Posted on 07/22/2010 5:52:07 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
A federal judge's ruling that cheerleading is not a sport has taken a longtime debate out of the courtroom and into homes, gyms, schools and colleges nationwide. The never-ending question: Are cheerleaders athletes?
U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill ruled Wednesday that Quinnipiac University in New Jersey could not replace its women's volleyball team with a competitive cheering squad, saying cheerleading is "too underdeveloped and disorganized" to be treated as an official collegiate sport.
George W. Bush as a cheerleader at Andover
Under the nation's Title IX regulations, which require universities receiving federal funds to offer equal athletic opportunities to both sexes, a sport must have coaches, practices, and competitions during a defined season. It must also have a governing organization, and its primary goal must be to compete, not just support other teams.
But cheerleading advocates say their activity meets those requirements and more.
"It's probably the hardest sport in any venue, whether it be club cheerleading, high school, recreational or college," said Jane Marella, director of the Gymnastics and Cheerleading Academy of Connecticut and cheerleading coach at Trumbull High School.
Cheerleaders do compete against other teams, Marella said -- just not one team at a time, like in traditional sports. And though cheerleaders cheer for other school teams, that's just a small part of the activity.
"This isn't about going in there and cheering for their football and basketball teams, it's about competing," Marella said. "The girls have to be gymnasts, they have to be able to tumble, they have to be dancers, they have to be able to be strong to lift other people or be lifted, they have to be able to have endurance . . . it's not the rah, rah with the pom poms."
And
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
If cheer leading could be turned into full contact cheerleading it might qualify as a sport. Or if the cheers could be judged against the other team and them added to the scores of the football teams they are cheering for it might also qualify as a sport.
HBO’s Penn & Teller Bulls*&^ did a good episode on Cheerleaders and sport ranking a couple of weeks ago.
Siss Boom Yawn!
It’s certainly a physical activity, but I’m not sure that it qualifies as a sport.
It’s more of a sport than golf is.
When they cheer, they are cheering a sport.
It takes a great deal of athleticism, and it has one of the highest rates of injury of any athletic school activity.
Zackly!
I always thought of it more of an event like Nascar or golf but I read somewhere if an event is governed by a set of rules than it’s a sport. One thing for sure is that there’s money to be made
I guessed you missed that this would be competitive cheerleading. It's nearly as athletic as gymnastics, certainly much more so than say, Golf or bowling.
cheerleading is "too underdeveloped and disorganized" to be treated as an official collegiate sport.
The judge is full of caca del toro.
My son's gf is in competitive cheerleading and 2yrs ago fell from the top of a pyramid and fractured her neck. Did she quit?....hell no, L~
Sounds vaguely like sportsmanship to me. ;)
Should qualify under Title IX.
Whom can decided what is or is not a sport?
Dog sledding is a sport.
So is RC boat racing.
Even using catapults to fling pumpkins.
So cheerleading, with teams and organized competition, cant NOT be seen as one either.
This is just a way to try to get around that corrupt Title IX. They have to give as many scholies to women as men even though they count the 95 Football scholorships which makes all the revenue.
They try to get cheerleading so they can give 10 more scholies to mens sports. When will women be declared equals?
Pray for Amrica
It’s a kind of dance plus gymnastics.
Not exactly a sport, but not coach potatoe stuff, either.
It’s certainly athletic, and requires no less training and athleticism than anything universally recognized as a sport. But that’s the same with certain types of dance. Is competitive dancing a sport?
When they don't need special sports and special treatment.
Do you agree that in order to be equal there should be no gender specific teams, just one volleyball team, one basketball team, one track team, one golf team, etc.?
Post 14 claims that RC boat racing is a sport, why not
I agree with your suggestion that women be treated as equals in sports. Instead of men and women’s basketball, for example, just have one basketball team made up of the best players, whether male or female. Same for golf, tennis, softball, baseball, football, track, soccer, etc. etc. This will completely avoid the issue of men vs. women’s sports.
I don’t know if cheerleading is a sport, but I am a sport. I’ve even been called a good sport.
agree with your suggestion that women be treated as equals in sports. Instead of men and women’s basketball, for example, just have one basketball team made up of the best players, whether male or female. Same for golf, tennis, softball, baseball, football, track, soccer, etc. etc. This will completely avoid the issue of men vs. women’s sports.
that brilliant idea would virtually eliminate women from sports altogether In the vast majority of cases, women cannot compete with men in sports
what about dancing?...marching?.....how about frizzbe?....anything with a physical output can be considered a sport.....this ruling is more aimed at not letting colleges use cheerleading as its Title 9 obligation....
Quinnipiac University is a private, coeducational university with 5,700 undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students. Consistently ranked among the best universities by U.S. News & World Report, Quinnipiac (pronounced KWIN-uh-pe-ack) offers 52 undergraduate majors and 20 graduate programs plus the JD program.
Located next to the picturesque Sleeping Giant Mountain in Hamden, Conn., 90 minutes from New York City
“It takes a great deal of athleticism...”
So does wrestling, but I am not going to call it a sport!
You said: that brilliant idea would virtually eliminate women from sports altogether In the vast majority of cases, women cannot compete with men in sports
***
You are probably correct of course (except in some areas like gymnastics and maybe figure skating), but women generally refuse to admit it. I don’t think women’s sports should really be eliminated. I only say that to make the point that the genders are NOT equal, and Title IX is an attempt to make equal that which cannot be made equal.
You are probably correct of course (except in some areas like gymnastics and maybe figure skating), but women generally refuse to admit it. I don’t think women’s sports should really be eliminated. I only say that to make the point that the genders are NOT equal, and Title IX is an attempt to make equal that which cannot be made equal.
another government attempt at redistributing that which cannot be redistributed.Now they are going to try to “redistribute income”.....how can they redistribute something which was not distributed, but earned......they would never say redistribute earnings!!!!!!
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