There's many different types of cheerleading, here I will explain those types. Note: I am a cheerleader.
1) Sideline Cheerleading- a team of cheerleaders (often all female but can be coed) who cheer on a sports team. The sports team they often cheer for is basketball or football. This is where people refer to cheerleading as not a sport, but that doesn't mean its easy. Sideline cheerleading is not what you think, this is what you might be thinking it is "Oh yeah boys lets go team whoooooooo" NO. Sideline cheerleading involves jumps, stunts, and tumbling! Yes, gymnastics!

2) Competitive Cheerleading- a sport is a team that competes against others, therefore this makes COMPETITIVE cheerleading a SPORT. The competitions are very extreme and dangerous. Before you say that cheerleading is easy, try to go see a cheer gym's competition. Now I'm not talking about your local reciational gym. Anyways, schools at the middle, high & college level most often have competitive teams. They are very serious!
3) Allstar cheerleading- the best of the best. Go watch Califorina Allstars Smoed or Sting Ray Allstars orange, or Cheer Xtreme Senior Elite. Alllstar cheerleading ends their season with cheerleadig WORLDS. The worlds are the BEST allstar teams in the WORLD who go to disney world florida to compete. And this WORLDWIDE competition is on ESPN

A sport that is a mixture of dance, trampoling and gymnastics.

Yes. I said "sport", even though I don't do it. And I'll tell you why.

I'm a 800 metre runner for my school. 800 metres takes me three minutes. How long does a routine take? Oh, wait, let's see. Three minutes. Those who say that it "doesn't last long enough to be considered a sport" shouldn't consider athletics one, either. But you do, don't you? So... well. That arguement doesn't work.

What about it's "not hard enough"? Well, weights is a sport, no? And cheerleading - proper, competitive cheerleading - includes weight-lifting, in the stunts, no?
You say "well, it's four people lifting one"... umm.. have you ever seen it? The weight is carried by two - the others are just for safety.
Also, my friend's coach and her do this stunt where it's just him holding up her. You can't say weights is a sport and cheerleading isn't.

How about when you say "it's just a bunch of girls screaming"... god, have you ever seen rounders? Whenever they score a rounder, they're all like, "AHH!! WELL DONEE!! OMG!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" and clap and everything.

Umm.. to the dudes saying "all they do is flip a little" - well, gymnastics is just that, correct?

I have heard even lamer arguements, such as "jumping around a little isn't a sport!". What about high jump, long jump, triple jump and trampoling?

Or even - laugh my ass off - "only things that are against another team are sports." What about COMPETIVE cheerleading? This is the one my friend does. You - guess what - COMPETE against - can you even believe it? - OTHER TEAMS to try and - oh my god - WIN. ¬.¬'

athletes who are very stong.
Can be male and female.
Some are big bitches

Unfairly stereotyped person, usually a female, who participates in an intense and under credited sport. They dont actually like cheering games at all.

Usually falsely stereotyped as a blonde unintelligent slut

These girls have to actually maintain a usual average of 70% in school in order to be on the team, proving the "dumb" label incorrect.

Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous women's sports and deaths do and can occur.

It is a very competitive sport and their team works all year in order to go to a competition (usually nationals) and preform.

Cheerleading includes tumbling(gymnatsics) stunts, pyramids dancing and cheers, so cheerleaders have to be talented and physically fit.

Most cheerleaders are not "popular snobby whores" I happen to know several girls on my school team who aren't very well known, of course none are gothic but alot of the team consists of average and very dedicated girls.

Cheerleading at my school does not mean popularity in anyway. If you want to be popular you have to be nice, and people have to like you.

There are good and bad girls on every sports team but for some reasons cheerleaders get called out if they aren't nice ALL the time. not everyone gets along with everyone.

I am a cheerleader and do not appreciate negative the negative stereotypes.

Of course, maybe its different everywhere you live, the girls on the cheer team you know may very well be blonde bitches, but the ones I know are nothing like that.

cheerleading IS a sport .
no matter what people actually think , some of the things we do out there you wouldnt even be able to do.
yeah you think that lifting a girl above your head seems easy , well it isnt .. dont go around thinking that were lifting a 100 pound anorexic girl when we arnt , there are MANY tops who weight waay more then that and we still lift them, and yes .. we DO compete and the intention for that IS to win, we dont just go out there and think "oh lets show off our bodys to make our score higher" we go out there with our routine with we made to try and get the most points to beat other cheer teams , when we cheer on the side lines is just for fun. did you guys know that cheerleading is the SECOND most dangerous SPORT in high school? i kinda doubt that you knew that . and yes football maybe the first most dangerous but in cheerleading you could actually die if something bad happens , ive even heard dtorys from my own coach that someone on his cousins team had his finger RIPPED off when he was doing his basketoss, like seriously guys, cheerleading IS a sport .. theres no doubt about it .

Ok we get it, you hate cheerleaders. Officially it is a sport, but I really dont think it is. I dont even understand the point to it, but everyone has to admit when we throw amazing stunts and have perfectly timed tumbling going on througout dances that no one misses a beat on, it looks pretty darn cool.

We practice 10 months out of the year and 3 hours every day after school. In summer we have 2 a days and we are in the weightroom more frequently then the football players.
We have to learn over 300 cheers, around 20 dances and learing to fly the stunts I do is no easy task.
We stand out on the track in Montana winter weather but barely feel it because there is to be no stop in the flow of sidelines.
We do not talk or move until we turn around and begin a cheer.
We march and are all perfectly in line and have constant nightmares of 5-6-7-8 AGAIN!
The ab workouts, stretches,running and jumps kill and we are always bruised or sore.
We also have to have a B average to be on the squad, and I am proud to say my best friend and I (the two main flyers) have straight A's.
We cannot wear anything slightly revealing (while our volleyball girls are running around in their bras and spandex)

Its not that easy and I can guarentee that most girls couldnt survive it and so many cant handle the responsibility. There are squads out there that are not even close to this level and I know so many cheerleaders are out there who are sluts and act like stippers. I hate those kind of girls because they make it harder for a cheerleader like me.
Heck you wouldnt even know I was a cheerleader the way I know my NASCAR facts, probly could tell you more about a car then most people, ride dirtbikes, fish, log with my dad, build houses and am the only female in the advandced shop class.

Enough..

A member of either a spirit squad or competitive cheerleading squad. There are cheerleaders of all different ages from 5 year olds to college students and pros.

A cheerleader in the spirit squad supports their recreational/school team. These cheerleaders are the ones most likely to undergo stereotyping because they are more wellknown and in the public eye.

A competitive cheerleader competes against other schools/squads to see who's the best of the best. They partake in difficult stunts and are more likely to obtain injuries. Even though both spirit and competitive cheerleading are considered sports, this is the more difficult of the two.

Cheerleaders are often stereotyped as a popular and stupid bitch who's only on the squad to jump around in a short skirt, and look like a whore. This is not exactly the case.

Although some cheerleaders behave like this, and give the SPORT of cheerleading a bad name, many are in it for the difficulty it can present.

Believe it or not, throwing yourself backwards with no hands knowing that, if you mess up, it's highly possible you can land on your neck, is something it takes guts to do. And practice.

people think cheerleaders are slutty girls who like to show guys themselves. people think cheerleading is for people who cant do any sports. umm, wrong? i do gymnastics, and cheerleading. cheerleading is very hard and takes a lot of practice. girls i do cheerleading with, you'd be suprised to hear what they do. some play soccer, volleyball, even hockey... ALL SPORTS. guess what? cheerleading is too; so shut the fuck up.

A sport. Well, the competitive type. For all who consider cheerleading not being a sport, you are wrong. Working as hard as any other sport is what cheerleaders do. "Cheerleaders are people who spend hours and hours a day all year round perfecting their craft in well-developed and highly organized team activities that culminate in a victory or defeat at well-developed and highly organized national championship competitions." -Fanhouse. Now isn't that the definition of a sport?