All-Star Article On Espnw Says Cheer Not A Sport

[Dixie]

Gymnastics. Multiple events occur at the same time in the same arena.

Same sport. Same as track. Now if track had a soccer game going at the same time - that's interesting to me.

 

[JMW]

well you are no fun. you agree with me already.

Well I always thought we were both playing Devils advocate a bit.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[retiredl5cheer]

but thats not another sport. just a different apparatus happening simultaneously.

True. I don't consider sideline cheer a sport anyways so I don't really think there are two sports going on at the same time. More like one sport and one group of entertainers. I don't think sideline should be grounded (King and I debated this on Twitter) but I also don't consider it a sport.

 

[King]

Well I always thought we were both playing Devils advocate a bit.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

Mostly I don't think you (you being anyone) can argue cheer shouldnt be a sport BUT you should be able to do the death defying skills at a game. The argument breaks down the more it is talked out.

 

[King]

True. I don't consider sideline cheer a sport anyways so I don't really think there are two sports going on at the same time. More like one sport and one group of entertainers. I don't think sideline should be grounded (King and I debated this on Twitter) but I also don't consider it a sport.

I love a good debate.

The AMA recommendation is to make sideline a sport because it is as dangerous as the sport of cheer (aka competition) and isn't properly funded or the coaching staff trained because it is not a sport. Since sideline cheer itself isn't taking care of the problem sideline should be made a sport so people give it the support it needs. Essentially.

 

[DaniV]

So schools that don't do skills, aka ground bound, have ineffective cheerleaders? Or just less effective? What about the USC song girls? They are far more famous than any other group of college cheerleaders to normal people and they are just dance style cheerleaders. Wouldn't that be against the argument?

I would agree that completely disagrees with my argument, I was just playing devils advocate for the opposite side. And NFL style "cheerleaders" would be follow that category too, although I'm not sure they actually lead the crowd in anything. Although, a lot of effective ground bound dance-style teams that are effective crowd leaders are high profile and very good at what they do. Take a mediocre team and take away the "cool" stuff (stunts and tricks) they become even more mediocre and nothing special to watch.

 

[King]

I would agree that completely disagrees with my argument, I was just playing devils advocate for the opposite side. And NFL style "cheerleaders" would be follow that category too, although I'm not sure they actually lead the crowd in anything. Although, a lot of effective ground bound dance-style teams that are effective crowd leaders are high profile and very good at what they do. Take a mediocre team and take away the "cool" stuff (stunts and tricks) they become even more mediocre and nothing special to watch.

I will see the most effective crowd leading things I have seen from college cheer have little to no skills involved. Things that come to mind:

Great basketball timeout of all time (Hoosiers)
U K spellout of bodies on floor
Clemson running down the hill
GT ride out the wreck (ok maybe not for anyone else but this one gets me and I am biased)

A lot of the physical skills are sprinkles on ice cream that we have turned into a sport (aka competition).

 

[DaniV]

I will see the most effective crowd leading things I have seen from college cheer have little to no skills involved. Things that come to mind:

Great basketball timeout of all time (Hoosiers)
U K spellout of bodies on floor
Clemson running down the hill
GT ride out the wreck (ok maybe not for anyone else but this one gets me and I am biased)

A lot of the physical skills are sprinkles on ice cream that we have turned into a sport (aka competition).

Great point. I hadn't thought about those types of things as crowd leading skills. I was just thinking more along the basic things of getting the crowd to yell certain things or waving signs around.

 

[azune]

I think I'm one of the few dancers here, and sometimes here dance is disrespected. We complete and practice just as hard as you guys. We just have a different set of rules. Everything we do also require tremendous athletic talent, and if cheer is a sport, so is dance.

 

[King]

I think I'm one of the few dancers here, and sometimes here dance is disrespected. We complete and practice just as hard as you guys. We just have a different set of rules. Everything we do also require tremendous athletic talent, and if cheer is a sport, so is dance.

I agree dance is just as much a sport as cheer is in all but once area. Cheer is much more likely to have catastrophic injuries and is therefore more dangerous.

 

[azune]

I agree dance is just as much a sport as cheer is in all but once area. Cheer is much more likely to have catastrophic injuries and is therefore more dangerous.

Very true, but not all sports are dangerous. I just hope that soon some light comes to dance as well.

 

[King]

Very true, but not all sports are dangerous. I just hope that soon some light comes to dance as well.

the main reasons for making sideline cheer a sport is danger though.

i dont think you will get anyone here to say competitive cheer or dance is not a sport. it is the sideline stuff we are discussing.

 

[JMW]

Very true, but not all sports are dangerous. I just hope that soon some light comes to dance as well.

Competitive dance is considered a sport by the IHSA in Illinois. That happened a few years after competitive cheer.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[Dixie]

the main reasons for making sideline cheer a sport is danger though.

i dont think you will get anyone here to say competitive cheer or dance is not a sport. it is the sideline stuff we are discussing.

If the danger level equals a sport status, then I know of lots of sports that shouldn't be there. Golf, fishing and hunting come to mind.
And you found one. I'm alone on this I'm sure, but I don't think its a sport. It's athletic - absolutely. To me a sport means offense and defense. But if sideline is a sport, then so are dance and marching band.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[JMW]

If the danger level equals a sport status, then I know of lots of sports that shouldn't be there. Golf, fishing and hunting come to mind.
And you found one. I'm alone on this I'm sure, but I don't think its a sport. It's athletic - absolutely. To me a sport means offense and defense. But if sideline is a sport, then so are dance and marching band.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

Just a question...why do you think it's important in this context (or any context, really) to differentiate between a "sport" and an athletic activity?


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android