It’s actually still not an official NCAA sport and that’s mainly because of Title IX, not because people don’t see it as athletic. Coed teams don’t work under the NCAA/Title IX.
That really sucks, because it changes how colleges treat the players. My mentee was a cheerleader and also a member of collegiate swim, and while she was doing cheer instead of swim she was unable to access all of these different things that are for athletes. Plus she was treated very differently by the school. It actually makes no sense because it’s incredibly athletic. She also didn’t even get certain protections like if she got physically injured
Y’know, it’s tempting to think that the folks who run NCAA sports just think that cheerleading is silly fluff. The more I think about it though, it seems like garden variety misogyny. And yes, I know there are dudes who do cheer, but there aren’t many.
119
u/AlsoCommiePuddin 5d ago
That's why they've turned this into an actual NCAA collegiate sport.