Despite growing popularity and financial success, cheer struggles to gain respect.

By: Bella Roberts

November 8, 2023

Navarro Bulldogs, 16th time collegiate national champion and collegiate team highlighted in the Netflix Docuseries Cheer.

A running full. You go into it like it is natural to squeeze every muscle in your body head to toe. You go into it like it is natural to be spinning and flipping in the air all at once. You go into it thinking nothing of it. Naomi had gone into it with all these intentions, but came out of it with uncertainty. The crack, the pop, the pain, the anxiety, the doubt boiled in her body lasting for four months before she let it all out. Continuously tumbling over this hurting ankle that she thought would be no big deal. Naomi had now gone into her running full thinking, I am going to get hurt or I can not do it. These negative thoughts had now been the biggest setbacks for her cheerleading career. Four months, 16 weeks, 112 days, and 48 practices. She kept throwing her body through pain and praying that one of these times it would all go away. Everytime masking her face of pain and discomfort. Until she was laying on the operating table praying for relief. Surgery. Bed rest. Crutches. Physical Therapy. Just these four steps took her 6 months. Although physically she had come back, mentally she had lost confidence. Although her goal was to get back physically, she was much more challenged by self doubt. In Naomi’s eyes this is “part of what happens.”

Cheerleaders have been searching for equality with other sports, but Naomi, a young local cheerleader, fights for just a glimpse of recognition. When you hear the word cheerleader, it evokes visions of skinny, popular, blonde, pretty, pom-pom shaking, snobby, prom queens like Torrance Shipman from the movie Bring It On. But the reality is that it is a physically demanding sport.

Cheerleading is intimidating to some people, Naomi expresses. The stress, injuries, and hard work is a lot to swallow. Athletes feel as if their sport is not recognized enough. Naomi, an athlete who competes for a regional cheer gym says “I don’t think it gets recognized enough because people think it’s an easy thing to do.” 

With the rise of private cheer businesses across the US and the world, the cheerleaders of today are strong women and men who are truly athletes. Naomi, like many other cheerleading athletes, has had quite a few injuries such as broken bones and concussions. A regular skill for a level 6 athlete. 

Cheerleading has newly gained recognition – it is under consideration as an olympic sport. Many cheer businesses are in high favor of this Olympic recognition not only for the sport to become mainstream, but to help support their own businesses. “The recognition will help ensure greater support and funding for Cheerleading development in many countries around the world.” says USA Cheer.

Naomi also argues that the competition company’s primary goal is to make money, not gain national credibility. “Why take cheer off ESPN and now have to pay to watch on the Varsity site. I think it’s just to get more money.” Naomi angrily states. Cheerleaders are frustrated that not only people are degrading their sport, but the brands themselves. Naomi believes that these are the brands “business tactics” to help their own economy.

The Netflix Docuseries Cheer swept the nation and had people trying out for cheer teams across the country and world in masses. According to Statista around 140,000 people had joined the sport going into 2021 after the Docuseries had come out in late 2020. Greg Whiteley, the director of the docuseries, highlighted not only the sport and physical abilities, but the mental challenges athletes face. This population was a step towards making cheer mainstream. 

Months after the docuseries was over, one of the beloved main characters, Jerry, was exposed as being a pedophile. This is when the world caught a glimpse of what can happen in this sport– it cast a pale on the sport as a whole. Athletes and parents rethought their decision on joining a cheer team. Naomi has seen the documentary and had shared her opinion on why Greg Whiteley decided to share Jerry’s pedophilia in season two “I think that it is good they showed this because in real life it is not perfect, that is going to happen-it has happened multiple times.” Naomi also shared that progress is made every time athletes speak up to protect their sport.

Does this mean cheer is not mainstream because the sport is more open about controversial issues? In Naomi’s old gym, alleged sexual harassment cases had been filed a couple of times. But the sport is becoming more regulated by the competition owners and the business owners. Just in the past couple of years the USASF (United States All Star Federation) now requires all athletes and coaches eighteen and over to be background checked, and many cheer business owners and other competition companies are falling in line with this standard. 

Cheer has also been plagued with stereotypes that keep people away from considering being part of a team. Many people assume that men that join the sport are either gay or just looking to hangout with pretty girls all the time. In Naomi’s experience this is not true. Naomi had said that cheer is a “female dominant sport,” but she also says “I partially think that males are scared, people are gonna see them as ‘you wear the sparkles and hangout with girls all the time’ as well as the tight uniforms, they don’t see that on men.” The men that are there have love for the sport and are often incredible gymnasts, tumblers, and or dancers. “Having more guys makes the community stronger…shows support and uplifts people watching to realize it is not just a sport for girls.” But no matter the gender or the orientation of the athletes, they are there because they love the challenge and complexity of the sport.

The next five years will be telling if cheer will finally gain international respect since the International Olympic Committee now allows cheer teams to apply to compete in the 2028 Olympics.

At the end of the day Naomi relies on the sport for emotional stability. Naomi sees past all the bad that is posted on the internet and focuses on what about this sport makes her happy and improves her physical and mental health. “I might be breaking my body and hurting myself, but I would rather push through the pain to be in the environment and community” Naomi passionately states. Because the world has seen the inside of how cheerleaders live, a lot of negativity has been brought to the sport, but Naomi sees it just as any other sport when she said “Every sport you play there are going to be challenges.”