What constitutes a sport?
Here is a editorial by at what constitutes a sport.
While researching the story by watching cheerleading practices at both the high school and college levels, it was clear to me that serious effort was involved, as well as athleticism. I knew within minutes that I would never have been a good cheerleader, and not only because I can’t keep time with my clapping. More than that, I simply don’t think I had enough arm or leg strength to throw people 10 feet into the air, then catch them. And I especially don’t think I could have done that while smiling.
But just because it requires strength and agility and athleticism, is cheerleading really a sport?
I spoke with a cheerleader from Rutgers who said she didn’t consider it to be one. Her theory was that if an athlete doesn’t directly affect an opponent, he or she is not engaged in a sport. But by that measure, golf wouldn’t be a sport, nor would a number of Olympic events. So that doesn’t seem right either.
