I’m going to try and start a summer series that will hopefully lead to some heated discussions and get people fired up about sports. I will be posting weekly debates, on some of the hottest topics in sports. Please, if you have an argument that is worth being mentioned and want to debate. Feel free to comment below.

Being the person that I am, I will be putting in my opinion in each article and feel free to discuss and debate me as much as you want in the comments below. I’m always ready!

The first debate that has not only gotten me in trouble but has sparked some great debates.

IS CHEERLEADING A SPORT?

Many have opinions on this. First lets take a look at the definition of a sport. According to dictionary.com (which is a credible source) defines a sports as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

Now the main argument to cheerleading is that there is competitive cheerleading. Yes, some cheerleading squads do competitive cheer and go to tournaments regularly. Sometimes you see these tournaments on ESPN. But just because it is on ESPN, does it mean it’s a sport?  I mean, you see fishing on ESPN, but it’s a general consensus that fishing is simply just an activity.

A recent district court ruling called competitive cheer “still too underdeveloped and disorganized.  There is no much future hope for competitive cheer and that’s why I feel though a valuable argument that can be debated, I think there is more against competitive cheer to make a case for it.

As far as just simply cheerleading itself, there is much I have to say. Now I mean this is no disrespect to any cheerleaders out there, but cheerleading I believe is an activity that basically anybody can do.

Cheerleaders will say that is more than just standing in front of a crowd and yelling at the top of your lungs “Go, Team, Go!”  But really is there more?

I understand having to learn a routine and picking up girls and holding them up in the air, but I feel that any average person with at least some athletic ability would be able to not only learn a routine but go out in front of a crowd and perform it.  Again no disrespect but I don’t think cheerleading is that hard of a sport.

Not only does my opinion fuel my argument, the fact that Congress on June, 21 2010 deemed not only just cheerleading but competitive cheerleading not a sport, because it does not meet gender specific rules by the NCAA that I will be honest am not informed about.  This ruling only fuels my argument that cheerleading is simply an activity that anybody would be able to perform with practice.

The knock is that anybody can play football, baseball, etc. with a little practice, so does that mean it is not a sport too? No, because for those sports you have to have not only the ability to play that sport, but you have a certain skill that not any average person would be able to perform.

That’s my argument and I am not trying to start any form of disrespect towards women athletes or cheerleaders in particular.  I’m simply just stating my opinion.

Please comment below with your opinion and argument and I will try my hardest to comment back.

If you have any topics for future debate, shoot me an e-mail at npalcowski@gmail.com. I’ll take any sport suggestions.

Let’s Embrace Debate…