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If there's competition, it's a sport. If there's not competition, it's not a sport.

Hard work is not the defining characteristic of a sport. Construction work, army combat, and firefighting, for example, are not sports, even though they are extremely physically demanding. You say it's a sport because you work hard, with long hours. By that reasoning, musical and theatrical performance would be sports, because they work hard in long practices. But that doesn't work too well, because they are not sports. So, let's work with the following statement:

A sport is a competition in which success depends on the competitor's physical athletic skills.

Many activities have a sport form and a non-sport form. Cheerleading and dancing are examples of this. Cheerleading on the sidelines, not in competition, is not a sport. Competitive cheerleading is. Performance dance, even if it's with the New York City Ballet, is not a sport because there's no competition. Competitive dance is a sport.

But hey, just because something isn't a "sport," that doesn't mean it's not physically demanding. There are many jobs and activities that are not sports, but still more physically demanding than many sports. It's all about whether there is the athletic competition aspect to the activity.

This is an interesting question. My initial reaction was the same as most of those who have posted thus far: Yes. Wikipedia defines "sport" thusly:

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. Some view sports as differing from games based on the fact that there are usually higher levels of organization and profit (not always monetary) involved in sports. Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news.

Based on this, I can see someone arguing that pom pom is not a sport, but ultimately I think that argument would fail. Either way, good luck on the squad!

it's a physical activity, but i wouldn't really consider it a sport. a sport to me is something where you earn points...basketball, tennis, hockey, etc. cheer leading, dance, figure skating and gymnastics, though they are all physically strenuous activities, are judged on a wide variety of criteria to come up with a score in competition, but it isn't a clear-cut point system like in sports. it is something to be proud of though and i hope you have fun.

except that football or basketball players go home half dead after their practice. I guess it could be a sport but that was a bad comparison.

yeah i do cuz i was in it for like 3 years and it was hard! but i loved it!

I'd consider it a sport. I've been in dance before and everyone said its not a sport but you get a good workout and stuff from it and its an activity outside school so ya, I think its a sport

gymnastics is a sport and you are doing that combined with dance which is now included with gymnastics in the all around so yes i think it is a sport. it might not be considered by all but much training and practice goes into it so why not. bowling and golf are sports do you not train harder than these athletes.

im a guy and i know how girl sports get treated like there not as important as like basketball football wrestling. you guys work just as hard so ya its a sport if its competitive its basicly a sport

I don't think saying it is not a sport is an insult. I think you probably do work harder at it than many sports, but I wouldn't consider it a sport either. Aerobics is not a sport, but you can work really hard at that and it is a very good physical activity. I wouldn't take it as an insult, just a difference of opinion to where it falls categorically.

Yes ma'am.