BY Nancy Hogshead Makar
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

Two weeks ago, a federal judge found Quinnipiac University  engaged in numerous types of numbers-gaming that all worked to keep the number of sports for women artificially low. As a part of his ruling, the judge also held that, at this early stage of development at Quinnipiac, competitive cheerleading did not qualify as a sport for Title IX purposes.

Ebenezer Samuel's opinion column, "Recent Title IX ruling delivers a blow to emerging NCAA sport of competitive cheerleading," argues that the ruling (and by extension Title IX) hurt the sport of competitive cheerleading. Mr. Samuel is mistaken; the ruling is sure to have just the opposite effect.

The ruling has galvanized the cheer community, and administrators are eliminating the identified deficiencies. Further, the Quinnipiac decision will protect the soon-to-be-evolved sport and its athletes, ensuring that they will receive the same competitive opportunities schools provide to men. The Women's Sports Foundation will embrace the developed sport into the women's sports family, along with other aesthetic sports like diving, mogul skiing and gymnastics.

First, it is important to remember that the legal ruling does not affect 99.9% of cheerleaders all over the country. The type of cheerleading most people are familiar with typically involves four activities as part of team membership: school organizing activities, generating crowd enthusiasm for the home team, entertainment, and competition. This decision left sideline cheerleading alone - it was not at issue in the case. It is alive and well in athletics, with a strong history as a part of athletic departments, with both male and female athletes responding to crowd enthusiasm with better performances. This opinion won't change sideline cheerleading one whit.

Instead, the decision referred to a unique subset of cheerleaders, the ones that exclusively compete. Mr. Samuels argues cheer was "on the verge of a breakthrough," however, these competitive cheerleaders were being short-changed by Quinnipiac when the sponsoring schools did not collaborate with one another. They did not seek NCAA recognition or seek to be put on the NCAA's "emerging sport" list. Consequently, these athletes (and they are athletes) competed under five different sets of rules during the season. Division I is the most elite level of collegiate sports and the athletes did not have other competitors. The school did not recruit. As a result of these and other deficiencies, these athletes did not receive the same educational experience that the males were receiving at Quinnipiac. Rather than being the "villain" as Mr. Samuels portrays it, Title IX is protecting these competitive cheerleaders from shenanigans by school administrators.

The opinion has electrified the cheer community and given the issue unprecedented publicity. While many want to retain the traditional sideline cheer option, others would like to see an exclusively competitive choice. The legal opinion gives cheer organizing bodies clear direction for sport recognition. Shortly after the opinion, USA Cheer filed for formal recognition by the United States Olympic Committee  - a precursor to becoming an official "emerging" sport recognized by the NCAA. Title IX advocates are working to assure that whatever form competitive cheer will inevitably take, those competitors will enjoy the same educational experience that their brothers receive.

The judge and the Women's Sports Foundation have been eager to recognize the athleticism, the talent, and the risks cheerleaders all over the country make to participate - whether sideline cheerleaders or competitive cheerleaders. The judge's opinion would have been the same if a school adopted any sport without high school teams or sports unrecognized by the NCAA - stock-car racing, body building, rhythmic gymnastics, rodeo, figure skating, ultimate fighting and orienteering, just to name a few.

College students are starved for sports; there is tremendous unmet demand. Nationally 40-50% of high school students participate in sports. At Division I, most colleges provide just a tiny fraction of their students the opportunity to compete; just 2-5% of the student body. Oftentimes, these new and emerging sports are less expensive to maintain. Mr. Samuels reported that starting a new sport requires a million dollars, which was certainly not the case of cheer at Quinnipiac. The judge wrote, "The competitive cheer team had an initial budget of $50,000, which covered the costs of travel, lodging, equipment, and other operational expenses. Ultimately, however, the team spent $130,000 during its inaugural season. That increase in costs is attributable, in part, to team trips to compete in Georgia and Florida." The danger is that with budgets like these, less competitive experiences are more attractive. The judge's detailed decision, coupled with cheer's smaller budget, assures that the evolved sport will overcome any organizational obstacles to formal recognition by the NCAA.

Never forget the educational mission of athletics and the importance of these competitive experiences. New research by Professor Betsey Stevenson from Wharton demonstrates that the benefits of sports are more tangible than just feel-good platitudes. She found that Title IX was responsible for one-fifth of the rise of female educational attainment for the generation that followed the new policy, as well as a 10% increase in women working full time, and a 12% spike in women in traditionally male-dominated occupations, such as accounting, law and veterinary medicine. While her research focused on girls and the comparisons just before and after the legislation passed, there is no reason to think that these benefits wouldn't be just as applicable for boys. In short, sports make both boys and girls more productive members of society. It is these life-long benefits that sports and Title IX advocates are most interested in protecting.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar is the Senior Director of Advocacy for the Women's Sports Foundation, and is a Professor of Law at the Florida Coastal School of Law. She also co-wrote, Equal Play; Title IX and Social Change with Andrew Zimbalist.

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