Cheer puts in hard work at practices and at games. Photo courtesy of photographer Mark Nakamura.
Cheer at San Luis Obispo High School is not considered a sport, and yet, stunt is. Is this discrediting the cheerleaders for what they do? Does SLOHS think sideline cheer isn’t as worthy enough to be a sport? The question begs an answer however, what’s keeping cheer from being a sport when stunt is?
To find out more, Expressions set out to interview cheer and stunt members to find out their views on cheer.
Expressions: What do you think makes cheer and stunt different?
Cheer and Stunt Captain And Senior Kaycie Ernstrom: We don’t wear skirts, we don’t wear bows, we’re not cheering. It’s actually considered a sport and there’s college athletics for it. [We learn] different routines, whereas cheer, you’re mostly just hyping up a crowd.
Cheer and Stunt Member and Freshman Ruby Ancheta-Johnson: Stunt is more skills involved, and then cheer is cheering for a game.
Cheer and Stunt Member and Senior Lucy Gibbs: Cheer is leading the school and students with spirit for games or events, and stunt is more competitive and showcases our skills.
Expressions: Are there any reasons that cheer shouldn’t be a sport?
Ernstrom: I don’t think there’s a reason that cheer shouldn’t be a sport, it should be.
Ancheta-Johnson: I don’t think so.
Gibbs: If it’s just cheering for a team, then it’s valid for it not to be a sport. But if it’s competitive or if there’s a lot of stunting and tumbling that goes into it, then it should be considered to be a sport.
Expressions: In your opinion, does stunt or cheer work harder?
Ernstrom: They both work very hard but stunt is much harder.
Ancheta-Johnson: Stunt because we actually compete so we have to work hard to get our teams perfect.
Gibbs: Stunt works a bit harder because we go to actual games and the motivation of winning makes us have more motivation to practice.
Expressions: Do you think that cheer should be a sport? Why or why not?
Ernstrom: It should be, we put a lot of work into all of our practices and every game we go to is very physically exerting. We may just be cheering for another team and not competing but we’re putting forth a lot of effort.
Ancheta-Johnson: It should be a sport because we work really hard, [maybe] even harder than the other sports. All star cheer is considered a sport, so why can’t school cheer be considered a sport?
Just because stunt is harder, doesn’t mean cheer doesn’t put in the effort for it to be a sport; these Tigers deserve some recognition for their talents!
