I am a competitive cheerleader and, like all the other cheerleaders in the world, I want to show the world that what I do best, what I love with all my heart and what I can't do without, is the most a sport is definitely important. Trying to clarify this long debate about how cheerleading is a sport and how it isn't is my greatest intention in this article. Polls say that 60% of voters think cheerleading is a sport and 35% think it is not (Varnavas). Cheerleading should be accepted as a sport and it all depends on the voters as to whether they know the facts of competitive cheerleading and non-competitive cheerleading. The birth of cheerleading began with an all-male “pep club” that led the cheers at a Princeton University football game in the 1880s. One student in particular, Thomas Peebles, passed the idea of ​​a pep club to the University of Minnesota where he had transferred. The idea surprisingly spread like wildfire, and everyone joined a pep club at their university to help support and encourage their athletes to victory ("Story"). As cheerleading has become more popular and more and more women have become involved, in the 21st century, most cheerleading teams require a tryout process where you can showcase your talent and skills in order to be chosen. Previously, cheerleaders were selected based on their level of popularity, but today they require complex skills, the musculature of a linebacker, the grace and flexibility of a dancer, and the balance of a gymnast (AACCA). In 1972, Title IX became a federal law designed to ensure equal rights and opportunities for men and women in athletics (“Federal Court”). According to this federal law, cheerleading is not a sport and is not yet considered a sport because, apparently, it is related to feminism (Egendorf). There is a lot of hard physical work that goes into cheerleading and not just cheering on the bench for the “real".”