In the world of sports there is a lot of stereotypes. Some sports, such as football and basketball are considered athletic by almost all Americans, but others like cheerleading and dance get almost no credit at all. People never seem to realize that these sports use the same amount of skill. The latter mentioned sports require just as much or more physical ability.
Even though football is one of the most recognized sports, it requires very little skill. Players just use force to pin each other to the ground while a ball is moved in to an end zone on the field. Muscles are being worked, but not with control. Imagine a pro football player; how does he look. First, this person is most likely tall and wide. This is because in the game you use your body as a sponge, absorbing the power of the other player. Next, notice his muscles, this man is 200-300 pounds of sheer force. How hard can it be to shove someone to the ground when you are this strong. This game doesn't require much ability. It's like a team of sumo wrestlers on a battlefield. This "sport" requires little ability and no flexibility or muscle control.
Unlike football, there are many more wholesome sports. One can even be found quite near to a football team. Cheerleading. This sport is not the stereotyped, supermodel thin blonde girl, but a difficult physical sport. Cheerleaders need strength to lift each other in to the air. They have to have strong arm muscles, but also leg and core strength. To stand in the air, only supported by people's hands you need balance. You also need to be able to hold all of your muscles incredibly stiff and have perfect focus. People say that the cheers themselves are stupid, but they do use skill. You have to have great timing and coordination. Cheerleading also includes tumbling. For this you need lots of muscle control. You also need lots of arm and leg strength. Like dancers, cheerleaders can't have bulging muscles like football players, it interferes with their movement. Your body weight needs to be balanced to perform correctly and precisely. Doing such an intense workout for over an hour takes endurance. To build up these skills, cheerleaders do lots of conditioning. This includes running a mile, upper body exercises, intense core work, and lower body exercises, like suicide sprints. This sport seems easy, but it really is more than meets the eye.
Now that you have seen the true physical aspects, let's look at the mental ones too. Cheerleading uses teamwork and moves as one unified person. In football at any level beyond high school, teams are competing within themselves to be the best player. This an unhealthy atmosphere and an unkind environment. Cheerleading promotes people to be the best as possible and to push yourself to become even better. Football tells you to be better than everyone else. How great is that! With this charisma, I don't know how football is still a desirable sport. Football is competitive and aggressive while cheerleading promotes trust and unification. Cheerleading is a much healthier sport mentally.
Technically, cheerleading is a much better sport. So why does football get all of the credit? A lot of this is caused by stereotyping. People guess that because football players are bulkier and bulging with muscle, they are more physically fit. Many people also believe that boys are always better at sports than girls. This is not true. Since a few individuals have built this stereotype, people tend to believe that everyone is the same. This makes them prejudiced against girls, and people that play "girly" sports. If people weren't prejudiced, sports like dance and cheerleading would get a lot more credit.
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