Why Should Cheerleading be Considered a Sport

 Why Should Cheerleading be Considered a Sport
Almost anything that may have a competition can be deemed a sport based on how many people think it is. Sports are defined as a competition for physical strength and skill. However, throughout sporting history, certain sports have been heavily debated whether such activities should be regarded as "sports" or not, one of these being "cheerleading." Having stated that, the central claim of this essay is that cheerleading qualifies as a sport.
One of the reasons why cheerleading should be considered a sport is because the definition of sports cannot be limited to very narrow definitions. As said earlier, one of the common conceptions of sports is that they must be "physical," yet not all sports are physical. As an illustration, take "E-sports" or electronic sports, which are only recently become recognized as legitimate sports. Countries are already proud of their esports athletes since they win medals for their nation. As time and technology advanced and more people worldwide became interested in this sort of thing, the level of competition in electronic games also increased. Accordingly, cheerleading is more "physically" inclined than esports or Chess, yet both preceding activities are considered sports.  
Another reason cheerleading should be considered a sport is its high level of competitiveness. Originally, "cheerleading" was primarily done to support a particular university's players, but as time has passed, cheering for opposing teams has grown more competitive, which is true of all universities (Zdunek, 2020). Given the intensity of the physical battle between the opposing teams, cheering stunts should have already been classified as sports since gymnastics is a recognized Olympic activity. Cheerleading is a sport that requires a lot of energy and is quite competitive. Cheerleading is taxing because it takes much muscle to pull off such maneuvers. Cheerleading, like many collegiate sports, requires a tryout where a person's abilities are assessed before they are accepted into the squad. A university's football or basketball teams and cheerleading squad go through comparable training and practice routines. In conclusion, cheerleading is not a "mind sport" as can be seen by merely looking at it, and it is practiced widely in many nations worldwide without regard to gender.
           Another reason cheerleading should be a sport is that nations and international sports organizations deem it so. The question of who and what group of people perceive something to be a sport must be asked after all the criteria for something being regarded as a sport have been satisfied. The Olympic committee is one of the most reputable and respected organizations. They are also accountable for determining what qualifies as a sport because every athlete and fan of the Olympics respects their judgment. The Olympic Charter states that a sport must be "widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries across four continents and by women in at least 40 countries across three continents to be accepted and recognized as a sport in the Olympics". Who else could deem an activity a sport than the internationally accepted authority in sporti...