STORY SUMMARY>>>
It's a question that's gaining steam at college campuses across the country - should cheerleading be recognized as an official sport by the NCAA?
Although cheerleaders display the same strength, balance and agility as other college athletes, cheerleading would have to clear some major hurdles before it could gain sports status.
“I guess from an athletic director standpoint the only concern would be how the competitions happen and what kind of cost increase might that incur for us,” said University of Hawaii Athletic Director Jim Donovan, who’s intrigued by the idea.
“Not only are our cheerleaders’ great ambassadors for the University of Hawaii and for the state,” he told Khon2, “they're probably some of the best all around athletes that we have.”
Among the obstacles preventing cheerleading from receiving official NCAA sanction is Title IX, the federal gender equity law passed in 1972 and championed by the late Hawaii Congresswoman Patsy Mink.
If cheerleading squads were suddenly declared athletic teams colleges would be forced to provide scholarships and other benefits to its participants.
There’s also the issue of whether cheerleading teams would be co-ed or all female, thus tipping the scale of Title IX requirements.
“Those are some of the big questions involved,” said Mike Baker, the head cheerleading coach at the University of Hawaii.
Although the majority of schools across the country force cheerleaders to take a back seat to more traditional athletes, Baker enjoys broad support from the Athletic Department at UH.
“We're one of the few teams across the country, especially on the large college level, where the cheerleading team is actually underneath the athletic department,” he said.
“When something does happen, there's a sprained ankle, we actually get to go to the training room and be taken care of like other athletes.”
University of Hawaii cheerleaders also enjoy financial support. Twelve of the squad’s sixteen cheerleaders received full tuition waivers last year. Baker says without that kind of assistance many of those on the team may have dropped out.
“The time commitment is unbelievable,” he said. “So for them to be able to work outside of cheerleading and be able to keep their grades up is almost near impossible.”
Donovan believes the athletic prowess of male and female cheerleaders is without question and he often marvels at their level of fitness.
“They're doing jumps, they're doing stands, they're doing long endurance type things night after night after night,” he said. “They perform literally for about five months straight.”
Although cheerleading has been an official high school sport in Hawaii for the past nine years, the NCAA remains on the sidelines whether to put it on par with softball, basketball or volleyball – other sports that young women have gravitated towards.
“I think cheerleading would be a great sport,” said Baker, whose UH teams regularly finish among the top ten in the annual Universal Cheerleaders Association competition in Orland, Florida.
But while Baker is enthusiastic about cheerleading getting the type of sporting recognition he believes it deserves, he’s cautious as to what criteria might be used in NCAA competitions.
“If there's nothing having to do with cheers and leading cheers involved in it, can it be called cheerleading,” he asks?
Baker would prefer cheerleading competitions that recognize the original purpose behind the high-flying lifts and jumps frequently seen at college football stadiums, which is to actually get the crowd involved in the game.
“I hope that there's care given on really the format and the framework of what it's going to look like if it does kind of go forward (as a sport).”
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