Is cheerleading really a sport?

Two things that people love to ask me are: Is such-and-such really a sport? And: Are people who do such-and-such really athletes? Usually, I can tell, the

Frank Deford | Jul 28, 2010

Is cheerleading really a sport? /

Two things that people love to ask me are: Is such-and-such really a sport? And: Are people who do such-and-such really athletes? Usually, I can tell, the people who ask me: say, are race car drivers really athletes? ... don't like auto racing -- and they are very piqued at me when I say, yeah, definitely I think race car drivers are athletes. Just because you are sitting down doesn't mean you can't be an athlete. As there are different artists, so too different athletes.

However, there is a widespread prejudice that only people who do something proficient while being vigorously active for long periods, can be real athletes. Basketball, soccer and tennis players are usually held up as the standard. But I think there are many physical abilities that qualify you as an athlete. Let's face it: you can be the fastest and strongest athlete in the world, but if you don't have hand-eye coordination, you can't be any good at baseball.

The sports that most people have their doubts about are the ones where the athletes don't directly beat each other, but are judged. Especially in Olympic years, people like to snicker and ask me: Is synchronized swimming really a sport? Snicker, snicker. And I think, well, isn't it just like gymnastics or figure skating? They exercise, they get scores, they're sports. I think pretty much that if you're employing physical attributes, you're being an athlete. Then, if you're competing against someone else, it's a sport. Mountain climbers, for example, may be incredibly athletic, but I don't think mountain climbing is a sport.

This brings us to cheerleading. Is it a sport? It can be a very vigorous activity, even dangerous when cheerleaders fall. But, of course, there is a particular form of cheerleading performed by busty young things in halter tops, waggling pom poms, which is simply titillation, and while I'm all for being titillated, that is not a sport. In schools, though, there are cheerleading matches, with scores, not pom-poms. I judged a national collegiate cheerleading competition once. It was an eclectic panel. Dr. Joyce Brothers was next to me. It seemed like a sport to us.

But now a federal judge has ruled that cheerleading is not yet a real sport even though 64,000 high school girls are registered in "competitive spirit squads." It was a complicated case that forced this decision, wherein one more college --Quinnipiac, this time -- was trying to get around Title IX stipulations. The more women who go to college, forming a greater majority of students, the more women's sports we must have, and that is hard for a lot of male athletic officials to deal with. All the more reason, it seems to me, to certify cheerleading.

But here is one hard and fast rule I would make. Any college that is put on any athletic probation -- like the University of Southern California now -- for violating NCAA rules should not be allowed to have cheerleaders at any of its games. It would be a very visible sign that that school is being punished. No cheerleaders for cheaters.

Published Jul 28, 2010

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.