Schmidt 8th

Speech OutlineTopic: Should Cheerleading be considered a sport?

1. Introduction
a. While cheerleading evokes images of pompoms and pleated skirts, it
has relied on increasingly athletic feats of grace and strength in recent
years. Is cheerleading a true sport?
b. I am a dancer and also like cheer. My Mom was a Cheerleader in High
School and College and danced professionally for a while, so Ive
learned a lot from her. She also was a coach for gymnastics while I
was growing up, so I would go to the gym with her and learn how to
tumble.
c. A sport with athleticism, guidelines, and injuries or not a sport for
supporting other athletes, having no opponent, and based off looks.
2. Body
a. Pro
i. The athleticism of cheerleaders is unquestionable.
1. Cheerleading can be defined as an activity that involves a
physical act of stunting, dancing and tumbling. Found on
Daily Republic.
2. Daily Republic stated, To perform their routines,
cheerleaders are often spotted doing flips in the air,
lifting people from off the ground and even doing
backflips.
ii. Just like any other sport, cheerleading has Guidelines.
1. The whole routine has to be completed in two minutes
and 30 seconds and the cheerleaders are required to stay
within a certain area on the floor. Found on
ChampionCheerCentral.com
2. Competitive cheerleaders goal is to be the best. Just like
gymnasts, they are awarded points for difficulty,
technique, creativity and sharpness; Found on the New
York Times.
iii. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury
Research, cheerleading is the number-one cause of serious
sports injuries to women.

1.

2.

Cheer is not equipped with hip pads, knee pads, shin

guards or helmets, but smiling cheerleaders that are
tossed into the air and spiral down into the arms of
trusted teammates, quoted from Teenink.com
Because cheerleading is not yet recognized as a sport by
many schools, neither proper matting nor high enough
ceilings are provided to ensure safety. Instead, the girls
use whatever space is available, Found on abit clueless.

b. Con
i.

ii.

iii.

"Historically, cheerleading has been about supporting athletes,

not about being an athlete," said Barbara Osborne, found on
SIRS Issues Researcher.
1. Cheerleaders are often caught as being a girl shaking her
pom-poms, shouting at the top of her lungs and cheering
for the home team.
2. It is an activity solely dedicated to entertain and motivate
the crowd during sports events and cheering to support
their team.
Cheerleading is not commonly considered a sport because of
the inability to compete against an opponent.
1. Statistics show that only 15 percent of the cheerleaders in
the United States compete; therefore, cheerleading should
not be considered a sport, found on dailyrepublic.com.
2. Since only the minority of cheer squads compete, it
would not be ideal to classify cheerleading as a sport.
And one of the most important requirements of a sport is
to compete against other opponents, not just cheering for
their own team. For now, cheerleading can be fairly
classified as an activity, instead of a sport.
Cheerleaders tend to have a look to be bubbly, pretty, and in
great shape.
1. It can be argued that cheerleading, when it is simply
yelling into the crowds, does not require a great deal of
skill and do their best to just try to look pretty; Found on
Cheerleading.lovetoknow.com.

2.

Many cheer programs have requirements for game day

hair. Peer down at the sidelines of any D1A football
game, and youll find that almost every female
cheerleader has on a nice bright lipstick; Found on
Varsity.com.

3. Conclusion
a. Can you say that some cheerleading is a sport while other
cheerleading is not? That all depends on who you ask and their
definition of sports.
b. Today, cheerleading involves skills which require the strength of
football, the grace of dance, and the agility of gymnastics. But does
that make up for the lack of an opponent?