Erin De TarMs. WallinApril 24, 2014Block 4Cheerleading should be considered a sportThe five-hour practices four times a week, the hours of time spent in conditioning, the tears, sweat, blood, pain and injuries experienced during the season, it all boils down to the moment your team walks the carpet. Only the best of the best will have what it takes to shine and prove that their hard work has paid off. Does this sound like a sport to you? Absolutely. Now, what if you were told that you only have two minutes and thirty seconds to give it your all, would that change your opinion of this mysterious sport as an authentic sport? It shouldn't. So, if all of the above examples fall under the same amount of athleticism as other sports, why isn't cheerleading considered a sport? If the courts were to decide that cheerleading is a sport, what would they do? Should school all-stars and cheerleading be considered a sport? None of this should? The answer to this question is that all-star cheerleading should be considered not only a sport, but also a college sport. Competitive and collegiate cheerleading should be considered a sport due to the danger, rigor, and popularity this athletic activity requires. Cheerleading is generally defined as an athletic activity which is basically no different than calling it a sport. Different name. Same meaning. To understand how widespread cheerleading is in our society, it is important to know the background of this activity. The first cheerleader in history was a man named Johnny Campbell from the University of Minnesota in 1898, and cheerleading was only a men's sport until 1923, when women were allowed to join. Back then, women weren't allowed to compete in sports, so t...... middle of paper ......d holding girls should be given the honor other sports deserve. There are over 400,000 cheerleaders in the United States alone (Lauchaire), making cheerleading the fastest growing sport for women. More people are injured each year from cheerleading than from actual contact sports, such as football (Soltis) and wrestling. In light of this reasoning, competitive cheerleading and collegiate cheerleading should be considered one sport. Since most all-star cheerleaders transition into collegiate cheerleading after high school, the level of expectation to always have high mental toughness is the same, making them both worthy of being classified as sports. The competitive drive, motivation and determination that these athletes have, reaches and if not exceeds the level of sportsmanlike behavior of other sports, making cheerleading as much a sport as football, soccer or baseball..