But I’m a Cheerleader!
Posted by Brett Kincaid on July 21, 2010
Hey, Judge, can you do this?!
A Connecticut court today ruled that cheerleading is not a sport. The ruling comes after students at Quinnipiac University filed the suit when volleyball was scheduled to be dropped as a sport, and the university was going to claim cheerleading would satisfy its Title IX requirement.
The federal judge said no, stating that cheerleading was too “underdeveloped” to be considered a legitimate sport. Clearly this guy has never lived in The South, but I digress. It opens a lot of interesting questions, both legal and sports-related.
What makes a sport a sport? It’s a question that seems to argued every summer on sports radio since there is nothing else to discuss! Cheerleaders are definitely athletic. Most of ‘em could whup any of us pretty easily. There is a team element, they have competitions, and the team members are clearly athletic. So why is it not considered a sport?
I mean if NASCAR is a sport surely cheerleading is, right?
Having no dog in the hunt and never really thought about it, I guess I’m talking myself into disagreeing with the judge.
3 Responses to “But I’m a Cheerleader!”
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Jeff said
Oh boy… I may have to post the Is It A Sport file after all.
AB said
I’m waiting.
What about a Kolor Shout? said
Hmmm… not taking that bait, but I don’t think schools should be able to claim cheeleading as a sport in order to drop another women’s sport under Title 9.