Pros and Cons of Cheerleading As A Sport 

By Jayden Clasby

Cheerleading is a huge part of today's society. With boys and girls of all ages cheering at local sports games, competitions, or even just participating as a hobby. Cheerleading is believed to have started around the same time as the Ancient Greek Olympics, when men and women would cheer for the athletes. It may be different from all the other sports, without a ball or a course, but it shares one similar question. Is it worth it?

Cheerleading “is a team activity in which elements of dance and acrobatics are combined with shouted slogans, and a team aspect. Cheerleading is most commonly done at sports games.” Britanica (1). Cheerleading is known as “one of the most pressurized and hard working sports out there. It takes a lot of skill, balance, and dedication to be able to perform without flaw.” 

Pros of Cheerleading

Pro 1: Cheerleading is an active sport.

Cheerleading is an active sport, not like  running or throwing things.It has more physical attributes, like balance, coordination, and core strength. Good balance is good for posture and also for maintaining strong muscles, and preventing injuries. Coordination helps with precise movements and allows more complicated skills to be accomplished. Also, just taking part in sports annually or year round helps with your heart, lungs, and overall wellbeing. 

Pro 2: There are different types of cheerleading. 

When people say “cheerleading” you might think about girls in skirts performing at a football or basketball game. This is one is a type of cheerleading, but there are also cheer competitions in which the cheerleaders do not cheer for a team, and instead try to beat other teams with better stunts and cheers. Competitions are for the most advanced and skilled people. So then if you prefer simpler easier cheers with poms then you could do the in-game cheer. Or if you want to flip and win awards and do harder stunts then you could take part in the competition cheer.      

Cons of cheerleading

Con 1: Cheer is a dangerous strenuous sport.

Just like any sport, there is always the danger of getting hurt. It’s any athlete's worst nightmare. Football, soccer, and basketball are the most dangerous sports with the most injuries. Cheerleading is 17th on the most injuries in sports list (according to USA cheer assoc). 83% of the injuries occurred during practice and 64% of injuries occured when doing a flying stunt. Studies also showed that around 63% of cheerleaders across America get injuries that are strains, sprains, or tears, with concussions at a 14% rate. 

Con 2: Cheer has long seasons

The nice thing about all sports is that they all end at some point, and you get a break before going to a different sport, or waiting till next year to start again. But cheer is different. There is cheer that is seasonal, which is mostly the in-game cheer, (where they cheer at games such as football, basketball, et .) where once the sports season is over, so is theirs. But the cheer competitions are all school year long, and sometimes all year. Imagine getting no break from your sport, or having to double up if you want to do 2 sports. 

Just like any sport, there are always pros and cons, it really depends on if it’s your passion, your drive, your hobby. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth taking the risk.