Competitive Cheer and Dance Gaining Ground
NCAA Take Steps Towards Support through Safety Initiative
May 10, 2009
A study undertaken at Idaho State University during 2001-2002 investigated the prevalence of dance and cheer programs at the NCAA Division I level (Hennefer, A., Sowder, K., Pemberton, C., & Easterly, D, 2003). The purpose of the study was to see if the authors could build a case for the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and NCAA for sport recognition.
NCAA Division I Sponsored Cheer and Dance Teams
Although the NCAA does not recognize cheer and dance as “sports”, individual universities and colleges may sponsor their teams and designate their teams as varsity sports. At the time this study was undertaken, 312 universities had NCAA Division I status. According to the study, 192 universities sponsored competitive dance teams and 212 universities sponsored competitive cheer teams (Hennefer, A., et. el., 2003).
Although some partial scholarships were provided (15.7% for dance; 36.8% for cheer), there were no full scholarships provided for dance and only 1.1% of institutions provided full scholarships for cheer.
The top sources of funding for dance and cheer were split between athletics (29.7% for dance, 45.9% for cheer), institutional funds (28.1% for dance, 31.9% for cheer), and fundraising (7.6% for dance, 8.1% for cheer).
NCAA Adopts College Cheerleading Safety Initiative
The NCAA has also shown support by adopting the “College Cheerleading Safety Initiative” (CCSI). This initiative was developed by the American Association for Cheerleading Administrators and Coaches (AACCA) to “educate administrators on cheerleading safety and encourage institutions to implement guidelines that will promote safe practices” (NCAA News, June 18, 2007).
According to the American Association for Cheerleading Administrators and Coaches website, the 2008-2009 College Safety Rules provide a list of basic program guidelines as well as specific safety requirements for a number of stunts including partner stunts, pyramids, and tosses. The document also provides examples of legal and illegal moves as well as a specific list of prohibited skills for court surfaces.
Taking it one step further, effective August 1, 2006, the NCAA partnered with Varsity Brands (parent company of national cheer organizations) to require that cheerleading activities be supervised by a safety certified coach or advisor in order to be covered under the NCAA’s catastrophic injury insurance (NCAA Insurance Programs, NCAA).
Competitive Cheer and Dance and Title IX
Competitive Cheer was added along with water polo to ensure Title IX compliance at the University of Maryland, College Park (Rosenberg, NCAA News, October 27, 2003). The university looked at the viability of four women’s sports and chose competitive cheer because of a “high level of interest” from the student body and continued pursuit of varsity status.
One of the purposes of Title IX of the Education Amendment (passed 1972) was to ensure gender equity in educational opportunities including educational-athletic opportunities. The question of how cheerleading and dance squads fit in with Title IX is a controversial one.
As long as competitive cheer and dance are considered “varsity sports” and the athletes are provided the same status as any other sport, these athletes may be counted towards Title IX gender equity ("Gender Equity Q&A", February 14, 2005, NCAA Website). However, girls and young women who are primarily involved in cheer as a support group for other sports should not be counted when measuring gender equity in athletics.
Research needs to continue to determine the interest from athletes, coaches, and administrators towards making these programs varsity sports at the college level. As more universities adopt these programs as varsity sports, momentum will continue towards making these programs recognized as “sports” within the NCAA.
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