Cheerleading. The one sport that uses all three principles of fitness, and forces you to keep a smile on while you do it. Strength: we lift people in the air, we push off the ground to tumble, and we hit motions so hard our entire body shakes, we jump off the ground, bring our feet to the level of our shoulders or above, and manage to land without falling over. Flexibility: heel stretches, scorpions, bow and arrows, scales, toe touches, hurkeys, pikes, and hurdlers. Endurance: we manage to showcase tumbling passes, jumps, a cheer, standing tumbling, stunts, dance, basket tosses, and a pyramid into two and a half minutes of floor time.
This is a real sport.
Recently, a judge ruled that cheerleading is not a sport. I've never heard a more ridiculous thing in my entire life. We run, we jump, we fly through the air, we tumble, and we yell at the top of our lungs... and make it look good, with a smile. I'd love to see that judge get to a floor and throw a standing full, or even a standing tuck for that matter. I'd love to see him get through a two and a half minute routine, and still not change his ruling. Idiot. Cheerleading is the second highest injury rate in the country, only after football, which is one of the most brutal sports available in schools... and we're not a sport?
Delusional.
Maybe it looks easy, standing down on the side lines, chanting a memorized phrase a few times, then throwing some spirit out at the crowd. Think again. Our muscles are tense the entire game, only during half time do we get a break. We stand on our feet for at least three hours straight... smiling, and not moving outside of chants and spiriting. And of course when we do actual cheers, we get back into the stunting and tumbling aspect of cheerleading.
So, when that judge gets the courage to stand up and work half as hard as competitive cheerleaders and attempt the feats they find as a daily routine, and he fails, I'll just... smile because it happened.
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