Why is Cheerleading So Controversial?

Why is Cheerleading So Controversial? Even though the sport is enjoying a growth in global popularity, cheerleading remains a subject of great controversy in the United States. Basically, the cheerleading as a sport argument features two schools of thought, each of which is adamantly opposed to the other. The first, feels that cheerleading should be recognized as a sport, while the second considers cheerleading “too underdeveloped” for consideration as a high school and intercollegiate sport. At the end of the day, the ones that lose are those cheerleaders, or athletes, depending upon how you look at it. In the United States, cheerleading is currently not considered an acceptable physical fitness activity, much less a sport. As it stands, cheerleading is not recognized as an intercollegiate sport and cheerleaders are unable to earn athletic scholarships for their participation. To a great extent, this can be attributed to the recent Supreme Court decision where Judge Stefan Underhill ruled that under Title-IX Regulations, cheerleading remained too underdeveloped for consideration as an intercollegiate sport. Despite the ruling, however, cheerleaders are unrelenting in their attempts to gain recognition for cheerleading. Even though they are not receiving any athletic credit for their presence -or even acknowledgement for their efforts- they continue to keep crowds cheering during sporting events. It seems that the title of this Wall Street Journal article, “What’s the Point of Cheerleading?’ may be more on-track than initially anticipated. Currently, it seems -more than anything else- supposed “cheerleading supporters’ are slaughtering the sport through countless attempts to modify it into the cheap rip-off affectionately referred to as Stunt. Call it what you want, but don’t call it cheerleading. What’s more curious is that a number of European and Asian countries, on the other hand, consider cheerleading not only an acceptable physical fitness activity, but as a sport, too. Over the past several months, I have received innumerable Facebook messages and emails from cheerleaders around the world, all looking to solidify their programs and develop their skills. In fact, Cheerleading Uniforms Blog recently published a blog posting titled, “Cheerleading for Students to Improve Their Own Physical Fitness’ detailing how schools throughout Britain are now turning to cheerleading and other alternative sports in an effort to motivate their students towards living “healthier/more physically active lifestyles’. All in all, it just seems interesting that in spite of cheerleading’s recent international popularity, the sport’s country of origin, the United States, struggles to see the point of its existence.