voted that baseball is a sport, and 2 percent voted that it is not a sport. 66 percent voted badminton is a sport, and 34 percent voted that it is not a sport. 97 percent voted that volleyball is a sport, and 3 percent voted that it is not.
100 CHS students were polled. 59 percent voted that cheer is a sport, and 41 percent voted that cheer is not a sport.
