# Is cheerleading a sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 25, 2001, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446 "2001-03-25T21:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/21 "2001-03-27T00:33:52Z")
And, according to the Reilly definitions, WWF wrestling IS a sport. Standardized scoring? One guy pins the other… 's that simple. 😃 Perhaps he should add an addendum about “sports entertainment”. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/22 "2001-03-27T01:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monster104 \* > **Hardly a Great Debate, but I don’t think it’s a sport. I have a very strict definition of a sport. My personal definition of sport is “An athletic activity in which two sides compete against each other and directly influence the performance of the other in order to win”. With that definition it rules out golf, cheerleading, synchronized swimming, etc.** That also rules out the 100-metre dash. It also begs the question; what’s an athletic activity? I would also question Cyberhwk’s definition: > [@](#): > > Here are my guidelines: > 1.) Must take exceptional athletic ability and/or skill to compete competitively. Something doesn’t stop being a sport if the players suck at it. **A SPORT is a contest of physical skill, engaged in for its own intrinsic purpose, with predetermined rules with objective criteria for determining a winner.** Baseball is a sport. Billiards is a sport. The Olympic high jump is a sport. Darts is a sport. The 100-metre dash is a sport. Bowling is obviously a sport. Croquet is a sport. Soccer (it’s not called “football.” “Football” is played by steroid-laden, helmet-clad men who hired ringers to write their college exams) is a sport. Anything wherein a winner is determined by a subjective judging system is not a sport, so cheerleading is out, as are all gymnastic events, synchronized swimming, figure skating, and to some extent boxing. Anything that is not a contest of physical skill is not a sport, so chess isn’t a sport. Billards definitely IS. Sure, you don’t need to be Bruce Jenner; so what? It’s a contest of physical skill, has predefined rules, and an objectively determined winner. Anything not engaged in “For its own intrinsic purpose” is not a sport; so, for instance, war isn’t a sport. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/23 "2001-03-27T04:33:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Anything wherein a winner is determined by a subjective judging system is not a sport, so cheerleading is out, as are all gymnastic events, synchronized swimming, figure skating, and to some extent boxing. > \*\* To some extent? It either is or it isn’t. We can’t exactly put boxing on the “Sort-of Sports Network,” can we? ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/24 "2001-03-27T04:39:55Z")
> [@](#): > > **A SPORT is a contest of physical skill, engaged in for its own intrinsic purpose, with predetermined rules with objective criteria for determining a winner** So, would team orgies or Whack-a-Thons[sup]TM[/sup] be considered sports? 😃 IMHO, your definition is too vague. I don’t consider the 100-meter dash to be a sport. It’s a strenuous, extremely physical athletic activity, but I don’t consider it a sport. I don’t consider Track to be a sport. Many people I know in track don’t consider it a sport. Now, if they were allowed to tackle their competitors… 😉 I don’t think bowling is a sport. Billiards isn’t a sport. Darts isn’t a sport. Soccer is a sport. Football is a sport. Binge drinking is not essentially a sport, but could probably quickly become one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f19dbf/32.png) [@dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/25 "2001-03-27T08:38:50Z")
Is fixed wrestling a sport ? Does it matter ? They enjoy cheerleading, we enjoy watching etc. Its entertainment, sport ( in general ) is now a sub section of entertainment. Was it sport to let lions eat the christians ? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/26 "2001-03-27T09:04:34Z")
I had a really nutty teacher who believed that there were only three sports: Football, baseball, and basketball. He loathed soccer. He thought it should be called “kick”. And no, his initials weren’t “K.O.” Just wanted everyone to know what the furthest extreme of “what is/what isn’t a sport” was. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446/27 "2001-03-27T12:28:07Z")
What about those women who try to set records for the number of consecutive men they have sex with? A sport? BTW, what’s the record up to now? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cheerleading-a-sport/59446.md?page=1)