Insertpicture on cheerleaderbody5/15/2023 All sports that count toward Title IX are governed by the NCAA, and the NCAA must comply with Title IX. The majority of college cheerleaders, then, are in their schools’ athletic departments but outside the NCAA, college athletics’ governing body. But in 2010, a federal judge ruled that cheerleading does not “count” as a sport under Title IX. Many wanted equal recognition, equal funding and more opportunities to compete. As competition cheerleading began to emerge in the 1990s and continued to evolve in the early 2000s, this classification was increasingly questioned by college cheerleading coaches. In 1975, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a memorandum specifying that cheer was to be classified as an extracurricular activity - which also meant it could not be used as part of the head count in tallying Title IX opportunities for women athletes. “Cheerleading presented a dilemma - how were women supposed to be taking the field when we still have female cheerleaders on the sidelines? Cheerleading could not be seen as being an empowering women’s sport, even as the decades have gone by and the sport has changed dramatically,” said Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports media at Ithaca College and an expert on Title IX and college sports, told The 19th. Cheerleading’s deep history as a promotional tool for college athletics departments continues to shape public perception of the sport, even as it has evolved into its contemporary competitive form, heavily reliant on tightly synced choreography, elaborate stunts, and intricate tumbling combinations executed by both all-women and co-ed teams. The debate over whether cheerleading should have that recognition, and official status under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), does not divide neatly, with all schools or all coaches or all cheerleaders on one side or the other.Ī lot of it, though, stems from the cultural associations formed at the time of Title IX’s origins. As competition cheerleading has continued to evolve, a complicated dynamic has emerged, with varying opinions on whether gaining Title IX recognition would be in the sport’s best interest or not. But just what was considered a sport has been up for debate. To be in compliance with Title IX - which turns 50 this month - a school must ensure that the same number of chances to participate in sports are available for students of all genders proportional to enrollment.
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