Question

abcd Cheerleading should be considered a sport because it requires being active and doing lots of movements. Cheerleaders do things like stunts, jumps, and tumbling passes. These require a lot of strength and flexibility. Just like other sports, like football or basketball, cheerleading requires a lot of physical activity and helps keep students fit.
Cheerleaders work on a team and must trust each other to do their routines.
Cheerleading includes complex dances that require strength and quickness.
Most sports compete against other teams, but some cheerleaders just perform at school games and do not compete.
Football and basketball are also more dangerous than cheerleading, since cheerleading is not a contact sport.

Answer 1

Thanks — this is a good start. Below I’ve given quick feedback, a tighter rewritten version you can use, and a few suggestions for sources and ways to strengthen the argument.

Quick feedback
- Strengths: Clear, relevant examples (stunts, jumps, tumbling), team aspect, fitness point.
- Weaknesses: Repetition, some awkward phrasing, and one sentence undermines the argument by comparing danger incorrectly. You should add a stronger thesis and address the common counterargument that cheerleading is “just” sideline performance by noting its athletic demands and risks.

Rewritten version (polished, single-paragraph argument)
Cheerleading should be considered a sport because it demands the same athletic skills, training, teamwork, and competitive structure as other recognized sports. Cheerleaders perform stunts, basket tosses, jumps, tumbling passes, and complex choreography that require strength, speed, flexibility, and precise timing. Teams practice for hours to build conditioning, learn progressions safely, and coordinate trust-based lifts and catches — skills that depend on technique and physical preparation, not just enthusiasm. While some squads primarily perform at games, many programs also compete in local, national, and international events, judged on difficulty and execution. Finally, although cheerleading is often non-contact, it still carries significant injury risk and requires athletic training comparable to football or basketball, so it deserves the same recognition and support given to other school sports.

Ways to strengthen further
- Add specific evidence: practice hours, typical training regimen, or statistics on injury rates and difficulty levels.
- Cite governing bodies and competitions (e.g., Universal Cheerleaders Association, International Cheer Union, national collegiate or high-school competitive leagues).
- Address counterarguments explicitly (e.g., “not all squads compete” or “it’s not contact”) and rebut with training requirements and competitive formats.
- End with a clear call to action if relevant (e.g., “schools should classify cheerleading as a varsity sport” or “cheerleaders should receive the same resources and protections”).

If you want, I can expand this into a full multi-paragraph essay, add citations, or tailor it to a speech or a letter to your school board. Which would you prefer?