On October 14, 2022, the Morton East football team had a pink-out game to support breast cancer awareness month. Following along, the Morton Cheer and Dance united for a good cause.

According to danceparent101.com, cheerleading and dance both involve moving rhythmically and in synchronicity when moving in groups. Cheerleading uses dance moves as a transition between tricks, stunts, and tumbling, but the dance style used is usually drilling dance in style.

“From a cheerleaders perspective, I feel like it could have been a challenge for some to loosen up to dance since cheerleaders are taught to be so stiff,” said Cheerleader Gianni Dominguez.

Many people have different perspectives on cheer and dance being or not being considered sports. According to Dictionary.com, they define a sport is “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess or skill and often a competitive nature.” Following this definition of the term sport, Sportsrec.com states, “There is no question that competitive cheer requires lots of hard work and physical activity. ‘All-star’ teams incorporate dance, tumbling, and gymnastics to create performance routines. ‘Stunting’ is a particular cheerleading activity that involves cheerleaders sitting, standing, or squatting on others, such as in pyramids and basket tosses. These stunts require strength, stamina, acrobatics, and timing, the kind of things you’d see football players use during a football game.”

“It makes me mad because we go through so much just to make sure our performances are A1.  (Cheerleading) is strength, stamina, and straight skills at all times, so saying it isn’t a sport is disrespectful, especially for people who don’t know what we go through for it,” said Cheerleader Tyreana Thomas.

According to cartwrightfitness.co.uk, it states, “Dancers are some of the most athletic and skilled people in the world. They are also very competitive. The International Olympics Committee recognizes dance as a sport. Dance is an activity that requires hours of practice every day for several years to become a pro dancer. It involves a lot of physical strength and stamina.”

“The way we build our strength like working out daily, and the way we practice to perfect the dances makes it a sport, everyone thinks dance is easy and it’s just arm movements and jumps but it takes more skill than just moving your arm and jumping,” said Dancer Genesis Nava.

Cheer and Dance are two popular sports that girls love doing. You cannot question their strength because they do many things that require it. Many different things they do require a lot of practice that sometimes is double what a basketball and football player does. No matter if, it is or isn’t a sport it takes a lot of dedication, hard work, practice, and time to be good.