ESPN's 60 Most Difficult Sports - Cheerleading #52
Friday December 29, 2006
ESPN ranked the 60 most difficult sports and cheerleading ended up #52. The rankings were determined by a knowledgeable panel of eight experts who considered 10 skills that go into athleticism. The skills include: endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude.
Not surprisingly, boxing came in first place and fishing was last, but I'm not sure how golf beat out cheerleading. I am thrilled that cheerleading was even listed and considered a sport though.
So, what do you think of the ESPN ranking? Leave a comment and share your feelings on ESPN's 60 Most Difficult Sports.
More Reading...
Is Cheerleading a Sport?
Cheerleaders Are Athletes
Not surprisingly, boxing came in first place and fishing was last, but I'm not sure how golf beat out cheerleading. I am thrilled that cheerleading was even listed and considered a sport though.
So, what do you think of the ESPN ranking? Leave a comment and share your feelings on ESPN's 60 Most Difficult Sports.
More Reading...
Is Cheerleading a Sport?
Cheerleaders Are Athletes
Comments
I would like to know if the panel of judges for this survey ever tried competitive cheerleading?
Competitive cheerleaders are athletes in more ways than one particuler sport. We are basketball players, track runners, swimmers, gymnanst,bowlers, dancers, skiers, and so on and so on. Boxing #1, We’ll all I have to say is we don’t wear boxing gloves or any other protective gear. We have been punched, dropped, and thrown!
I think ESPN needs to spend a week in our shoes and re-write the survey or post an apology , #52 I disagree!
I doubt the panel of judges ever cheered a day in their life, and its very possible none of them have ever been to a cheerleading competition or even known personally a cheerleader. I don’t think they are really fully knowledgeable about the sport. Cheerleading is all about endurance, strength and power – just look at our stunts and our fast-paced competition routines!! Hand-eye coordination is also important – how else are you going to catch a girls twisting feet in one hand?? We are durable – your body has to be to take the beatings we get stunting and tumbling! Flexibility is not even a question… and nerve shouldn’t be either. I would like to see any of those judges have the guts to throw themselves 30 feet in the air or contort their bodies the way we do. However, I can see where speed, agility, and analytic aptidude are not really a part of cheerleading they way it is used in other sports.
Its awesome that cheerleading is even included on the list, but I can’t possibly see how GOLF is more difficult! I disagree with 52, we should definitely be top 20 AT LEAST.
I cannot believe cheerleading got ranked below badmitton, golf and table tennis, among other debatable sports. Each person on this panel should be familiar with each and every sport listed on this survey. And obviously, they’re not familiar with cheerleading and the strength, endurance and agility it takes to be a cheerleader. I think it’s an insult really to compare cheerleading with some of these sports listed. Not to critisize any sport, but to compare some of them is like apples and oranges. There is no comparison between cheerleading and say table tennis. Two totally differnt sports. Both have differnt skill levels needed to compete. I can’t put a lot of stock in this survey or the panel that came up with it.
Coach Angela
Eat, sleep, Cheer, Repeat!!
So we obviously can’t get too upset about the ranking of 52. Why obviously? Because cheerleading was includedin an ESPN “sports” list. The fact that they did not specify co-ed, collegiate, or competitive cheer is the reason we tied with roller skating. And honestly, just doing cheers or shaking poms is NOT difficult or sporty at all. So kudos to ESPN for including cheerleading, but seriously, can somebody get them to rank a co-ed nationals squad. I mean, I’ve participated in about 50 of those 60 sports and am knowledgeable about the others, and it just doesn’t sit well with me to consider cheer (my favorite sport) below all the others, especially since the other sports were obviously considered from a male perspective, even volleyball, for them to receive such a high score and cheer to be left to sob into their poms.
-Logan L. Texas Tech 08!
The idea of such a ranking is nice but completely pointless.
You cannot compare sports like that because they all challenge you in a different way.
And, hello?? Nobody can tell me table tennis, badminton and weight lifting are more difficult than horseback riding and cheerleading -.-
WTH.. obviosly they dont know wat they r tlking about who would put cheerleading below some of those sports WHO well they certinatly have NEVER participated in cheerleading at all it is damn hard work so not happy JAN or BOB ok well enough of me llets go kik some botty in line… mayb not but still
Cheerleading All the WAY whoowhoo
I disagree with 52nd. Cheerleading is a damn hard sport. Did the people who did this survey ever compete in competitive cheerleading. It takes alot of strentgh to do the things we do. Maybe they should try chering for just one week and then think about what they said!!!
holy pooh get over it. the way they ranked it was completely fair.
END-a match or w/e it is is what? 5 minutes? and of those 5 minutes what do you do? not a lot….
STR-ok you (and 1-3 other “atheletes”) throw the 100 lb. girl in the air. woo-hoo. check out football where you alone move the other 300 plus lb guy who can break the 100 lb girl in half.
PWR-you use every ounce of strenght you have (same as a combo lift) to throw people, but at least 100 lbs less than any real athelete.
SPD-your kidding right? women arent fast…
AGI-i dont see you guys darting everwhere so again, you lose.
FLX-ok you get that but any real athelete is flexible to so its more like a tie.
NER-just a matter of trusting your friends to pick you up on a soft mat. try having to trust an offensive lineman to block that 6′ 6” 350 lb DT trying to kill you if your a quarterback without being able to even check if hes doing it
DUR-a joke. MABEY your hands after the spins and flips but other than that, no.
HAN-possibly the only under-rated thing there b/c of having to grab some ones foot while theyre moving, but nothing is really impossible about that.
ANA-you practice the same thing for weeks before a competition and you dont have anyone trying to mes you up like having somebody gaurd you in basketball.
That is what they were ranked by, so if you still have a major dissagreement about the rank, watch ESPN for a few hours and see what it takes to be a real athelete and play a real sport.
I think that getoverit just about proved it isn’t a sport, but to that coach lady:
OK so you guys get dropped and thrown (I’m not giving you punched; thats bull). But like they said, you land on some nice, shock-absorbing mat that is mandatory for you to use (this also shoots down the ‘no pads’ idea that I have heard). Now, if getting thrown or dropped on theese mats is so bad, try to imagine having a man who is AT LEAST 250 lbs., running at full-spead, tackle you. Or mabey having the 225 lb. man sprinting toward you on a fast break in basketball sounds better. Even better, how about we put you in the ring with somebody who has traided to do nothing but not the living daylights out of anybody who steps in the ring. I’ve got it! Lets suit all of the cheerleaders who think icheerleading is a sport up, put them on ice against a plexiglass ,and have NHL players , check them just twice. After that, you all can complain about falling an entire 6 to 7 ft. on a matress, excuse me, mat.
As a mom of a competitive cheerleader and a former cheerleader myself , I can honestly say there are two different worlds out there..entertainment and competitive .My daughter is a competitive cheerleader who only does competitions against other squads she trains 3 days a week for cheer and 2 for gymnastics , goes to camps for her skills and does it 50 weeks a year ,they throw her 10-15 feet in the air and she must do toe touches and twist in the air she does flips and back flips standing and tumbling , she must contort her body while on one leg at the mercy of three girls with fully extended arms holding only her one foot 7-9 feet in the air …the injuries are many and the training hard conditioning, strength training, balance, stretching not to mention gymnastic skills are essential. In high school they are lucky to have a mat , but in competition the are on a 2 1/2 inch thick mat not a 6 inch mattress ,my daughter is only twelve and her skills are that of any athlete out there . I think you need to watch cheerleading on a competitive college level, high school or all star level and you will agree that they are not only athletes , but that is an extremely dangerous SPORT. I think # 52 is a joke and obviously not given by someone who has done or seen or even really looked into competitive cheerleading all you have to do is go to you tube these days and you can see what competitive cheer has become and when you do…I am positive you will rethink whether you agree with this rating .
if you can do COMPETITIVE CHEERLEADING you can do any other sport!! that’s an unjust score!!
those panel of judges are obv. narrow minded and stuck in their past!!
If you think dance, gymnastics, weight lifting, running, are all sports than cheer is one too. Cheer has all of tlyhose apects and more. You need to be in shape, flexible, strong, daring, and have good coordination. In all kinds of cheer (high school, all stars, and collage) you need tumbleing, stunting, dance, and sometimes cheering. In tumbling you have to do back flip with or without hands, straight, in a ball, or even twisting. In stunting you have to lift girls with they do tricks in the air such as balencing on one leg and pulling the other in front of you, backwards, and behind our head. As a base or back spot you have yhr fylers life in your hands and each person in a stunt can get injured such as punched, bit, broken bones, rug burn, brused, kicked, ect. There are so many things in cheer and you need just as much or moreathletic ability to be a cheerleader as to be a football player. Cheer is not just praising around in a skirt if you only knee you would give so much more respect for cheerleaders. I am a cheerleader at high school and allstars. At our school pep assembly we got called down to be reconized for getting first place at national, we got boo’d at by the entire school. Give us some repect and relize how hard it is!
What were you thinking? Cheerleading is harder than every sport except football and boxing but besides that you must of lost your mind! You try to hold your weight while doing a flip in a stunt plus 2 and 1/2 min routine back to stunt and chant while runining back and forth and still trying to look beautiful! Cheer does all that and more of your expetations we do running, jumping, dancing, stuntintg, gymnastics, weightlifiting. Who ever the judges were they must be blind and that ever one ranks 1St!
I was shocked when I saw that list. Golf and table tennis beat cheerleading? I’m a competitive gymnast and cheerleader, and have done many sports that were ranked extremely high, which I found much easier than cheerleading. Cheer requires strength, agilty and so much more. It’s like weight lifting, gymnastics and dance all in one. I bet those judges were all males who stereotype cheerleading as a lot of screaming and pom pom waving. If they actuall tried competitive cheerleading, that list would be completely different. At least gymnastics came 8th…and even that was ranked too low in strength.
Do you want to tell me that to hit another person with a leather wrapped cushion around your hands are the most difficult sport in the world? Come on ESPN-anybody who have arms, hands and the ability to use them can box. I am sorry, only thugs choose boxing as the sport they wish to express their anger towards society. How can a sport such as Basketball score higher in terms of physicality than rugby or American football which are renowed as contact sports? American propoganda?