Cheer up: Cheerleading is a sport

So you don't think
cheerleading is a sport?

Just try doing a back
hand spring. The name makes it sound hard. It is.

A back hand spring is when an athlete bends backward, puts their
hands on the floor and flips over. It's often done in gymnastics.

It's done in
cheerleading too.

"You have to be
able to do a back hand spring or you can't cheer at a game," said
Lindsay Williams, a senior cheerleading captain. "We have a lot of
gymnastics skills we are going to be using this year."

Williams is a level-headed
girl. She's friendly and she's competitive at the same time. All in all,
she's one cool customer.

And she doesn't
understand why cheerleading isn't considered a sport by the critics. What
makes it so different?

They practice 10 hours
a week, learn "plays" called routines and showcase their talents in
front of crowds.

In the very essence of
what cheerleaders do, they are athletes.

And come winter, they
compete.

"We do
performances during the fall season, especially for the pep rally, but when
the competition season starts we have competitions every week," Williams
said. "We're judged on what we do and we are competing for a score
against another team. That's why I think cheerleading should be considered a
sport."

Williams is right.
Cheerleading is officially recognized by the Michigan High School Athletics
Association as a sport during their competitive season. It's serious business
with incredibly strict judging.

But cheerleading is
more than a show. It's about school spirit and cheering for their Mustangs.
It's about being a part of the high school, more so than the average member
of the student body and more so than most athletes.

Even when the football
team is 1-4 and out of the running for a state playoff berth, the cheerleaders
are still there.

They're not only the
biggest supporters of the orange and black, but they're the football team's
most faithful fans.

"If the score
gets really bad, we try to put even more effort into it," Williams said.
"We know the guys are upset about it and we want to see them do their
best.

"Even if it means
they end up scoring just one more touchdown, we want to try to keep everyone
pumped up and keep their morale high."

Sounds like
cheerleaders care about other sports. Maybe more people should care about
theirs.

Sam Eggleston can be
reached at (248) 349-1700, ext. 104 or t [email-masked].

Originally
published September 29, 2005