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"we are dedicated"
"we train 3-4 hours a day, several days a week"
"we are strong and hardworking"

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"like any other sport, directs UT’s competitive cheer team supervising routines, stunts, and motivating her team"

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BY CANDACE MARTINO

The heated debate whether a cheerleader is an athlete or not has gained national media attention. No matter what your take is on the situation, there is enough evidence to backup both sides of the argument.

Cheerleaders are mostly seen on the sidelines of football, basketball, or even hockey games doing stunts and engaging the crowd, but the way fans see it, cheerleaders are just one more person supporting their team. Though, what the average fan doesn't see is the rigorous and demanding training schedules that cheerleaders encounter in order to perfect routines displayed at events. Although the NCAA or National Federation of State High School Association do not deem cheering as a sport, that doesn't stop the University of Tampa cheerleading team to believe so.

Given the definition of "what a sport is," cheering has fulfilled the criteria to the fullest, if not better than some activities called sports. There is no question that cheerleading is a physically demanding sport, especially when competition is involved. Dances are created that call for tumbling, stunts, and gymnastic routines all of which requires strength, stamina, timing, and balance. Those exact requirements meet the typically athletic requirement.

Head coach Mannie Rotella, much like any other sport, directs UT's competitive cheer team supervising routines, stunts, and motivating her team. Rotella is in her third season as head coach and is assisted by Danielle Rankin. Before accepting the position at Tampa, Rotella spent four years at nearby University of South Florida, competing at the Division 1 level in both competitive and in-game cheer. She grew up a gym rat in her home state of Massachusetts and developed a diverse background in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading, which led to pursuing a career in coaching.

"Being a college coach is very demanding and honestly, exhausting- in a good way. Coaching UT cheerleading is not my full-time job, but it is on my mind all the time," Rotella said, "I think about the things I can do to better the program while I'm falling asleep at night and every minute leading up to practices. Our teams are very important to us and we always want what is best for them as athletes, as students, and as people. The athletic coaching staff at UT is the best. These coaches are so passionate and driven to help their teams succeed."

Cheerleading at UT requires just as much as any other school throughout the country, and often times can be compared to the practice times of a varsity sport. Practices are held three times a week for three-hour sessions along with workouts with UT strength and conditioning coaches.

"You can't just practice once or twice a week and be a good competitive cheerleader. It's eating healthy, drinking water, taking care of your body, practicing on your off days, working out every day so that you're strong enough to control your own body and throw other people in the air. Not only that, but it is a full-team sport. If one person is missing, it affects our entire routine," Rotella said.

The argument for any activity to truly be considered a sport is that it must involve competition. Competitive cheering is when squads go head-to-head against each other and are evaluated on a standard set of rules. Though, what raises the question whether competitive cheerleading is qualified as a sport or not is that there is no governing body or consistent set of rules. Each competition host or organizer is responsible for his or her own championship tournament.

This year, the Spartans will be attending the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) College National in Daytona Beach. The competition will be held Apr. 6-9 and is one of the biggest cheerleading events in the country. This past summer, Tampa participated in an NCA college cheerleading camp at Boston University, where the squad earned a silver paid bid to college nationals.

"This was a really big deal for our team since we were given a partially-paid bid at our first ever NCA college camp. This allows us to compete at NCA College Nationals which was our first goal as a team coming into this season," Rotella said.

The competitive cheer team will be performing their nationals routine on Saturday, Feb. 20 between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. in Cass Gym, and is open to all UT students. The Spartans will be back in action March 6 as they travel to the Florida State Fair to compete in an exhibition. The Spartans will follow up in a competition hosted by the University of Florida right before heading to nationals.

"With Nationals coming up so soon, they can see that end goal and push themselves more and more each practice to reach it," Rotella said, "I have no doubt that UT will have a National Championship Title in the near future if our program continues to progress the way it has been."

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Cheerleading Just as Demanding as Other Sports

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BY CANDACE MARTINO The heated debate whether a cheerleader is an athlete or not has gained national media attention. No matter what your take is on the situation, there is enough evidence to backup both sides of the argument. Cheerleaders are mostly seen on the sidelines of football, basketball, or even hockey games doing stunts...

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"it's very hard on your body i've had lots of injuries from it"
"i really enjoy doing the sport"

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Don't think cheerleading is a sport? Think again!

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"75 direct deaths in 25 years"

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"But it doesn’t change the fact that from 1980 to 2013, cheerleading injury rates went up 440 percent"
"cheerleading injuries are often much more severe, making up 50-66 percent of catastrophic injuries in female athletes."

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This article originally appeared on BetterBraces.com.

When you think of sports injuries, full contact sports like football probably come to mind. However, one of the most dangerous sports in terms of serious injury is not football, soccer, or basketball...it's cheerleading.

Cheerleading has become so much more than shouting encouraging phrases from the sidelines. Modern day cheerleading features amazing feats of gymnastics and flexibility along with dance and of course, stunts. A basket toss can send a cheerleader flying 20 feet in the air, only to land in the arms of her teammates, if everything goes right. It's not hard to see how cheerleading can be dangerous.

Even with human pyramids, choreographed gymnastic passes and more, some might not even consider cheerleading a true sport; in fact the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) does not even include it in their list of sponsored sports. But it doesn't change the fact that from 1980 to 2013, cheerleading injury rates went up 440 percent.

Compared to other sports, the overall number of injuries is actually low. However, cheerleading injuries are often much more severe, making up 50-66 percent of catastrophic injuries in female athletes. A catastrophic injury is defined as a severe injury to the spine (including the spinal cord) or brain and may also include skull or spinal fractures.

Most Common Injuries

Cheerleading injuries affect all areas of the body. The wrists, shoulders, ankles, head, and neck are most commonly injured. Sprains account for more than half of all cheerleading injuries. While ankle sprains are most common, sprains can also occur in the knees, wrists, neck and back.

Back injuries are also common in cheerleading, largely from tumbling and stunts. Back injuries can be caused by twisting and rotating in stunts or tumbling passes and from lifting, catching, or falling during stunts.

Concussions are also becoming increasingly more common in cheerleading. With more evidence of the damage head injuries like concussions can cause, there has now been a heightened awareness of cheerleading related injuries overall.

Prevention

Some of the causes for cheerleading injuries are lack of training (especially with stunts), lack of conditioning and that there is no protective gear for the sport. The best way to avoid injury is to prevent them from happening.

Stunt restrictions

It's no surprise that stunting causes the most serious injuries in cheerleading. Stunting accounts for 42 to 60 percent of all cheerleading injuries. In addition, 96 percent of concussions and head injuries in cheerleading are caused by stunts. Without the proper training on how to toss and catch the flyer, along with practice, these injuries will continue to occur.

Other stunting restrictions include height restrictions in human pyramids to keep them level and increasing the number of spotters during aerial stunts. Mats should always be used during practice, as cheerleading is one of the only sports where more injuries occur during practice than in competition.

Trained coaches

The lack of recognition of cheerleading as a sport has lead to a lack of qualified coaches. Often, coaching is done by a member of the school's faculty who may not have any experience with cheerleading, or at least not some of the more physically demanding aspects of it. At a minimum, a cheerleading coach should know proper stunt technique, should always supervise practice and should be able to identify the symptoms of serious injury like concussions.

Conditioning

Like any other sport, proper training and conditioning can help prevent injury. First and foremost, stretching before practice and competition can loosen the muscles and help prevent strains, sprains and pulls. Yoga or Pilates can also help cheerleaders improve flexibility.

Strength training can also help prepare muscles for lifting either your body weight or a teammate during stunts. Special attention should be paid to strengthening the back and shoulders are well as the core muscles to help reduce the risk of injury.

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This article originally appeared on BetterBraces.com. When you think of sports injuries, full contact sports like football probably come to mind. However, one of the most dangerous sports in terms of serious injury is not football, soccer, or basketball...it's cheerleading. Cheerleading has become so much more than shouting encouraging phrases from the sidelines.