I'm not talking about the cheerleading you'd see at a football or basketball game. Don't get me wrong though, being on a game only team now, I know that does take skill and work. But mostly I mean competitive cheerleading, whether it's for a school or an all-star team.

1. Cheer is in no way what the stereotypes make it out to be. Even I used to say it wasn't a sport... But now, having tried it and fallen in love with it, I realize it is. Yeah, we use a lot of hairspray, I admit that. But not all cheerleaders or even a majority of them are the blonde, overly peppy, airheads society makes them out to be. And no, we don't only date football players. I'm not gonna lie, most of the girls (and boys) on teams I've been on have not been what society would consider "peppy". We "hate everything" just as much as you do, and we are not bubbly, squeaky-voiced, idiots.

2. At schools, cheerleading is considered an athletic team, just like any other. That means we have to keep our grades and GPA just as high as any other athlete on a "real" sports team. Which means most of us aren't airheads.

3. Cheerleaders literally trust teammates with their life. Throwing people in the air and catching them takes so much more skill, strength, and attention than anyone gives credit for. It's dangerous to be a flyer, being thrown around, and it's dangerous to be a base or back spot lifting/catching someone. Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports out there. I'm in my 6th year cheering now and I can count 3 broken noses, 12 concussions, 2 broken ankles, 1 torn ACL, and 1 broken arm. And that's only the major injuries that I can remember off the top of my head.

4. It requires the entire team. Cheerleading is different from any other sport in that if one person is missing practice, gets hurt, or quits, the entire team suffers. These routines are 2 minutes and 30 seconds of actual teamwork and either almost nothing can be accomplished, or everything has to be changed. And I mean everything. That broken arm from #3 was mine, and I cheered the entire season with it even though my doctor told me not to because I love my sport and the team too much to let them down.

5. Cheerleaders don't degrade other sports. What really bothers me is when other people bash on cheerleading and say that it's not a sport, or more importantly that cheerleaders aren't athletes. And the worst part is, cheerleaders don't degrade other sports like they degrade us. I've never heard a cheerleader say to another athlete, "what you do is easy, you should try cheerleading," but I definitely have heard other athletes say to cheerleaders "cheer isn't real, you just wave pom poms. Why don't you try something actually challenging?"

6. Cheerleaders work incredibly hard. Not to be cliché, but blood, sweat, and lots and lots of tears go into a team choreographing, learning, practicing, and hitting a routine. Endless hours of hard physical work are put into that, along with emotions. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've cried at practice or even at home about cheer. For one, music needs to be picked and cut, adding in sound effects and voice-overs. And does anyone ever think about how difficult it is to lift another human being above your head, on one leg, while she twists her body into crazy positions? Jumps have to be high, toes pointed, smiling face all the time. Dances need to be timed correctly, eye-catching, and upbeat. Motions for every transition. Tumbling passes hit and perfected. Then there's cleaning-- cheer is such a perfectionist sport as a whole. You honestly can't believe that we're that in-sync with 0 practice, work, or skills. After a routine is done and the stunts are hitting, practice doesn't end. There is practice every day for the allotted period or longer, because nothing is ever perfect. If there's no stunts or transitions or dances that need to be worked on, the routine is getting cleaned for two and a half hours straight. We don't have the luxury of saying "we'll do better next game." If we don't perform correctly in one competition, we don't make it to the next. Everything must be perfect.

7. Team means family. With cheerleading, there is no cliques. There is no "I don't like her". Well, maybe because girls will be girls, but nothing major. If not everyone is in it as a team, the routine will not work. So if one girl dislikes another, it's left outside the mat because discriminating against one person turns into screwing over the entire team (and yourself) and who would want to do that?

8. Not all male cheerleaders are gay, and who cares if they are? Good for them, getting out and doing what they love despite society's opinions. And anyway, why is it gay to hang around girls in skirts for majority of your day? I know a few straight male cheerleaders and a few gay ones. The point is: let them be. Disrespecting that person, that team, and that entire sport because someone is gay is NOT okay, whether it's about cheerleading or some other sport.

There really isn't reason not to consider cheerleading a sport.

*casual hair flip*