Persuasive Essay: Is Cheerleading A Sport?

There is always conversation about how cheerleading isn’t a sport or shouldn’t be considered one. Cheerleading is the fastest growing girls sport, yet more than half of Americans do not believe it is a sport. In addition, they fail to distinguish between sideline cheerleaders and competitive ones. A real cheerleader doesn’t stand on the side; they are performing, working hard to be the best of the best. You have to be physically and mentally prepared to take on competitive cheer. Cheerleading should be a sport because it requires physical activity, strength, endurance and discipline. Cheerleading’s main purpose is to entertain, motivate and bring together people of other sport teams. Merriam Webster dictionary defines sport as an athletic
It is thought that cheerleaders are superficial and only care about looks and popularity, when in fact; there are countless hours that go into the preparation of an awesome routine practice of a highly competitive squad that is known for their abilities. Conditioning is what makes a team the best they can be. After a while, cheerleaders feel that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. Cheerleading has developed into a thriving activity, with determined athletes, demanding practice hours, and astounding bravery. Most people still do not give it the credit it deserves in the world of sports. In the past 20 years, the activity has developed into a worldwide, athletic phenomenon with competitive events at all age groups throughout the nation. It is growing fast here and gaining popularity outside the United States. "It 's been phenomenal. Better than I ever expected, within five years, this is going to be the norm just because it makes sense,” says head coach at University of Maryland, Lura
Football players get concussions, broken bones, torn ligaments and etc. Well, so do cheerleaders. Girls break bones, they tear ligaments, and it can be from just tumbling. Cheerleaders can break their spine if they aren’t caught the proper way. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that cheerleading led to 16,000 emergency room visits in 2002. While not as frequent as injuries in other sports, cheerleading injuries tend to be more severe, making up more than half of the catastrophic injuries in female athletes. Cheerleading injuries affect all areas of the body, most commonly the wrists, shoulders, ankles, head, and neck.