Cheerleading as Sport
Cheerleading: Sport, Not Toss-Up
Sarah Paulus
Maryville University of St. Louis
Ted Gournelos, Ph. D
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“Women’s” and “men’s” categories divide most high school and collegiate athletics. This
separation relies on society’s constructions of masculine and feminine, which contribute to the
constructed identity associated with each sport. For example, volleyball, softball, and
cheerleading constitute socially acceptable “women’s” activities because each is a femaledominated field while football, lacrosse, and baseball remain male dominated. Of the women’s
sports listed, only the athleticism of cheerleading is questioned because competition is not an
aspect of cheerleading’s mythology1. Commonly, the argument against cheerleading as a sport is
based on the 1960s construction of cheerleading, “the cheerleader yelling chants and cheers from
the sidelines for the male athletes while occasionally performing a cartwheel” (Adams & Bettis,
2003, p48). However, feminists movements in the 1960s and the introduction of Title IX policies
in 1972 began the transformation into what cheerleading is today, “high flying acrobatics…that
requir[e] more athleticism than before” (ibid). Despite progress since the 1970s, cheerleading
continues to fights for recognition as a sport, and three main pieces build the argument: difficulty,
risk of injury, and competition. This paper will analyze each aspect of the dispute and
cheerleading’s resulting portrayal in film and magazines.
When fighting for athletic recognition, debaters highlight the difficulty of the skills
cheerleaders perform. Prior to the 1970s, cheerleading centered on splits and the occasional
cartwheel (Hanson, 1995, p80). Since then, cheerleading requirements have evolved further, now
involving pyramids as many as 2 ½ levels above the ground, toss stunts, and rotating dismounts,
as well as aerial and rotating tumbling passes with multiple tricks in succession (see images 1-3).
These stunts require many hours of practice as well as “girls who were not only strong but who
were agile, well-coordinated, and possessed athletic prowess” (Adams & Bettis, p48-9). Without
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Roland Barthes (“Myth Today”, 1973) explains that mythologies are societal constructions that connote a popular
belief. Because cheerleading originated as a form of support for other athletic teams rather than a competitive
activity, society disregards cheerleading’s athletic elements, difficulty, injury, and competition.
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a high physical fitness level, a qualification society associates with “athletes”, these difficult
tricks would be impossible. In the 2000 motion picture Bring It On, the protagonists, the Toros
cheer squad, create an original routine in less than three weeks; team captain, “Torrence”,
comments on the extreme work and perseverance necessary to succeed (Reed, 2000). She says,
“we’ve got to do whatever it takes to be in perfect physical shape” in order to achieve their goal
of winning the national championship (ibid). Again, this statement relates athletics’ high fitness
level and cheerleading thus implying cheerleading is a sport. Unlike games such as football or
soccer in which athletes can participate with minor injuries, such as a sprained hand or ankle,
without affecting their playing positions, cheerleading requires total body health (Adams &
Bettis, p54). Complete body fitness is necessary because many physically demanding elements,
such as tumbling passes, dancing, and building pyramids, are performed interchangeably and in
quick succession (ibid) in a cheerleading routine.
In addition to difficulty, proponents of this debate emphasize the high risk of injury
associated with cheerleading. In 1990, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and
Advisors (AACCA) published its first safety manual to “allow reasonable amount of risk while
not compromising the safety of the athletes performing the athletic feats” (Adams & Bettis, p55).
The use of the word “athlete” in this qualification connotes cheerleading stunting and tumbling as
athletic ability, thus implying that cheerleaders are athletes. Additionally, the 18th annual report
from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research states that between 1982 and
2000, high school and collegiate female athletes suffered 74 direct catastrophic injuries, “injuries
resulting directly from participation in skills of the sport”; over half, 56.8%, of the 74 injuries
resulted from cheerleading (Adams & Bettis, p54). The authors of this report stated, “the
substantial increase of catastrophic injuries…is a direct result of the change in cheerleading to a
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more athletic endeavor involving stunts, gymnastics, and pyramid building” (ibid). An increased
number of competitive teams with tournaments year-round eliminated the “off-season” and the
chance to recuperate, unlike seasonal sports, therefore increasing the chance for injury (ibid). The
emphasis on injury appears in Bring It On, when “Carver,” a supporting character, breaks her leg
in three places. The other members of the team hardly show concern, making jokes about
“Carver” being unable to cheer, “Carver will strictly be cheering in the Special Olympics until
March,” says team captain, “Torrence” (Reed, 2000). Upon hearing “Carver” will miss school
due to her condition, another team member states, “That lucky bitch” rather than express
consideration for her injured teammate (ibid). The characters in Bring It On view their
teammates injury as a joke when it is a painful condition, showing that cheerleading injuries are
so frequent that they are not to be taken seriously.
Lastly, arguers emphasize competitions as the final reason for considering cheerleading a
sport. The social construction of “cheerleader” is that of a beautiful, thin female, whose sole
purpose is to support the male athletes, i.e., football or basketball players. However, the
formation of cheerleading competitions and teams created solely to compete altered this
conception. Hanson (1995) says, “the athletic nature of contemporary cheering, which is fostered
by…competitions, argues for consideration as a sport; yet the continuing perception that
cheerleading is a feminine role reinforces the assumption that cheering is a support activity”
(p93). Society defines the myth of “feminine” as being subservient to “masculine” therefore
anything with a majority of females must be a “feminized” supportive behavior. Since the most
cheerleaders have been female for the majority of cheerleading’s existence, society defines it as a
feminine, thus supportive, role. Competitions and competition-only squads have altered this
construction and created more guidelines and restrictions. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic
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Athletic Association does not recognize cheerleading as a sport, which lead to a suggestion in
1989 that cheerleaders not be allowed to compete; however, this raises a contradiction:
“Cheerleading’s not a sport because they don’t compete, and they can’t compete because it’s not
a sport” (Hanson, p94). In contrast, the University of Maryland (UMD) boasts one of the
countries few “Competitive Cheer” programs, sanctioned as a varsity sport by the NCAA in 2003
(MSN Encarta Cheerleading). This team competes in at least ten competitions each season, from
December to April, culminating in the National Cheerleading Association’s collegiate national
championships, but does not cheer for any athletics team (ibid). Being deemed a “sport” by the
NCAA allows cheerleaders to be eligible to receive full scholarships, as well as other benefits
offered to varsity sports but not to the “spirit squads”, the cheerleading teams that cheer at
football and basketball games.
Describing cheerleading as a “sport” and cheerleading as an “activity” creates two
different identities, exemplified by two advertisements featured in the February and April 2007
issues of American Cheerleader magazine. The April 2007 issue contains an advertisement for
“National American Miss” beauty pageant with a large image of cheerleader pulling a “scorpion”,
a body position common in cheerleading (see image 4). This image is the stereotypical depiction
of a cheerleader, that usually associated with cheerleading as an “activity” that requires little skill.
She is thin, tan, and has big, synthetic-looking blonde hair, blue eyes and is staring at the camera.
She has a “cute” face with glossy lips, white teeth, and rosy cheeks. Additionally, this girl wears
earrings, a necklace, rings, a belly button piercing, and has acrylic fingernails, even though all of
these are forbidden in cheerleading due to safety precautions. Her uniform is tightly fitted to
emphasize her feminine curves and sexualize her image; her stomach shows because the top is
cropped short and the skirt fits tight around her waist. This advertisement shows five other
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images presumably from past “National American Miss” beauty pageants, none of which relate to
cheerleading; it is implied that cheerleading would be the “talent” for the beauty pageant however
individual cheerleading is rare. In fact, it is likely that a cheerleader image is portrayed in this
advertisement only because the magazine’s target market is cheerleaders.
The February 2007 issue contains an advertisement for the Universal Cheerleading
Association (UCA) All-Star Cheerleading Championship that creates the “athletic” image of
cheerleading. Similarly, this advertisement features a large image of cheerleader, however this
cheerleader appears to be in the middle of performing a routine and is not looking at the camera,
unlike the stationary model in the “National American Miss” advertisement. Furthermore, she
wears no jewelry and a uniform that fits her body without showing stomach. This uniform is from
the team “LA Athletics”, with “athletics” splayed largely across her chest to suggest that
“athletics”, thus “athleticism” should be associated with this advertisement, subsequently
cheerleading. The page features one other image, that of a complex and potentially dangerous
stunt, providing an example of the type of entertainment the viewer is likely to see at this
competition. Lastly, the words “Nationally televised on ESPN & ESPN2” appear in the upper
right-hand corner, bright red on a white background. Because the public associates “ESPN” and
“ESPN2” with sports, the prominent appearance of those words on the advertisement suggests the
competition is a sports event.
The debate over the cheerleading’s athleticism resides in three main categories: difficulty,
risk of injury, and competition. Historical reasoning as well as modern publications defend each
element and continue the argument. The textual analysis provided explains the differences in two
social constructions of cheerleading, activity versus sport, and how each contributes to the
dispute.
Cheerleading as Sport
Images
Image 1 2 ½ -level pyramid
Image 2: “full-twisting” cradle dismount
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Cheerleading as Sport
Image 3: Aerial tumbling trick—layout. Usually preceded by a round-off, back-handspring
Image 4: “Scorpian”
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Cheerleading as Sport
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