Eat. Sleep. Cheer. Repeat. By Chloe V.

Cheerleading is more than just standing on a sideline shaking pom-poms and hollering"GO TEAM, GO!" It is physically demanding , involves competitions as well as teamwork. An important question has arisen in the world of sports and it is time to speak about the true facts. Is cheerleading a sport? Yes it is!

Firstly cheerleading takes a lot of physical fitness, talent,determination,training and guts. Cheerleading has evolved a lot during the years and is starting to get compared to gymnastics. Speaking about training I mean hard and intensive working out, failure,patience and even sometimes bad injuries. Cheerleaders have to get thrown into the air, make routines on mats including many stunts, difficult movements as well as pyramids. To do that they have to practice and practice.Isn't that what a sport is all about? Then talking about guts,it's not everyone who desires to get thrown into the air but those who do want can risk bad injuries if things go wrong.Wasn't a sport supposed to challenge you ?

Secondly,the goal of a sport is not only to be better than you used to be but also to face oponents in serious competitions while developing sportsmanship and teamspirit.When you compete against other teams, training can be really stressful and requires a whole lot of time. Of course, practice makes perfect! During competitions you get judged on your techniques, stunts,elegance and many other criterias just like many other sports. In order for those events to be successful, teamwork has to be present in each and every team member. " You mess with a cheerleader, you mess with her whole squad!" This saying says it all. Cheerleaders are sisters who develop team spirit and sportsmanship as they have to trust each other.

To conclude, cheerleading is a sport because it is physically demanding,requires teamwork and involves competitions. If you still think it is not a sport well trust me... You don't know what you're
in for !

Cheerleading, One of the Toughest Sports? By Amelia F.

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Try lifting a person with just your two arms, or stand up 10 feet in the air with only one pair of hands holding only one of your legs and your other leg up. Try all of this and tell me cheerleading is not a sport. Cheerleading is a physical activity for a specific sports team motivation based on routines. The routines contain tumbling, dance, jumps and cheers. Cheerleading is a sport because you not only need physical strength, mental strength, but you also need a ton of balance.

Cheerleading is a sport for many reasons. First of all, for all the physical strength involved. Every cheerleading teams must do very intense warm ups before getting started. Some examples of warm ups they do is push-ups, different kinds of jumps,running and many more! When doing their dance routines, cheerleaders need to be very strong especially if they are the base (the person who lifts and catches people) because they need to hold the weight of a person. In other cases, they need to push their own weights up while they are performing jumps. Finally, cheerleaders need a lot of muscles to execute the tumblings they do such as back flips, front flips,etc.

Another reason why cheerleading is a sport is because of all the mental strength needed. Indeed, Cheerleaders (especially flyers) need very high mental strength (confidence). They need a lot of confidence in their partners since they constantly get thrown and catched in the air. Imagine the stress of getting thrown in the air and not being sure if someone will catch you well. This also puts a lot of pressure on the bases because they know that if a flyer falls and is badly hurt, it is most likely their fault. Lastly, you must be confident in your capacities before going on stage. Even if you have the physical strength and good techniques, you still have a lot of pressure on you.

The least reason why cheerleading is a sport is because you need a ton of balance. Cheerleaders constantly have one leg up in the air which requires the body to be very equal. Another example is the flyer. This person who is getting hold by one leg must stay straight and sturdy or else she/he could get badly hurt. To wrap it up, cheerleading in general requires a lot of balance since their is a lot of range in movements.

In conclusion, people who say cheerleading is not a sport obviously have never done cheerleading before or just do not want to admit that a sport most girls do is actually a sport. Cheerleading requires good physical strength, mental strength and balance. So, if you are searching for a great sport that keeps you in shape, you are very competitive, you are not scared of heights and you are strong, try cheerleading! But remember to be cautious!

Athletes Deserve Their Money by: David T.

    They are your idols, they shape the way you grow up. They are paid millions a year to entertain and play the sport that they love. Professional athletes aren't overpaid, they deserve the money they get. They work hard to get where they want to be. Their jobs are not easy. Their job involves a certain risk, injuries are common in almost every kind of sport. They are paid to entertain an audience. People pay big money to go watch them, their is no reason for them to make a small amount of money. Professional athletes are paid a fair amount for what they actually do.

   Firstly, looking at a professional hockey player or a professional football player, what may come to mind is money. Our generation tries to find ways to make money easily because we are too lazy to work hard. Professional athletes are a proof of the complete opposite. They make a large amount of money but they give so much work into it. They work 6-7 days a week to reach the goal they most want in life. They want to reach the top. They are the most hard working people you may ever meet. It take's a lot of concentration and will power to achieve a goal that is as hard as becoming a professional athlete. There is no such thing as sitting on a couch for a professional athlete, they are always working hard because that's what their job is all about.

   Secondly, if your look at football or hockey, they are sports that involve contact, checking and hitting the opponent. They involve great risk. Every play they make in football or every time they are on the ice during hockey, they may be injured. A hard check, tackle or both could end a career or even a life in extreme cases. Since athletes are paid so much, they are sure to have money when their career is done or when their physical state won't allow them to go anywhere further. The amount of money they make ensures that they can live all their life without having to work. The risk of playing football is high, one hit and you can break an arm, a leg and can have permanent damage to your brain. If they wouldn't have that much money, less people would play, they don't want to risk their life because of one tackle. They are paid high due to the amount of risk involved.

   Thirdly, the cost fans pay to go see them play is high, therefore they make a lot of money and can pay their players more. As an example, in the NFL the lowest ticket price is 109$ to go see the Cleveland Browns. This cost is already petty high. The highest price is the Chicago Bears with an average of 446$ per ticket. With the amount of people going to see every game, no wonder the players are payed so high. The team had the money for it. Athletes are paid a lot of money but don't need to play long. NFL teams have so much money, they put it in the right place for them to have good players playing for them and that they stay there all their career.

   In conclusion, professional athletes are not paid too much for the job they are doing. They work hard to get where they want to get in life as a professional athlete. Any minute while doing their job, they can be injured and can end their career, it take's only one hit. The players are paid to do their job and make the people in the audience happy and entertained. Looking back, they all connect together. They work hard to go far, their job involves risk, passing through that they have money for the rest of their lives.