法律英语：123 Is Cheerleading a Sport?

by Adam Freedman

Today’s topic:  Rah, Rah, Federal Law!  Is cheerleading a sport? Learn what federal law has to say about cheerleading and why it matters to schools across the country.
And now, your daily dose of legalese:  This article does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader.  In other words, although I am a lawyer, I’m not your lawyer.  In fact, we barely know each other. If you need personalized legal advice, contact an attorney in your community.
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Is Cheerleading a Sport?
A federal judge recently held that competitive cheerleading at the university level does not count as a “sport.”  Why does that matter? The quick and dirty answer is that the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX requires schools and universities to achieve roughly equal participation¹ for men and women in “sports.”  This decision will change how some colleges comply with that law.
What Is Title IX?
Title IX of the Educational Amendments² Act of 1972 is designed to protect students from discrimination on the basis of sex.  The statute³ says that  “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Title IX’s mandate⁴ applies to a wide range of programs at high schools and colleges including such things as admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, and vocational education.  
Title IX and School Sports
But the aspect of the Title IX that seems to get the most attention is its application to sports.  In regulations over the years, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (or OCR) has made it clear that Title IX requires “equal opportunities” for male and female participation in school athletics⁶. 
The OCR will look at a variety of factors to determine whether a school or university has provided equal opportunities in athletics.  One of the factors is whether the level of participation in athletics among men and women is “substantially proportionate” to their respective levels of enrollment⁷.   And for these purposes, “athletics” means “varsity sports.”  It doesn’t help a school to show that the female students have access to workout facilities.
So the bottom line is that if half of the student body is female, then the Department of Education expects roughly half of the varsity athletes to be female.  There are other factors, of course, and there are ways for a school to account for any disparity in sports participation, but still, schools now aim to achieve varsity sports programs that mirror the student population.
Why Is Title IX Controversial?
That sounds like a great thing, but in practice there are some controversial aspects of the law.  Critics charge that the regulations have turned Title IX from a law that requires equality of opportunity to one that requires equality of results.   In addition, nothing in the law requires schools or universities to have a particular number or size of sports teams.  That has lead to some interesting results.  To achieve equal levels of sports participation, some schools and universities have simply cut the number or size of sports programs for men--thus decreasing opportunities for males without doing anything for females. 
Other institutions, such as Quinnipiac University in Connecticut created competitive cheerleading squads⁸ and elevated cheerleading to the level of a varsity sport.  However, due to the expense of creating the cheerleading team, the university had to cut its women’s volleyball team.   It was this decision that sparked the federal lawsuit⁹ that has led to the first ever judicial¹⁰ ruling on whether cheerleading is a sport.
Why Is Cheerleading Not a Sport?
As I already mentioned, the judge said that competitive cheerleading is not a sport.  The judge relied on OCR regulations that spell out the characteristics of a “sport.”  These include:
The existence of a governing body, such as an intercollegiate conference
Defined seasons
Rules
Practices, and
Intercollegiate competitions
The judge conceded that competitive cheerleading did possess some of these qualities.  Indeed, Quinnipiac and seven other schools had recently formed a governing body called the National Competitive Stunts¹¹ and Tumbling Association.   But ultimately the judge decided¹² that competitive cheerleading is “still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic⁵ participation opportunities for students.” 
Why Cheerleading Being Ruled Not a Sport Matters
But the judge held out hope that competitive cheer may, some day in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX.  The irony¹³ here is that the judge’s ruling has removed much of the incentive¹⁴ for schools and universities to nurture¹⁵ this sport, since, at least for now, it won’t help them to meet their Title IX quotas¹⁶.
Okay, you can probably tell that I’m a little skeptical¹⁷ of the judge’s reasoning in this case.  Let me know what you think – you can post a comment to the Quick and Dirty Tips website or to Legal Lad’s Facebook page.  Bring it on!
Thank you for reading Legal Lad’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful¹⁸ Life.
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1 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

2 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

3 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

4 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

5 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

6 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

7 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

8 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

15 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

16 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

17 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

18 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。