I know a lot of people who think that cheerleading is not a sport, well it depends on the type of cheerleading you do, such as school cheerleading no it's not really a sport even though there is competitions but all star cheerleading is a whole different story. So here are some reasons that all star cheerleading is a sport.I have been doing all star for 6 years going on my 7th, every year I have ended up with at least two very serious injuries from a broken finger to being on crutches for two months with a fractured heel and a broken ankle. Yes I know you probably thinking to yourself then why would you keep cheering well, to be honest I have thought about stopping many times but when I stop and think about my teammates and all of the hard work and dedication there is, I never want to stop. Cheering and the people on my teams are probably one of the only things that can cheer me up when I’m super upset, one day I went into the gym and without me even saying anything they just automatically knew I was upset but once I stepped out onto the mat it was like it's a whole new world no worries or no problems.                                             

 Traveling and hours put in

 We travel as much as hockey players and travel basketball players. We have about 6 to 7 comps and they are all out of the state, of them has even been as far as South Carolina and Florida. The Florida competition was even at the ESPN center.  Yes hockey players and basketball players have way more games but we don’t only go against one team we go against at the most 25 teams from all around the world with at least 20 people on each team. I’m on 3 different levels of cheering and every Sunday I am at the cheer gym for hours, some days I am there for up to 8 hours. We put about 20 hours a week for only being on the stage for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. 

                  About all star cheerleaders  

Being an all star cheerleader is way more than standing on side lines and yelling for basketball players. We have to have strength, endurance and balance. Some of our teams everyday after an hour and a half practices have to workout and condition to become stronger, at nights lots of the cheerleaders FaceTime and workout to build endurance and strength. We are definitely more than just a team we are a family, when someone is upset or sad people from the team always are there and help each other through it. When our stunt isn’t working we go in to fix and make changes with our group so it will hit. We are definitely athletes and we go through a lot to be able to win and hit at competitions. One year I had a coach that has now moved to a different gym in my face yelling at me not to stop because she could tell I was in pain. 

So next time before you go to tell an all star cheerleader cheerleading isnt a sport remember everything we go through from the pain to the injuries.