Tacos

Tacos

What would high school be like without cheerleaders?   The pep rallies would be boring. Football games would be chaos. What about the trophy case by the security desk? Well, that would be empty.   The real issue here is whether or not it is a sport.
The Nebraska School Athletic Association (NSAA) does not sponsor cheer or dance. Nor does it sponsor hockey or lacrosse. However, our own athletic director considers cheer a sport. Many people do not want cheer or dance to be sponsored as a sport by NSAA, and have good reason. These protesters might surprise you though. They are the cheerleaders and dancers themselves.
NSAA has many rules and sanctions. Rules include not participating in national competitions, only a certain amount of competitions, and a limited, timed season. A coach may only work with four participants at a time in the off-season. This would be seriously detrimental to what cheerleaders do. For instance the season starts the first week of summer and lasts until the next spring. If anything, we’re a super sport. Teams could only have uniforms provided by the school that are turned into the school at the end of season, similar to any NSAA sport such as volleyball, football, basketball, etc.
Now, almost anyone would agree that hockey is a sport. The NSAA does not sponsor high school hockey, which is very real. Does this not make it a sport? NO. Cheerleading and dancing is no different.
As for the physical involvement, cheerleaders work hard. Every morning and afternoon in the first four weeks of summer is spent at Millard South. Cheerleaders arrive at six a.m. First, we stretch for about five minutes. After that we run three laps. One lap is running from the senior commons to the 400 wing   (upstairs) and around the “block” then down the stairs to the black box door and back to the senior commons. After running conditioning is started. Conditioning includes ladders (crunches; 25 with feet on the ground, 25 with feet off the ground and knee...