By Erin Williams: Staff Writer
Determining whether cheer is a sport or not was a controversial and sensitive argument to young athletes, but the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has certified it as an official sport, proving opposers wrong. In the beginning of fall 2017-2018 school year, CIF had made policies that allows every school’s sports department to enter their athletes and teams in competitions to compete against those from other schools. It’s time we accept the fact that cheer is indeed a sport.
Academy of Education and Empowerment freshman, Aniyah Ray Young, has joined Carson High School cheer this past summer, and according to her “Cheer is like any other sport. We get hurt [and] condition. It requires strength, seriousness, and [members must] strive to [win].”
AEE student and captain of the varsity cheer team, Taylor Goodson, states “Not everybody is able to stunt like we do. Even some exceptional athletes would struggle with the jumps, flips, and lifting girls,[ which may or may not be] the same size as you.”
Not everyone is cut out to be a cheerleader; it takes passion and dedication, as any sport does. A lot of hard work, sweat, tears, and occasionally blood are shed participating in cheer. You have to be capable of performing and carrying out stunts, dance, maintain lots of energy while having a positive attitude, and have a ton of school spirit. And regardless of whether your school is winning or losing, you must remain consistent and content- or at least look like it- throughout the event.
Perhaps the skeptical believe cheer is not a sport because they think all that cheerleaders do is smile and yell lousy cheers, but they fail to recognize and acknowledge the fact that cheerleaders practice weekly, lift weights, and motivate both players and supporters in the crowd. That really drains a person’s energy.
Dillinger Onosai, from CHS thinks “There are claims that what defines them as a sport is that they participate in physical activity [like] stunts, jumps, and flips, but I have never seen them do any stunts… I respect their craft though ‘cause some of it ain’t easy.”
Because competition season doesn’t start until the spring semester, the competitive and showy part of cheer is not completely incorporated into school activities yet, but even so, the CHS cheer team always performs at least one stunt at every game. Perhaps attending and participating in or watching the cheerleaders do their thing at cheer camps or during competitions will change the minds of opposers, but until then, CIF’s decision has been made and should be respected, as should the cheerleaders themselves.