Sideline cheer is “the classic style focused on boosting school spirit and supporting athletic teams at games by leading chants, cheers, and simple routines to engage crowds,” but this is just a short summary of what they really do.
In a survey asking if people think cheerleading is a sport, 7% responded that they are not real athletes. 5% argued that a cheerleaders work is not important and too easy to be a real sport, and 2% argued that it is not important for cheerleaders to give support. While 7% may seem like a small number, but it is not about how large the number is it is about how cheer not being sport is a debate.
“Cheer isn’t a sport because there isn’t much athleticism needed,” freshman Jovanny Rodriguez said. “Not many things to do, but flip and cheer for your team.”
On the other hand, cheerleaders all over strongly disagree with this claim. They argue that they practice for hours, they use their athletic abilities, and how they hone their athletic abilities just like in any other sport. These cheerleaders argue that to not be counted as a sport is unjust.
“I feel like people think that it’s not a sport because they’re all like ‘Oh they’re just cheering for us, it’s not really competitive,'” JV cheerleader sophomore April Venegas Gomez said. “It is competitive because we can get hurt, we can do more difficult things than just like any other sport.”
Cheerleaders are often associated with football but that’s not all, they attend basketball, soccer, etc. Cheerleaders attend as many games as they can, because unlike most sports, just spanning a few months, cheer typically begins before school even starts and after the school year ends, this is called a year-round sport.
“Definitely the games and the community [are the main components of cheer],” varsity cheerleader junior Damian Cortez said. “There’s like not a day we’re not in uniform.”
Not only do cheerleaders chant for many different sports, but they also bring up school spirit with pep rallies. Pep rallies are fun school events where they get to show off their skills and get the crowd ready for all the fun events about to happen. These pep rallies require intricate planning so they can create a routine that looks easy, but fun at the same time, and they must do this without much time to prepare.
“Me and my other captain coordinate our pep rally routine,” Cortez said. “… We have them learn that within a certain time, so then we can all come together and we review the dance as much as we can.”
Lastly, regarding the stereotype of cheer being for girls, that is completely untrue. Cheer is a female-dominated sport but having boys on the team are in high demand. Male cheerleaders provide an energy to the teams that no one else can. Not only that, but if they have height along with and are relatively strong they can help build stunts that are more difficult and bring energetic, powerful tumbling into a routine.
“I see cheer as like a family, and it as such a great way to meet new people,” Cortez said. “Cheer is such a fun way to bring everyone together.”
Side line cheerleaders work hard to provide for their schools, keep up the energy, learn skills, and to sustain school spirit. Whether they are or aren’t real athletes just boils down to opinions, opinions may be controversial but they also bring stimulation into your everyday life. What do you think?
All Photos by Genavieve Lopez
