The move to elevate cheerleading to a varsity sport in intercollegiate athletics has stirred up controversy from across the country for years and has been brought to the forefront yet again with a lawsuit against Quinnipiac University. Some say schools are choosing to give cheerleading varsity status in order to comply with Title IX requirements and many are skeptical the activity merits the elevated status.
The debate revolves around a central disagreement: can cheerleading truly be defined as a sport?
The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) is responsible for reviewing emerging sports, and refers to a sport as "an institutional activity involving physical exertion with the purpose of competition versus another team or individuals within a collegiate competition structure. Furthermore, sport includes regularly scheduled team and/or individual, head-to-head competition (at least five) within a defined competitive season(s); and standardized rules with rating/scoring systems ratified by official regulatory agencies and governing bodies."
The traditional image of a cheerleading squad is the group of young women on the sidelines of a sporting event--traditionally a male sporting event--supporting the athletes that are competing and its "spirit squad" roots continue to define the female-dominated activity.
While at the college level schools have begun to differentiate between a "cheer squad" and a "spirit squad," at the youth level the two terms tend to be synonymous. In this context, that cheerleading is an activity taken on to do no more than support your local team as vocal booster, what would keep similar spirit groups from demanding varsity status?
School bands hold practices and often travel for inter-band competition. As do color guard teams. Can a mascot or trumpet player be considered an athlete?
I present the most elementary and literal argument: the verb form of cheerleading. When asking a cheerleader what sport they play, their response would have to be, "I cheer." Can "cheering" be a competitive sport? Ask a swimmer the same question, "I swim." Much more obvious.
But if intercollegiate athletics, and specifically Title IX, is meant to expand athletic opportunities to females, why dismiss the sport that young women are interested in? Research proves that young females are choosing cheerleading.
According to the annual participation survey of the National Federation of State High School Associations, competitive cheering is one of the top 10 girls' sports in this country. In 2002-03, 4,644 schools reported having competitive cheering squads, with 111,191 participants. It ranks 10th in terms of number of schools participating, and ninth in terms of the number of participants.
At the University of Maryland, College Park, an institution that granted cheerleading varsity status in 2005-06, the cheerleading squad is granted scholarships and athletic department support services while being held to the academic policies of the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
According to the athletics Web site, the Terrapins' squad competed in nine organized tournaments this year, winning all but the National Cheerleaders Association Nationals, at which they earned second. They boast a roster of 36 athletes and four coaches, all of which are female.
The men's cross country team at Maryland only competed in eight races, one less than the competitive cheering squad.
Are we holding these women to unfair guidelines? Do you think that cheerleading should be considered a varsity sport?
Is there a place for cheering in competitive intercollegiate athletics? Do you think that a young girl participating in cheerleading will reap the same fitness, social and emotional benefits as a girl participating in more traditional sports?
Why support cheerleading financially when most of the Olympic sports are becoming extinct in intercollegiate athletics? Wouldn't we rather produce Olympians at the collegiate level?
