For the first time, High School Cheer leading is officially a sport, and cheerleaders like THS sophomore Allyson Willey couldn’t be happier.

“I have always thought of it as a sport,” Willey said, “but having it recognized by other people makes me feel excited that people are seeing how dangerous it can be and how much work we actually put in.”

The University Interscholastic League is changing its standards, thus including the recognition of Cheer as one of its sanctioned sports. The legislative council voted on June 4th for a yearlong pilot program that they’re calling “Game Day Cheer.”

Willey, who has been cheering for eight years, finds the change to be refreshing.

“Hopefully, other athletes will treat us like athletes.” Willey said. “Of course, some people won’t, but I think that cheerleaders will earn some more respect.”

According to the UIL, Game Day Cheer is similar to a standard cheer competition but without all the dangerous complex stunts and tosses. Starting in 2015, cheer leading will be an organized sport just like all other high school sports, and the team will go to a state competition.

“Since this is an activity that was recently voted on, we don’t have all the details for how everything is going to work,” UIL spokesperson Chris Schmidt said. “The program is going to launch at the start of the 2015 school year, so we have about a year decide how we want to run things.”
If the program is a success, Schmidt adds, the UIL can extend it past the 2015 school year.