Could competitive cheerleading help FCS football?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Don't laugh.

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-cheerleading-sport.html


As recently as two decades ago, it seemed ludicrous to think of cheerleading as a sport. Co-ed cheer squads, with the occasional gymnastic move by the girls and loud shouting in the megaphones by the guys, seemed more like a free way to get in to see the game rather than a true "sport" that involved competition.

But the evolution of cheerleading into a true competitive sport may be more than a simple academic question these days.

Quinnipiac College, a Division I non-football playing school, recently had a lawsuit brought against it by members of its recently-cut volleyball team. The team says that their team was the victim of budget cuts so that that Bobcats could continue to sponsor a "competitive cheerleading squad".

Advocates and foes alike can agree on one thing: if competitive cheerleading will be accepted as an official sport, the decision will have huge ramifications throughout the entire NCAA.

It seems funny, but the twenty to thirty scholarships a competitive cheer team would provide could very well help many FCS teams be in compliance with Title IX. Thoughts?

[colorless raider]

Yo, slow down. Let's find the money for football scholarships first.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Yo, slow down. Let's find the money for football scholarships first.

xlolx

[superman7515]

Tell me that wouldn't be funny. "Sorry Fordham, still no football scholarships, but the girls on the sideline won't have to worry about tuition."

[TexasTerror]

Several major programs have already added 'competitive cheer'. Maryland has won four national championships and here's the standings from last year's championships...Louisville apparently won last year.

ALL GIRL IA FINAL RESULTS
1. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 9.639
2. University of Louisville 9.618
3. University of Oregon 9.177
4. N.C. State University 9.068
5. University of South Carolina 8.793
6. University of Georgia 8.650
7. Michigan State University 8.186

[aggie6thman]

Yo, slow down. Let's find the money for football scholarships first.

Amen to that.

[carney2]

How about

competitive pole dancing

best [fill in the body part(s) of your choice]

female body building teams?

Good lord, LFN, you have way too much time on your hands. One of the truly great things about the Patriot League is that you can, and should, ignore the cheerleaders.

[Torgo]

Christ...the thought of cheerleading as a sport makes me cringe.

[WestCoastAggie]

Pole Dancing will definitely help recruiting.

[Squealofthepig]

Pole Dancing will definitely help recruiting.

WCA is onto something here...

The amusing part though, really, is imagining what future ND/NDSU smacktalk would be like after they both have competitive cheerleading squads...

[Bogus Megapardus]

It has a home page (http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&KEY=&SPID=10460&SPSID=95370) and everything.

Quinnipiac has a "competitive cheer" team but no football team to cheer for. Yeah, I wanna be just like them.

[T-Dog]

Cheerleaders on the sideline of a football game pumping up the crowd isn't a sport.

Doing routines in a competition against other cheer teams is a sport.

I got no problem with competitive cheerleading being a sport and getting scholarships. However, it should be separate from what the cheer team does on the sidelines and not covered with public scholarship money. So if a girl is on the sideline cheer squad but not on the competitive cheer squad, she shouldn't be eligible for any cheer scholarships.

[busybee14]

I have no problem with Competetive cheering being classified a scholly sport. I have been to a few competitions and think it would and could help many schools.

Some Northeastern schools could recruit our southern girls and might just give your fans something worth looking at.

[rufus]

I can't pretend to know enough about competitive cheering to know whether it should be considered a sport, but if it's a cheap way for schools to comply with Title IX, then I'm all for it.

[mikebigg]

It's a fast growing Sport... my oldest granddaughter is 13 years old and has been into it for about 5 years and shows no sign of letting up. It's expensive (outside coaching, gymnastic training, travel to competitions, etc) but something that as a family we've really enjoyed. Also more boys are getting into it... and not like some of you might think. These are apparently heterosexual former traditional sports males.

[darell1976]

WCA is onto something here...

The amusing part though, really, is imagining what future ND/NDSU smacktalk would be like after they both have competitive cheerleading squads...

Our cheer is louder than yours.xlolx I still am sensitive when it comes to NDSU and cheerleading since they had a cheerleader fall from the pyrimid and died back in the 80's I believe. I think if there is enough scholarships left over for competitive cheerleading fine but don't take it away from the sports teams first.xnonox

[henfan]

This isn't the first time this idea has been floated.

With the amount of physical fitness, training, practice and dedication required for cheerleading at the NCAA D-I level, it absolutely should be counted as a way to balance equivalancies, especially with schools who constantly struggle to meet Title IX requirements due to the presence of FB. Competitive cheering shouldn't even be a question, IMO.

Whether it's referred to as 'a sport' or not is pointless. FWIW, I could think of a couple of sanctioned NCAA sports that involve far less physical activity than cheering.

[Bogus Megapardus]

How will competitive cheering succeed while gymnastics is sponsored at fewer and fewer schools? Is it the "look at me" factor? The stodginess of the traditional gymnastic routines?

[DFW HOYA]

How will competitive cheering succeed while gymnastics is sponsored at fewer and fewer schools? Is it the "look at me" factor? The stodginess of the traditional gymnastic routines?

It's the ESPN-ization of cheerleading with TV coverage, dance routines instead of old-fashioned cheers and auditoria full of parents and fans cheering them along. (Not a lot of megaphones and "Hold That Line!" routines anymore.)

And, too often, gymnastics is consigned to a back room at the gym before coaches and officials. Kids aren't as interested in sports no one sees.

[bkrownd]

Cheer Teams and Dance Squads practically ARE the gymnastics program these days

next time the US hosts an olympics it will be an exhibition sport

[msusig]

Don't laugh.

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-cheerleading-sport.html



It seems funny, but the twenty to thirty scholarships a competitive cheer team would provide could very well help many FCS teams be in compliance with Title IX. Thoughts?

If it brings more hot chicks to McNeese, I'm for it!

[TexasTerror]

The answer is NO...and now we'll have schools cutting competitive cheer! Love Title IX...nah!


HARTFORD, Conn. -- Competitive cheerleading is not an official sport that colleges can use to meet gender-equity requirements, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in ordering a Connecticut school to keep its women's volleyball team.

Several volleyball players and their coach had sued Quinnipiac University after it announced in March 2009 that it would eliminate the team for budgetary reasons and replace it with a competitive cheer squad.

The school contended the cheer squad and other moves kept it in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 federal law that mandates equal opportunities for men and women in athletics. But U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill disagreed in a ruling that those involved say was the first time the issue has been decided by a judge.

"Competitive cheer may, some time in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX," Underhill wrote. "Today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5398814&campaign=rss&source=NCAAHeadlines

[Jackman]

I read somewhere that competitive cheering has the highest rate of injury per participant of any NCAA sport, and thus has large insurance costs. UConn dropped their cheerleading team in part because of this. I hate to admit to it, but I think I agree with UConn on this one. I have complete respect for the amount of athleticism involved, but I'd rather have an actual women's gymnastics team instead of this group gymnastics/dance medley thing. Competitive cheerleading teams don't seem to be that interested in actually leading cheers, they're just waiting for their next dance routine. I think the whole thing has become a bit silly, and difficult to explain to a foreigner watching his first college football game. It has about as much relevance to the game as having a competitive eating contest in one corner of the stadium while the game is going on. Good bands are 10 times better at motivating the crowd than typical cheerleading squads.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I read somewhere that competitive cheering has the highest rate of injury per participant of any NCAA sport, and thus has large insurance costs. UConn dropped their cheerleading team in part because of this. I hate to admit to it, but I think I agree with UConn on this one. I have complete respect for the amount of athleticism involved, but I'd rather have an actual women's gymnastics team instead of this group gymnastics/dance medley thing. Competitive cheerleading teams don't seem to be that interested in actually leading cheers, they're just waiting for their next dance routine. I think the whole thing has become a bit silly, and difficult to explain to a foreigner watching his first college football game. It has about as much relevance to the game as having a competitive eating contest in one corner of the stadium while the game is going on. Good bands are 10 times better at motivating the crowd than typical cheerleading squads.

The difference, however, is that competitive eating isn't a sport that's being demanded by high school boys and girls. Competitive cheerleading is. It's funny to hear the Title IX advocates have to twist and turn to condemn Quinnipiac for "fudging the numbers" rather than lauding the fact that they are elevating competitive cheerleading to a sport - which would, of course, expand immensely "equal opportunity for women's athletics".

I tend to agree that QU basically jumped the gun on having their team qualify under Title IX for a sport that isn't - per the NCAA's definition - an official sport. But it will be, sooner rather than later, because it makes too much sense for everybody. It expands women's opportunities. It gives breathing room for men's sports. And girls and young women want to be able to compete in it.

[GA St. MBB Fan]

But it will be, sooner rather than later, because it makes too much sense for everybody.

Therefore the NCAA will not do it.

[WestCoastAggie]

It may not be a "real" sport but I've seen plenty of girls/women get injured from doing those air tosses and those big ol' pyramids. My sr year of HS, we had 3 girls end up with a Concussion after a WR ran into them while going for a jump ball in the endzone.

I never understood why they did stunts right outside the endzone anyways.

[MplsBison]

Judge says "not yet" : http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5398814

On the one hand, I can understand that rights groups think this is a cop out...it sorta is. Competitive cheerleading? As a sport? Come on...


But on the other hand, I can also see it from the school's point of view. It seemingly meets the criteria and it does in fact give that many more girls the chance to compete in varsity competition and earn a scholarship for doing so.


Hmm..

[49RFootballNow]

If I were whoever runs or has authority and clout in the competitive cheer community, I would use this to centralize and stratify the "sport" so that they can go back to this judge and say "now we're developed and ready". Hope they get that done by 2020, cause that's when we have to have our 3rd sport for Title IX offset and already having a competitive cheer squad, that will save my U lots of money, effort and time.

[chazg]

Penn & Teller covered this on Bulls#1t. Basically Varsity sports does not want it to be a competitive sport because that would mean a governing body with rules and limits on equipment, uniforms, and spending. Varsity makes their money off of camps, trainers, uniforms, accessories, and anything else having to do with cheering and does not want anything that might affect their sales and monopoly on the cheer world. All of the different cheer associations are actually a division of Varsity.

[aceinthehole]

It's funny to hear the Title IX advocates have to twist and turn to condemn Quinnipiac for "fudging the numbers".

I tend to agree that QU basically jumped the gun on having their team qualify under Title IX for a sport that isn't - per the NCAA's definition - an official sport.

I am an official QU-hater, but let's not gloss over the fact they they lied on federal forms for roster participation in multiple sports to undercount men and overcount women. The "competitive cheer" issue was secondary in this case (although its is what is getting the most press).

QU is an evil organization and they had every INTENT and ACTION to violate the Title IX law.


Underhill also faulted the school for misrepresenting the number of participants in its cross-country and track programs.

The judge concluded that, since the filing of the suit, the school has discontinued some aspects of what he termed the manipulation of sports rosters. But he said the "University is still continuing to deflate the size of its men's rosters and inflate the size of its women's rosters." http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-quinnipiac-decision-0721-20100721,0,4938147.story


Evidence presented to support an injunction a year ago showed the men's baseball and lacrosse teams would drop players before reporting data to the Department of Education and reinstate them after the reports were submitted. Conversely, the women's softball team would add players before the reporting date, knowing the additional players would not be on the team in the spring.

School officials have said any improper manipulation of the rosters has stopped. Underhill said things have gotten better, but the school "is still continuing to deflate the size of its men's rosters and inflate the size of it's women's rosters."

Underhill also agreed with the plaintiffs' argument that female runners who participate on school's indoor, outdoor and cross country track teams should be counted just once for Title IX purposes. The men have just a cross country team.

He said the women's indoor and outdoor track teams were "in essence, an adjunct of the cross-country team."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4qjhOHa7ww0rqi3HWMxFcupRvZgD9H3LN2G1

[GA St. MBB Fan]

Penn & Teller covered this on Bulls#1t. Basically Varsity sports does not want it to be a competitive sport because that would mean a governing body with rules and limits on equipment, uniforms, and spending. Varsity makes their money off of camps, trainers, uniforms, accessories, and anything else having to do with cheering and does not want anything that might affect their sales and monopoly on the cheer world. All of the different cheer associations are actually a division of Varsity.

I was thinking that the current governing bodies would be against this, simply because they would lose control of the sport to the NCAA.

[ngineer]

If you can't keep an objective score, it aint a sport in my book. Don't question the athletic endeavors and their entertainment value (i.e. figure skating, synchronized swimming, gymnastics, etc) but if you need the subjective opinions of some supposed 'unbiased' experts to tell you who 'won', it aint a sport.

[SFA 71]

My daughter was on a high school cheer leading team that won a national championship over 50 + HS school teams & then was on a college team that also won a national championship. Unless you have seen a competitive cheer leading team in action don't underestimate the amount of athleticism shown by these girls. I always told the kid that she wasn't really a cheer leader but mainly a cheer yell-er waiting for the National Championship where they did their gymnastics. Competitive cheer leading makes golf look like a walk in the woods & don't get me started with bowling. Both involve co-ordination but somehow the 19th hole & the beverages between rolls takes a little away from the image of a really fit athlete. I agree with an earlier poster that there is some question about any sport that uses a third party to arbitrate the winner but you have judges in all the Olympic gymnastic events & most of the skating events. Also you have to have an ump to call balls & strikes & who decides where a runner is down in a football game & whether a pass was caught. You are always going to have judges. The competitive cheerleader is not the Dallas Cowboy Cheer leader or a Laker Girl. She is an athlete & It is a sport. xthumbsupx

[DJOM]

According to a Federal Judge; cheerleading is not a sport. Not that I agree, they work far too hard not to be considered a sport.

[UAalum72]

Coal mining is hard work and dangerous, and brain surgery takes a lot of practice. They're not sports.

My daughter used to argue that ballet was a sport, but then she also said her favorite sports show was Iron Chef.

If you can't keep score with simple addition, explain scoring in 15 seconds, tell the winner with a tape measure or stopwatch, or play defense, it's not a sport. It may need athleticism and work, but if you get points off for not smiling, or everybody doesn't have to do the same thing, it's an exhibition.

[jimbo65]

Compettive cheerleading will replace curling as the most boring "sport" on TV. As I recall, a few years ago the NCAA "No Class At All "ruled that if competitve cheerleading squads appeared at a sports event and actually did some cheerleading, the appearance either counted as a practice or a competition or some such nonsense.

Now pole dancing is another matter indeed. Lady GaGa can design the uniforms. The sport would soon become a top revenue earner.

[ngineer]

I am not saying they are not athletes, but the activity is not a 'sport'. It is a great athletic exhibition. I enjoy watching gymnastics and top notch figure skating, but there is little discernment between the 'winners' and losers. Why must there be such an outcome? Enjoy the exhibition for what it is. The fiascos in gymnastics and figure skating underscore this. Football and baseball do not have judges determine who wins or loses. Yes, all sports have referees, umpires or judges to adjudicate decisions during the game, but the outcome is almost, always, determined by the teams through the scoring of points through an objective set of rules.

[MplsBison]

Coal mining is hard work and dangerous, and brain surgery takes a lot of practice. They're not sports.

My daughter used to argue that ballet was a sport, but then she also said her favorite sports show was Iron Chef.

If you can't keep score with simple addition, explain scoring in 15 seconds, tell the winner with a tape measure or stopwatch, or play defense, it's not a sport. It may need athleticism and work, but if you get points off for not smiling, or everybody doesn't have to do the same thing, it's an exhibition.

Ok so it's not a sport. Don't call it a sport.

It is still a competition, correct?


If it meets the criteria for a varsity competition, complete with training and competition facilities, paid coaching staff and scholarships - why can't it off-set some male athletics for title IX purposes?

[UAalum72]

Ok so it's not a sport. Don't call it a sport.

It is still a competition, correct?


If it meets the criteria for a varsity competition, complete with training and competition facilities, paid coaching staff and scholarships - why can't it off-set some male athletics for title IX purposes?

Debate club is competition.

Add cheerleading as a "sport" and don't think it won't creep into the men's athletic department too. Why not save money on all those grass or FieldTurf facilities and have skateboarding and the rest of the X-game crap in the parking lots? (Downhill snowboard racing is OK).

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100728/SPORTS08/7280341/1002/SPORTS


"(Delaware State) intends to create a new women's varsity sport -- competitive cheerleading," the university argued in a March federal court filing.

The Connecticut decision has not affected any of the university's immediate plans to develop a competitive cheerleading team. DSU has invested $100,000 in the program and hired a new coach. The team will compete as scheduled this school year, and for now the university will consider it a varsity sport, spokesman Carlos Holmes said.

"Cheerleading has been a part of Delaware State for a long time, and nothing is going to change that," Holmes said. "Its status as to whether it continues as a varsity sport will be determined at some point."

Fascinating.

How many schools are part of that new organization with QU? Does DSU put them one step closer?

[Bogus Megapardus]

Looks like this cheerleading idea has got some legs.

[MplsBison]

Debate club is competition.

Add cheerleading as a "sport" and don't think it won't creep into the men's athletic department too. Why not save money on all those grass or FieldTurf facilities and have skateboarding and the rest of the X-game crap in the parking lots? (Downhill snowboard racing is OK).

I understand your point, but your stance is too far on the other side of the spectrum.

You have to be fair to competition that requires valid athletic ability and coordination. I think this rightfully could fall in that bucket given enough schools invest the money into it.

As is right now, it's not there yet - like the judge said.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Fordham lists cheerleading as one of its intercollegiate varsity sports (http://www.fordhamsports.com/sports/c-cheer/ford-c-cheer-body.html) and refers to cheerleading as a "team."

Is Fordham counting cheerleaders as equivalencies to balance with its football scholarships? This idea is looking better all the time.

[MplsBison]

Who would allow them to "officially" count aid given to cheerleaders as balancing anything? The Patriot League? The NCAA?

I know the NCAA has a minimum number for equivalencies - both total and for female sports - to be in DI. But I would think Forham meets that with it's official NCAA sports and would need to count cheerleading for anything, except maybe for the feds. But now, of course, the judge says they can't do that.

[wkelly42]

Aren't most collegiate cheerleading squads co-ed? How would a co-ed "team" impact Title IX?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Some interesting analysis:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/07/27/cheerleading


A federal judge's ruling last week that a Connecticut university cannot use competitive cheerleading to meet its federal Title IX requirements has only indirect immediate implications for the other 10 or so colleges that now sponsor cheerleading as a varsity sport, since none of them include the teams in their calculations to meet gender equity standards.

But while the court's decision could discourage other colleges from establishing competitive cheerleading teams, advocates for the sport said it could ironically hasten the development of a college sports infrastructure for cheerleading aimed at legitimizing the sport for gender equity purposes.

The really interesting nugget of information, though, comes from the Delaware State front:


Earlier this year, Delaware State University announced plans to cut its women’s equestrian team. Eight members of the team, with the help of the Women’s Law Project, sued the institution soon after, arguing that it had violated Title IX by doing so. University officials, however, defended the decision by arguing that the institution can show a history and continuing practice of expanding women’s opportunities — one of three ways an institution can meet the participation standard set by Title IX.

They further argued that the creation of a competitive cheerleading squad this coming season would help offset the loss of the equestrian team in any gender equity count because the switch would result in a net gain of female athletes.

“The cheerleading issue is important in our case, but it is not as important as it was in the Quinnipiac case,” said Abbe Fletman, a lawyer who is representing the plaintiffs and who recently helped win a Title IX case against Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. “The [opportunity] gap is so large that, even if cheer counted as a varsity sport and even if every slot Delaware State said it would fill with competitive cheerleaders was filled, the Title IX gap would still exist. We would still have a case.”

This tells you everything you need to know about Title IX law: while dropping equestrian would save significant money and increase the number of women participating in athletics by at least a factor of two (lose 8 equestrian, gain at least 16 members of a competitive cheer team), the advocates would still say it's OK to sue - even though Delaware State has fulfilled its role under Title IX under the "expanding opportunities" prong - because [B]they say there's a gap. xrolleyesx

Some more very, very interesting information:


Bill Odell, athletics director at Azusa Pacific University, noted that when his institution started a squad two years ago, a consultant urged him not to consider it a varsity sport to avoid possible vulnerability in litigation. Following the advice, the university considers the sport as a “club team” both locally and when submitting gender equity reports to the government.

Still, Odell noted that the squad is currently in a transition whereby this coming season it will be treated like all other varsity sports at the institution — with academic standards for players, practice limitations, etc. — even though the athletes on it will not register for Title IX counts. He said he was not sure what the impact of the Quinnipiac case would be on the development of the sport but acknowledged that he would like to see it earn varsity status for Title IX at some point.

If the National Collegiate Athletic Association eventually deems competitive cheerleading an “emerging sport” and the Office for Civil Rights recognizes it for Title IX purposes, Elliott said he would elevate his squad’s status to varsity. If that sort of recognition does not happen, he said Fairmont State will still offer the squad at the club level. The interest in his area for the sport, he said, is too high not to do so.

“If we were good in ice hockey, I’d add that team,” Elliott said. “This area has a lot of good competitive cheerleaders. We’ll always offer it. If anything, I hope [the Quinnipiac case] might help people better understand the sport and the interest in it.”

It's going to happen. When it does, FCS schools will be among the biggest beneficiaries - in a good way.

[superman7515]

I linked the Delaware article about this about 3 weeks ago that included a good deal of the same information from this article. The issue at DelState isn't that "they say" there's a gap, it's that DelState hasn't been improving it. DelState is 60/40 females to males, athletics at DelState are 40/60 females to males. The only sport DelState has added for women in several years to be "expanding opportunities" is equestrian, which they want to drop. Clearly not expanding opportunities if the ratio would not be substantially changed by adding 8 female athletes. And even if cheerleading was going to count, an additional 8 would barely register a tick over what the numbers are now, which is of course a moot point since cheerleading is not counting as a sport. The only reason DelState was able to get it to 40/60 was by dropping wrestling and dumping 30+ male athletes on their rears, but of course there's no problem there. I have a personal bias against it though because I wrestled throughout my school years and that seems to be the first choice whenever Title IX is brought up... drop the wrestling team.

[Larryl9797]

The NCAA does not consider Cheer an emerging sport like say Womens LAX. Thats the basis that the judge applied when he laid the smackdown on QU (Rightly so) Also, QU was cooking the books when it came to participation counts. It did some dastardly things to inflate womens participation and decrease mens participation. Like Counting Track 3x ( Once for Outdoor, once for indoor, and X-C. For one player!), cutting mens rosters before the reporting date and then adding them right back in. This AP article spells it out... --> http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/08/12/sports/ccopy_of_ustitleixcheerlead_110902_081210.prt

Its Kind of sad cuz the W-VBALL team was wronged and won in court, but the QU admin basically said V-Ball is out in 2012.

[TexasTerror]

Here we go again!


USA Cheer announced Wednesday a new derivation of competitive cheerleading called “stunt” that the organization will attempt to push as an NCAA emerging sport for women.

The USA Cheer effort is similar to last week’s action by the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association, which formed in January.

Both organizations have outlined six-part competitions including various skills such as basket toss, tumbling and pyramids. The NCATA is a governing body over several institutions that sponsor “acrobatics and tumbling” at the varsity level, including Baylor, Maryland, Oregon and Quinnipiac. The NCATA hired an executive director in July and will hold a national championship in the sport in April 2011. Last week, USA Gymnastics announced it will sanction NCATA events.

The USA Cheer announcement included an administrator’s guide detailing the sport’s financial commitment, structure and a Title IX analysis. In a letter to potential stunt sponsors, USA Cheer Executive Director Bill Seely touted the sport’s benefits and the organization’s commitment.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2010/association-wide/usa+cheer+to+pursue+stunt+as+ncaa+emerging+sport_0 9_09_10_ncaa_news&utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NCAA%20News%20Direct

[Sonic98]

Cheerleaders on the sideline of a football game pumping up the crowd isn't a sport.

Doing routines in a competition against other cheer teams is a sport.

I got no problem with competitive cheerleading being a sport and getting scholarships. However, it should be separate from what the cheer team does on the sidelines and not covered with public scholarship money. So if a girl is on the sideline cheer squad but not on the competitive cheer squad, she shouldn't be eligible for any cheer scholarships.

I was just about to say that I do consider cheerleading athletics. The competitions involve dance, fitness routines, and gymnastics. I think it can be consider and athletic activity, but I am not sure if it should have an effect on if sports teams get scholarship money or not. Many schools offer cheerleading scholarships. You be free to offer scholarships for whatever you want. IF you can offer scholarships solely for picking a certain major or for being in a certain campus club or orgnization, you can offer one to cheerleaders, but I don't think it should come out of the main athletics budget. And there should be standards. Schools should at least tryout for some of the competitons every few years, and if you're gonna be runing, working out, etc in order to prepare for a season in a certain activity, I consider it an athletic activity.

[Sonic98]

It's the ESPN-ization of cheerleading with TV coverage, dance routines instead of old-fashioned cheers and auditoria full of parents and fans cheering them along. (Not a lot of megaphones and "Hold That Line!" routines anymore.)

And, too often, gymnastics is consigned to a back room at the gym before coaches and officials. Kids aren't as interested in sports no one sees.

Also over-hyped cheer movies as well