Editing Cheerleading (section)

==Title IX sports status==
In the United States, the designation of a "sport" is important because of [[Title IX]]. There is a large debate on whether or not cheerleading should be considered a sport for Title IX (a portion of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 forbidding discrimination under any education program on the basis of sex) purposes. These arguments have varied from institution to institution and are reflected in how they treat and organize cheerleading within their schools. Some institutions have been accused of not providing equal opportunities to their male students or for not treating cheerleading as a sport, which reflects on the opportunities they provide to their athletes.

The [[Office for Civil Rights]] (OCR) issued memos and letters to schools that cheerleading, both sideline and competitive, may not be considered "athletic programs" for the purposes of Title IX.<ref name="glatt">{{cite journal|journal=Sports Lawyers Journal|volume=19|issue=1|date=Spring 2012|pages=297–324|title=Defining Sport under Title IX: Cheerleading|last=Glatt|first=Ephraim}}</ref> Supporters consider cheerleading, as a whole, a sport, citing the heavy use of athletic talents<ref name="cheerleading1">{{cite web|title= The road to recognition |work=BCA resources|date=August 2, 2008|url=http://www.cheerleading.org.uk/news/recognition.htm |access-date=August 2, 2008 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080226060536/http://www.cheerleading.org.uk/news/recognition.htm |archive-date = February 26, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cheerleading in the USA: A sport and an industry|work=[[USA Today]]|date=April 26, 2002|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/_stories/2002-04-26-cheerleading-cover.htm|access-date=December 1, 2008|archive-date=December 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211081942/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/_stories/2002-04-26-cheerleading-cover.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> while critics see it as a physical activity because a "sport" implies a competition among all squads and not all squads compete, along with subjectivity of competitions where—as with [[gymnastics]], [[Diving (sport)|diving]], and [[figure skating]]—scores are assessed based on human judgment and not an objective goal or measurement of time.<ref name="stanford">{{cite news|title=Sport, not a sport: consider Dan the expert |work=[[The Stanford Daily]]|date=September 29, 2004|url=http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2004/9/29/sportNotASportConsiderDanTheExpert |access-date=December 15, 2007 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070104000827/http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2004/9/29/sportNotASportConsiderDanTheExpert |archive-date = January 4, 2007}}</ref><ref name="SFU">{{cite web|title=No, Cheerleading is not a Sport|first=Jamie|last=Meades|work=SFU Cheer Resources|publisher=[[Simon Fraser University]]|date=September 29, 2004|url=http://www.sfucheerleading.ca/index.php?page=10&sub=9&method=view&id=10|access-date=December 15, 2007|archive-date=August 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817222758/http://www.sfucheerleading.ca/index.php?page=10&sub=9&method=view&id=10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.www.thequindecim.com/media/storage/paper618/news/2005/05/04/SportsAndWellness/Point.What.Makes.A.Sport.A.Sport-947338.shtml|title=Point: What Makes a Sport a Sport?|first=Tyler|last=Adams|work=The Quindecim|publisher=[[Goucher College]]|date=May 4, 2009|access-date=July 1, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100224074507/http://media.www.thequindecim.com/media/storage/paper618/news/2005/05/04/SportsAndWellness/Point.What.Makes.A.Sport.A.Sport-947338.shtml|archive-date=February 24, 2010}}</ref>

The Office for Civil Rights' primary concern was ensuring that institutions complied with Title IX, which means offering equal opportunities to all students despite their gender.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Zdunek |first=Alexandra |date=2020 |title=Who Knows the Difference Between Competitive Cheerleading, Sideline Cheerleading, Acrobatics and Tumbling? Why this Distinction is so Important for Title IX |url=https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol31/iss1/8 |journal=Marquette Sports Law Review|volume=31 |issue=1 |page=175 }}</ref> In their memos, their main point against cheerleading being a sport was that the activity is underdeveloped and unorganized to have varsity-level athletic standing among students. This claim was not universal and the Office for Civil Rights would review cheerleading on a case-by-case basis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leppler |first=John |date=2014 |title=No Cheerleading Allowed: The Impact of Biedeger v. Quinnipiac University and the Future Title IX in College Athletics |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2385376 |journal=Social Science Research Network|ssrn=2385376 }}</ref>  Due to this the status of cheerleading under Title IX has varied from region to region based on the institution and how they organize their teams. However, within their decisions, the Office for Civil Rights never clearly stated any guidelines on what was and was not considered a sport under Title IX.

On January 27, 2009, in a lawsuit involving an accidental injury sustained during a cheerleading practice, the [[Wisconsin Supreme Court]] ruled that cheerleading is a [[Contact sport|full-contact sport]] in that state, not allowing any participants to be sued for accidental injury.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Wisconsin Court: Cheerleading a Contact Sport, Participants Can't Be Sued for Accidental Injury|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483704,00.html|date=January 27, 2009|work=[[Fox News]]|series=[[Associated Press]]|mode=cs2|access-date=June 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326043546/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483704,00.html|archive-date=2009-03-26|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling|url=http://aacca.org/content.aspx?item=News/Wisc013909.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330212038/http://www.aacca.org/content.aspx?item=News%2FWisc013909.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-03-30|first=Michele|last=Ziegler|publisher=AACCA|mode=cs2|access-date=June 14, 2010}}</ref> In contrast, on July 21, 2010, in a lawsuit involving whether college cheerleading qualified as a sport for purposes of [[Title IX]], a federal court, citing a current lack of program development and organization, ruled that it is not a sport at all.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S. judge in Conn.: Cheerleading not a sport|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38347400|date=July 21, 2010|access-date=November 10, 2019|archive-date=April 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416225116/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna38347400|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) does not recognize cheerleading as a sport.<ref name="west">{{cite journal |last1=Grindstaff |first1=Laura |last2=West |first2=Emily |title=Cheerleading and the Gendered Politics of Sport |journal=Social Problems |date=2006 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=500–518 |doi=10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.500 |jstor=10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.500 |url=https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=emily_west }}</ref> In 2014, the [[American Medical Association]] adopted a policy that, as the leading cause of catastrophic injuries of female athletes both in high school and college, cheerleading should be considered a sport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/health/cheerleading-should-be-designated-a-sport-say-medical-officials|title=Cheerleading should be designated a sport, say medical officials|website=Fox News|date=June 10, 2014|access-date=September 9, 2020|archive-date=February 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209173012/https://www.foxnews.com/health/cheerleading-should-be-designated-a-sport-say-medical-officials|url-status=live}}</ref>  While there are cheerleading teams at the majority of the NCAA's Division I schools, they are still not recognized as a sport.  This results in many teams not being properly funded.  Additionally, there are little to no college programs offering scholarships because their universities cannot offer athletic scholarships to "spirit" team members.<ref>{{cite web |last1=David |title=Can you get a scholarship for cheerleading? |url=https://scholarshipowl.com/blog/apply-for-scholarships/can-you-get-a-scholarship-for-cheerleading/ |website=ScholarshipOwl |date=29 March 2019 |access-date=2021-04-01 |archive-date=2020-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129174504/https://scholarshipowl.com/blog/apply-for-scholarships/can-you-get-a-scholarship-for-cheerleading/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Title IX Guidelines for Sports ports ===
In 2010, Quinnipiac University was sued for not providing equal opportunities for female athletes as required by Title IX. The university disbanded its volleyball team and created a new competitive cheerleading sports team. The issue with Biediger v. Quinnipiac University is centered around whether competitive cheerleading could be considered a sport for Title IX.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Liguori |first=Jacqueline R. |date=2014 |title=Sticking the Landing: How the Second Circuit's Decision in Biediger v. Quinnipiac Univ. Can Help Competitive Cheerleading Achieve "Sport" Status Under Title IX |url=https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj/vol21/iss1/7 |journal=Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports L.J.|volume=21 |issue=1 |page=153 }}</ref> The university had not provided additional opportunities for their female athletes which led to the court ruling in favor that cheerleading could not count as a varsity sport. This case established clear guidelines on what qualifies as a sport under Title IX, these guidelines are known as the three-pronged approach. The three-pronged approach is as follows:

* Prong 1. Whether the number of female and male student participation within the intercollegiate sport is at a sustainable ratio based on the number of students enrolled at the institution
* Prong 2. Whether the institution has provided, both in the past and ongoing, opportunities to intercollegiate athletes that are members of a sex that is currently underrepresented in their sport.
* Prong 3. Whether intercollegiate athletes of an underrepresented sex have been fully accommodated by their institution based on their athlete's interests in sports.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Lee |date=February 8, 2022 |title=Title IX Compliance – Part I: The Three-Prong Test |url=https://www.nfhs.org/articles/title-ix-compliance-part-i-the-three-prong-test/ }}</ref>

The three-pronged approach was the first official guideline that clearly stated what criteria were necessary when deciding what activity was considered a sport or not under Title IX.<ref name=":13" /> This approach was used and is still continued to be used by the Office for Civil Rights. Based on this approach the Office for Civil Rights still considers cheerleading, including both sideline and competitive, not a sport under Title IX.