Do US college and high school cheerleaders actually lead cheering, or is cheerleading now only a form of sport?

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There has been debate on whether or not cheerleading can be considered a sport for Title IX purposes. Supporters consider cheerleading, as a whole, a sport, citing the heavy use of athletic talents[44][45] while critics do not see it as deserving of that status since sport implies a competition among squads and not all squads compete, along with subjectivity of competitions where - as with gymnastics, diving, and figure skating - scores are assessed based on human judgment and not an objective goal or measurement of time.[46][47][48] On January 27, 2009, in a lawsuit involving an accidental injury sustained during a cheerleading practice, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that cheerleading is a full-contact sport in that state.[49][50] In contrast, on July 21, 2010, in a lawsuit involving whether college cheerleading qualified as a sport for purposes of Title IX, a federal court, citing a current lack of program development and organization, ruled that it does not, but may in the future.[51] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading#Title_IX_sports_status Feb 20 12, 6:32 PM