Alva Review-Courier -

Every cheerleader gets triggered when told cheer is not a sport.

Burlington High School cheerleader Makayla McCullough cheers on the crowd at the first home basketball game.

As stated by the Oxford Dictionary, a sport is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

Dictionary.com uses the definition "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess."

Cheerleading requires athletic ability, hours of practice, skill, lots of energy, attention and the ability to lead a crowd, in addition to jumping, tumbling and often stunting. Every time you cheer, you are competing not only against other cheerleaders, but the other sport teams.

While not all teams are able to do stunting due to the size of their team, they still have to maintain their stamina, often through four games. You are pushing your team forward to victory and getting the crowd engaged the whole time.

Being a good cheerleader takes a whole lot of practice and even more spirit!