The Cheerleaders are Playing Games

The Cheerleaders are Playing Games

USA Cheer’s proclaimed new sport STUNT is in full swing.  Let the games begin!  It is truly that, a game, not a sport.  STUNT is supposedly the college version of competitive cheer that the NCAA can accept as an emerging sport for women.  USA Cheer has branded STUNT as a Title IX compliant opportunity for universities to expand women’s athletic opportunities on their campuses.  The 1972 law has driven the addition of women’s sports at the college level and continues to permeate the collegiate athletics landscape.  However, the first foul of this game is that cheerleading teams that are already providing some opportunities for women are being targeted by USA Cheer’s STUNT.  The shift of opportunity rather than the creation of new opportunity is definitely not what Title IX or the NCAA had in mind.

STUNT’s season began with two of the nation’s most talented and successful women’s cheer teams, Morehead State and the University of Louisville competing head to head in what is rightfully named a game.  The teams executed skills which are typical of high school level teams or intermediate level college teams.  The STUNT format limits every team to doing exactly the same choreography except in the final team routine.  Imagine Florida, Ohio State, Texas or USC playing flag football, under little league rules with middle school referees.  That about sums up what STUNT did to these two powerhouses.

USA Cheer fouls again when too many elements from other sports are copied to seemingly justify or create a real sport feeling to a STUNT game.  A pre-game coin toss determines which team wins possession.  Then a uniformed referee roams the mat and signals the beginning of rounds with a whistle.  As if validating STUNT with football concepts isn’t enough, don’t be shocked when a coach throws the red coach’s challenge flag to dispute a scoring decision.  Add quarters, players and the play clock and it’s a full blown game.  It was Hollywood meets cheerleading to do a movie about a game.

Perhaps the one thing this game wins is participation.  There is a flock of teams participating STUNT.  This is an important key for the NCAA in evaluating a proposal to become a NCAA emerging sport.  But even this win is probably due to be vacated for yet another rules violation by USA Cheer.  The interest shown in STUNT is significant, but it’s not the most important interest.  Currently, not one single athletic director and university president tandem has officially endorsed STUNT by creating a varsity STUNT team on their campus.  The NCAA requires at least 10 universities to sponsor a fully supported varsity team in a sport to approve it as an emerging sport.  This is probably because universities don’t commit to games, they commit to sports.  In fact, an article by Orlan Ree on the Cheertimes dot com web site features statements from several athletic directors or athletic department representatives who specifically deny any support or current initiatives to sponsor varsity STUNT teams.  Some of the statements included came from the University of Louisville and Morehead State University administrators who merely allowed their sideline cheer teams to compete in STUNT.

For the average person who knows not the world of cheerleading, the game is being played in the media as well.  Most people thought things ended with the recent Quinnipiac lawsuit that spurned the headline, “Cheerleading is Not a Sport.”  USA Cheer has cleverly proclaimed that it created a new sport that can be Title IX complaint and could be adopted by the NCAA.  Frequent press releases have given the appearance that USA Cheer has created a true sport with more safety minded and new opportunities for universities to expand women’s athletics.  But, one only has to step back from the chess-like entertainment of the game to see, this is not a sport.

The National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association, the governing body for Acrobatics and Tumbling originated the new model and started the movement to become an NCAA viable sport.  Professional coaches and collegiate athletic directors, not corporate executives, continue to develop and promote Acro and Tumbling through the traditional nonprofit governing structure for sports.  There are no games, gimmicks or forced sport atmospheres.  In just under two years, one varsity team has grown to 6 universities and counting that now sponsor varsity programs.  The NCATA’s second full season is underway, the application has been submitted to the NCAA and the inaugural national championship is just around the corner.   The six NCAA member universities sponsoring the sport have awarded millions of dollars to date in scholarship funds and are currently providing new opportunities for over 180 women in college athletics.  Game over, the women of A&T win!

While the cheerleaders are playing games and USA Cheer is refereeing, the Acro and Tumbling is headed straight for the NCAA finish line.  For the NCATA, it’s not a game, it’s a sport!

(Acro and) Tumbling Through the Landscape of Title IX

Second only to economic considerations, Title IX is perhaps the most dominating factor in balancing men and women's programs at the collegiate level.  The 1972 law was intended to increase opportunities for women with regard to sports and scholarships at the intercollegiate athletic level.  The reality of college athletics today is that women's programs and men's programs have increased as a whole, but some particular programs have decreased in teams or are facing near elimination across the country.  Budget cuts and Title IX clearly have made a very difficult balancing act of meeting the needs, interests and abilities of the students and communities served by NCAA member institutions.

Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T) is a new women's sport that is marching towards emerging sport status with the NCAA.  In a time where tendencies are to cut programs rather than expand, A&T could find it difficult to translate the popularity of the sport into growth at the collegiate level.  Acrobatics and Tumbling is the evolution of competitive cheer which took a solid thump upside the head last summer in the Title IX lawsuit against Quinnipiac University.  However, that thump was the sound of cheerleading hitting the floor.  A&T utilizes the skill set in a structure and format that is completely reflective of other traditional Olympic and NCAA sports.  The National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (www.thencata.org) is the governing body for the sport and has quietly gained momentum and support for A&T.  Just one look at and A&T meet and one can see, this is not cheerleading.  This is sport!

For athletic departments around the nation, this sport is a very attractive opportunity to continue to support and expand women's sports.  The high participation or roster size offers more positions on a team.  The cost efficient operating budget is certainly a positive characteristic.  Acro teams recruit similar athletes and use shared facilities as men and women's gymnastics teams.  The correlations between sports can be important in maintaining and adding programs that create financial and logistic efficiency.

As schools continue to navigate through the Title IX requirements, A&T is a sport that embodies the spirit and purpose of the law.  Acro and Tumbling is not a female version of a male sport, its not a coed sport and it is not an already-existing opportunity.  This is a brand new women's sport that creates original, genuine additional opportunities for female athletes.  There are an estimated 3 million plus athletes in the US using the skill set of Acro.  These athletes range from powerlifters, gymnast, competitive cheerleaders and even divers.  The skill set is the 9th most popular girls high school sport.  The need for a safe, controlled, regulated and definitive sport for these athletes has been asnwered by Acrobatics and Tumbling. This is the very essense of Title IX.

Amongst many things the NCAA requires to become a sport, one of the most important is that at least 10 universities sponsor varsity programs in the sport.  Less than two years ago, there was only 1 varsity team.  Now, there are 6 total and several more in the process that will move the NCATA past the required minimum.  Recent news has pointed out the increasing number of institutions that need to support addtional opportunities for female athletes.  Acro and Tumbling is sure to thrive regardless of the economy or legal factors.  The growing demand and popularity of the sport, the organizational advantages and viability of the sport along with the important benefits and opportunities for female athletes are a W for the NCATA, women and the NCAA.

Visit www.thencata for more information about Acrobatics and Tumbling.

Just Watch and You Will See

Just watch and you will see.  This isn't cheerleading anymore.  The first thing you will notice is more sport-like and athletic image.  Watch an Acro and Tumbling meet and you will immediately be able to see the more focused and direct comopetition between teams in the meet style format.  One glance at the skills being executed and you will know this definately requires physical strength, talent and ability.

With the full resources of athletic departments supporting Acro teams, each program is amassing a large number of highly skilled athletes.  A&T athletes are trained and conditioned by professional strength and training staff who specialize workouts to maximize performance.  Gymnasts, divers, cheerleaders and other types of athletes focus on very specific positions or skills much like a kicker in football or the setter in volleyball.  The sporting culture of a varsity athletic team introduces the principles of starters, practice load, athlete safety and just a generally more focused accountable outlook to daily life as a student supported by a scholarship to solely compete for the university.  These are a few of the things inherent with NCAA sports and characteristic of Acro teams.

As Acro and Tumbling grows and develops as a college sport, there is no denying it's evolution from competitive cheer.  The hundreds of thousands of cheer athletes participating in traditional sideline and/or competitive cheer are the main pool of athletes from which A&T draws recruits.  The sister sport of gymnastics which originated the basis of the acrobatic and tumbling elements of cheerleading is another source of athletes for the sport. The format of Acro and Tumbling finally focuses on the competitive and physical concepts of cheerleading and produces a sport consistent with the interests of young women across the country.  Root it in gymnastics or root it in cheerleading...its irrelevant.  The skill set is still the same, but the support, structure, athletes, mindset, format, training and the essense of it all is undeniable.

Just watch and you will see...this is sport!

Let There Be Sport

The evolution of sideline cheerleading to a more athletic form came through the explosion in popularity of the billion dollar industry of competitive cheer.  Now the 9th most participated in sport amongst high school girls, competitive cheer boasts an estimated 3.5 million athletes spanning the non-scholastic private clubs, youth and recreation leagues.  Azusa Pacific, Baylor, Fairmont State, Maryland, Oregon and Quinnipiac have added competitive cheer teams as varsity sports at their universities.  The 6 institutions created the basis for the National Collegiate Stunts and Tumbling Association (NCSTA) in 2009. Responding to the interest and abilities of those millions of athletes, the group’s mission was simple; make an official NCAA sport from competitive cheer that would offer new scholarship opportunities for women at the college level.  This is the essence of Title IX in the landscape of collegiate athletics.

Inspired by gymnastics and other “judged” or performance-based sports, a fan friendly and exciting new format and scoring system was originated in the spring of 2009 by the NCSTA which follows the NCAA standards of having head-to-head structured competition against similar teams.  The athletic administrators from the 6 institutions sponsoring varsity programs worked for over a year to create the administrative structure around the new format.  That effort was guided by a constant regard for mirroring the structure to reflect the same set up of all other NCAA sports.  Without intentionally excluding male participants, high school, recreation or all star level programs, the NCSTA focused solely on creating a model that would succeed as a collegiate NCAA sport.
After the inaugural 2009-2010 season of running the NCSTA system, the organization strengthened the overall structure of the new sport and improved the meet format.  The legal interpretations from the Quinnipiac University trial provided critical clarification of previously confusing and ever-changing requirements by the Office of Civil Rights to meet Title IX compliance.  Components of all NCAA sports such as standardized rules, a defined season and regular season based progressions to a national championship were incorporated into the NCSTA model for the second season.  Never losing sight of the mission towards NCAA status, the NCSTA recreated from cheerleading a new NCAA ready sport with a new look and feel that celebrates its amazing athletes and their skills.
Growth, support and governance are three of the biggest steps towards NCAA emerging sport status that are now being taken by the NCSTA.  The collegiate model has drawn support from prominent women’s advocacy groups such as the Women’s Sport Foundation.  Opinions of such groups are key factors considered by the NCAA in approval of an emerging sport.   Adoption by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) of competitive cheer as a sport is also a significant factor for the NCAA that shows sign of support for the future.  Ten institutions must sponsor varsity programs or sign letters of intent to do so in order for the NCSTA to apply for NCAA status.  In just over two years the number has gone from one to six institutions and the popularity of a new women’s sport ensures future growth in the Title IX minded era of college sports.
The most advantageous of steps towards the NCAA is the alignment of the NCSTA with USA Gymnastics (USAG).  As required by the NCAA, there must be a recognized governing body that can standardize every aspect of the sport and enforce those standards.  The newly named National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (formerly NCSTA) will continue to develop and govern the new sport of Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T) but, it will do so with access to more comprehensive safety standards, coach’s certifications, education programs and highly developed training techniques established by USA Gymnastics for those skills.  Also, the value of aligning with an internationally recognized organization that is already accepted by the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee is a very powerful indicator of structure and governance that will present a strong case to the NCAA.
Embracing a relationship with the sport, who’s skill set is a big part of our own, is an opportunity that combines the full resources of both sports to strengthen the success of each.  The name change to Acrobatics and Tumbling recognized the similarities between competitive cheer skills like stunts, pyramids, tosses and the long established gymnastics disciplines of tumbling and acrobatics.  A new name was purposely created to help preserve sideline cheerleading and to avoid taking anything away from the identity and tradition it has created in American culture.  A&T might come from competitive cheerleading, but there is no cheering nor leading involved.  It’s important to distinguish and protect that group of athletes (sideline cheerleaders) as is evident in the fact that each of the 6 NCATA institutions also sponsor a sideline cheerleading program.
Just as the traditional sideline form incorporated tumbling and acrobatics, the NCATA has incorporated gymnastics and competitive cheer to facilitate the birth of a new NCAA sport.  The marriage of the NCATA and USAG has created a family for similarly skilled athletes from both sports to have new and genuine opportunities in collegiate athletics.  The name has changed, but the mission is still the same; from competitive cheer, the NCATA has created a new NCAA ready sport.  Now it’s just a matter of four more institutions answering the call of millions of athletes.

It's About Time... Again!

Visit the web site of the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association and the flash movie in the header cleverly announces that it’s about time, implying that the skill set of competitive cheer has finally evolved into a genuine sport, Acrobatics and Tumbling.  The NCATA is the governing body for Acro and Tumbling and is currently overseeing the second season of the new female collegiate sport.  Each of the six universities (Azusa Pacific, Baylor, Fairmont State, Maryland, Oregon and Quinnipiac) that sponsor an Acro team has begun competition and is approaching the midway point of the second full season.  As varsity sports at their universities, each team is fully supported by the athletic department through academic support, medical support and of course, scholarship and financial support.  All of NCATA member programs adhere to all NCAA guidelines for amateurism, eligibility and participation as part of the mission to achieve emerging sport status for Acro and Tumbling with the NCAA.

With the second season rolling strong, the NCATA is gaining fans and supporters for the sport.  The NCAA requires strong governance and structure for the sport to be considered for emerging sport status.  The alignment with the USA Gymnastics Federation last year is a natural relationship that has provided resources for the NCATA to continue developing its administrative structure, insure the sport and credential coaches and athletes.  This partnership brings the prestige and leadership the internationally respected USA Gymnastics organization which is recognized by the NCAA and the US Olympic Committee.

The NCAA also looks to the positions of prominent women’s advocacy organizations to determine the interest and opinions towards a new sport.  For years, the cheerleading industry sought to keep cheerleading an activity in order to protect profits through maintaining governance and self created regulations.  This worked well with women’s advocacy groups whom agreed that cheerleading was an activity and not a sport.  One of the most prominent women’s advocacy organizations, the Women’s Sports Foundation, recently reconsidered their position and is now in favor of a new collegiate model of competitive cheer that has evolved into a true sport.  Nancy Hogshead Makar, Sr. Dir. of Advocacy for the WSF was quoted as saying, “This new sport is derived from the skills and techniques of traditional cheerleading” and that it is “…a new competitive team sport which provides increased athletic and educational opportunities for young women.”[i]

Perhaps the most critical sign of momentum for the sport is meeting the NCAA’s requirement for at least 10 institutions to sponsor varsity teams in the sport.  These programs must be fully NCAA compliant with all rules and regulations.  In just over two years, the NCATA has gone from one to six varsity programs.  Hogshead Makar additionally said, “I want to see sports that offer competition and coaching and access to medical care and a good competitive schedule that will offer them an entree to all the benefits of competitive sports."[ii]  There is no other opportunity on collegiate campuses for female athletes using this skill set to receive athletic scholarships and benefit from the full advantages of being a true varsity athlete other than the 180 plus female athletes currently on Acro teams.  The real and genuine opportunity created by this new sport has several more institutions helping the NCATA surpass the 10 schools needed.

As the second Acro season continues to impress, April will bring the collegiate national championship where both individual event champions and a true team national champion will be crowned.  Judge Stefan Underhill wrote in the Quinnipiac ruling that “the activity is too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic opportunities for students,"[iii]  All you have to do is watch an Acro and Tumbling meet and you will know this is not cheerleading, this is not underdeveloped or disorganized.  This is sport.  It’s about women, it’s about opportunity, it’s about Acro and Tumbling and it is about time. 

Visit thencata.org for schedule and information about teams competing in Acro and the remaining season schedule.

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[i] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/usa-cheer-announces-an-ncaa-emerging-sport-initiative-102458364.html

[ii] http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2010-09-08-376551435_x.htm

[iii] http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-cheerleading-sport-quinnipiac-university-squad-title-ix/story?id=11219913