Thursday, March 3, 2005

Main News

Don't try to tell me this stuff isn't a sport

A former sports editor used to try to tell me that cheerleading
wasn't a sport.

He'd never
seen a competitive cheer competition in person, but by his narrow definition
a sport pretty much needed to have a ball or puck of some kind and there had
to be points or goals kept, usually on a scoreboard. On the other hand, if
the winner was chosen by a judge or judges - like figure skating - it wasn't
a sport, he'd argue.

And all
this was after the Michigan High School Athletic Association sanctioned
competitive cheer and decided that it's indeed a sport.

I actually
had the same general feeling three years ago when my younger daughter dropped
soccer after five years and decided she was going to be a cheerleader.

Now soccer
is a sport with balls and scores and it was similar to the football, baseball
and basketball that I had always loved. I'd grown to love it. But
cheerleading? This shift wasn't easy, especially for me. During my period of
withdrawal, I'd go to see local high school and college soccer teams, even
find games on television to watch. As for my daughter's new sport, well, I'd
tell myself, at least I'd get to watch some football
and basketball games during the sideline season.

My view of
cheerleading changed quickly, though. I would strenuously argue with that
former sports editor in defense of what these girls do as, in fact, a real
sport. In the past few years since she's become a cheerleader, I've talked to
lots of other parents who also had no idea just how much hard work, training,
athleticism and teamwork went into this sport, until they saw it first-hand
with their girls.

They need
to learn and remember formations; they need balance, gymnastics and tumbling.
When it comes to stunts, the flyers need balance and to learn to trust their
stunt groups, while the bases and backspots need to
be as strong as weightlifters and support the girl they're hoisting on their
hands. They lift her, carry her around, catch her, then
lift her again.

Like other
sports, there are dangers and injuries, but these athletes are asked to be
tough. At a competition a few weeks ago, one of my daughter's Stevenson High
teammates twisted an ankle at the end of the first round. Like any athlete
not wanting to let down her teammates, she had her ankle taped and went back
for the second round and the team performed well.

Parents and
fans, though, were unfamiliar with a revised second round, and perhaps
anxious about the injury situation. So we weren't on target with our answers
to "When we say Blue, you say White. Blue ; " We found out later
that the team finished out of the top three places because they were scored
so poorly on the fan response. Now the fact that fan reaction plays into the
scoring at all doesn't help the whole sport argument, but I'm still
convinced.

Just a few
days before Saturday's competition - which was a Livonia Public Schools high
school city meet between Churchill, Franklin and Stevenson - one Stevenson
girl injured her shoulder. Her injury forced several others girls to learn
new positions to fill her spot in different parts of the competition, which
was a major challenge.

It didn't
quite work as they'd hoped and, though they tried valiantly, Stevenson's
varsity came up short. Franklin's
varsity squad performed outstanding routines, winning all three rounds to win
the city title and a big trophy.

These
competitions feature an intense rivalry between the squads, especially among Livonia schools, but
it's great that you can see the cheerleaders regularly and enthusiastically
cheering the good work of other squads at most every competition.

As a
parent, I'm proud of the dedication my daughter has brought to learning and
perfecting roundoff back-handsprings, splits, toe-touches and more. And it's really exciting to
watch her and her team perform.

Even better
was what I saw from my daughter after the team's less-than-perfect
performance Saturday. One cheerleader blamed herself for missing her stunt
and she was in tears. And there was my daughter with her arm around her
disconsolate teammate trying to comfort her. That made me even prouder.

Pride is
something that comes naturally to parents of athletes. So don't try to tell
me - or any number of other cheer parents out there - that what these girls
do on those competition mats each spring isn't a sport.

Dave Varga is editor of the Livonia Observer.