Cheering is in a class all by itself. First off, the only time it is competitive is when it enters "competitions", which are nothing more than cheering tourneys.

I don't consider cheerleading a sport at all. see this article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38347400/ns/...t/#.ToOosuxm2So

I do consider the cheerleaders to be athletic.

Plus, as soon as a cheerleader gets their spot, by a panel of judges that have ZERO connection to the cheerleaders (Imagine if a bunch of people picked your soccer team for you and you had no say), they drop about 300+ dollars for all their initial costs and then everything else on top of that. Sounds more like a private club