More Than Pom-Poms: Cheer needs to be recognized as a legitimate sport

Standing in the center of the mat inside of the stage gym, I take a deep breath and prepare myself to do my competition cheer routine for the third time this morning. The music starts. I flash a smile, do a toe touch and then fling myself backwards into a back handspring.

For the next two minutes and 30 seconds, I tumble, execute stunts and use every free breath to yell “You’ve got this!” to my teammates. I use all of my strength to lift my flier in the air, and I throw my arms up as high as I can to give her enough time to do a twisting dismount. Seconds later, I do my roundoff back handspring.

As the routine ends, my arms are so exhausted from fighting to keep my shaky stunt in the air that I’m barely able to complete my third back handspring of the routine. I hit my final pose and breathe a sigh of relief, happy that I survived another run through of our fast-paced routine.

This is how I spend almost every single morning — before school at 6:15 a.m. or during first hour — as a cheerleader. And yet when I tell people that being a cheerleader is difficult, I feel disrespected when they crack jokes about how all I do is stand on the sidelines and shake my pom poms. 

When people refuse to acknowledge the athleticism that cheerleading requires, it’s as if the concussions I’ve received from stunts falling onto my head or the times I’ve thrown up after doing our full competition routine don’t even matter. I often find myself questioning why I put myself through this much physical strain when cheer is so under-recognized. 

It’s time for East to recognize that cheer deserves the same respect as any other sport.

Being a cheerleader fits the definition of a sport — an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. And yet, according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association handbook, we’re classified as a “spirit group” — not a sport. If lifting girls up in the air and throwing back handsprings doesn’t count as physical exertion, I don’t know what does.

Cheer originated in the mid 1800s as a way to encourage athletes and crowds at games and events. In the last 40 years, cheer has expanded beyond the sidelines and has become more competitive, according to USA Cheer.

But KSHSAA hasn’t acknowledged this. By their definition, we simply strive to “boost school spirit, promote sportsmanship and develop positive crowd involvement.” There is only one vague sentence talking about competing that states the amount of competitions we’re allowed to compete in each year. 

Calling us a “spirit group” is furthering the outdated stereotype that all cheerleaders do is provide spirit and observe other sports, which isn’t the case. Gymnastics is regarded as a sport according to KSHSAA, so why isn’t cheer? We tumble and jump similar to gymnasts, so we deserve the same level of recognition.

Not only are we overlooked by KSHSAA, we’re overlooked by the school too. I put in so much time every single week for cheer, from 6 a.m. practices to cheering at least one game a week. And yet the school hasn’t given the cheer team our own dedicated practice space. 

I’m grateful that the wrestling team shares the stage gym with us. But if the wrestlers or the baseball team ever need the space, cheer is always pushed out and forced to find somewhere else to practice.

I’ve warmed up in hallways, basement turf rooms and gym corners. It’s disappointing to see the school spending money on building the Commons and state championship sports banners before considering creating a permanent place for cheer to practice.

Every single negative comment I’ve heard about cheer has come from outdated stereotypes. I’ve heard it all — we’re dumb blondes or that cheering doesn’t take any skill. I can recognize where these stereotypes come from: a majority of the student body only sees us cheering at games or school events.

But there’s more to cheer than yelling “Go big blue” on the sidelines. You don’t see us practicing at 6 a.m. to make sure our pyramids look perfect or do our routine so we will have zero deductions on the nationals mat. You don’t suffer through four days in a row of cheering 12 hours a day at cheer camp in the summer just to win a plastic Spirit Stick. And you aren’t part of a sport that has caused 66% of catastrophic injuries in female high school athletes over the last 25 years, according to USA Cheer. 

So the next time you debate whether or not cheer is a sport, just remember that you don’t see all of the hard work that being a cheerleader requires. East, KSHSAA and students need to recognize that we are hardworking athletes who deserve the same amount of respect and recognition as any other sport.