Cheerleading should make people scared.

Not because you saw a routine or tumbling pass that was really good at the pep rally, but because people are actually making a big fuss over it and starting to believe that it is actually a sport.

By definition, sports are activities involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against others for entertainment.

An exertion of force…like lifting 125 pound weights or running straight at a 200 pound, 6-foot-2 guy in head-to-toe padding. Should lifting an 80 pound girl with the help of 4 others while screaming “GO RAIDERS” really be considered a sport?

Whether it is a football player in your math class or a random student walking through the halls talking down about cheerleading, as soon as someone says it is not a sport, you can expect angry glares and the phrase, “Do you know how hard we work?”

You cannot start an argument with the, “It’s difficult” or, “We work hard” junk. We get it, cheerleading requires a lot of flexibility and training. Brain surgery is difficult, but do surgeons say that it is a sport? Heck, what about war? Is that a sport now too?

High school cheerleading was created to get the crowd fired up and excited to cheer on the other students who are actually playing the sports behind them.

Also, do not forget the fact that a huge part of cheer has to do with looks. What other sports have an emphasis on how you look? The false smiles and big lashes are nothing compared to what is happening right behind their backs while they are waving their hands around. Could you imagine if a basketball team was fixing each other’s braids before walking out onto the court?

The big argument that football players or soccer players do not work as hard is ridiculous. Football players practice in the morning as well as after school. Do people really think high school cheer is comparable to the extreme work that other students do to become the next Peyton Manning or LeBron James? As soon as they can put on some 100 pound gear and get out on the field with guys the size of tanks, I will give them some recognition. Just because you slap a big bow in your hair and do a couple of cartwheels does not make what you are doing a sport.

Not many sports take place on the sidelines dodging foul plays.

“On the sidelines they don’t do much, as of now they are just in our way of watching the game,” said junior Katelyn Behrens.

Honestly though, half of the time people just say things to get a reaction out of cheerleaders to pass time. But others truly believe that there is no athleticism behind it at all.

Overall, cheerleading is considered difficult, and the cheerleaders do work hard. But this does not make it a sport.