give us SOMETHING!

Orono, ME- If anyone were to witness a UMaine cheerleading practice, you wouldn’t be able to argue that cheering isn’t a sport. A misconception about cheerleading is that we do sideline cheers and throw up a few stunts at football and basketball games. Cheering for sports teams is difficult and hard work, however, I myself do not consider that a sport. Competitive cheering, which practices almost every day for hours at a time, defies gravity and would leave anyone unfamiliar with competitive cheering breathless. The basket tosses, fast-paced dances, tumbling sequences, and elaborate pyramids are more of a sport then I’ve ever seen. Weird that the University doesn’t recognize our team as a sport, yet holds us to the same standards as all other athletes in terms of grades, conduct, etc. We get zero funding and are not allowed to sign up for classes with other athletes, yet have the same, if not more practices than them we have to fit into our busy schedules. We are required by the athletic department to be at every men’s and women’s basketball game and every football game. What do we get in return? A scholarship? A few bucks for a new uniform? A single privilege that other athletes get? Access to the training room when we accidentally bust out a team member’s two front teeth? HA yea right