User:Tracey.tto4/Cheerleading

Title IX Sports Status

Title IX, a federal statute that prohibits gender discrimination, plays an important factor in deciding whether an extracurricular activity is considered a sport. Due to Title IX, there have been disputes across the United States of America on whether cheerleading can be considered a sport or not. These arguments have varied from institution to institution and are reflected in how they treat and organize cheerleading within their schools. Some institutions have been accused of not providing equal opportunities to their male students or for not treating cheerleading as a sport, which reflects on the opportunities they provide to their athletes. Additionally, the classification of what is considered cheerleading has fueled into this debate. Some consider the sport cheerleading to be competitive cheer while others believe it is both competitive and sideline cheer.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) main priority is to enforce Title IX in federally funded education programs and activities. In the early 1970s the Office for Civil Rights first established cheerleading, both competitive and sideline cheer, was not considered a sport under Title IX and did not revisit this decision until the 2000s. During that time many high schools and colleges contacted the Office for Civil Rights about their initial decision. In the late 2000s, the Office for Civil Rights began sending response memos to these institutions regarding their decision. The Office for Civil Rights' primary concern was ensuring that institutions complied with Title IX, which means offering equal opportunities to all students despite their gender. In their memos, their main point against cheerleading being a sport was that the activity is underdeveloped and unorganized to have varsity-level athletic standing among students. This claim was not universal and the Office for Civil Rights would review cheerleading on a case-by-case basis. Due to this the status of cheerleading under Title IX has varied from region to region based on the institution and how they organize their teams. However, within their decisions, the Office for Civil Rights never clearly stated any guidelines on what was and was not considered a sport under Title IX.

Title IX Guidelines for Sports

In 2010, Quinnipiac University was sued for not providing equal opportunities for female athletes as required by Title IX. The university disbanded its volleyball team and created a new competitive cheerleading sports team. The issue with Biediger v. Quinnipiac University is centered around whether competitive cheerleading could be considered a sport for Title IX. The university had not provided additional opportunities for their female athletes which led to the court ruling in favor that cheerleading could not count as a varsity sport. This case established clear guidelines on what qualifies as a sport under Title IX, these guidelines are known as the three-pronged approach. The three-pronged approach is as follows:

• Prong 1. Whether the number of female and male student participation within the intercollegiate sport is at a sustainable ratio based on the number of students enrolled at the institution
• Prong 2. Whether the institution has provided, both in the past and ongoing, opportunities to intercollegiate athletes that are members of a sex that is currently underrepresented in their sport.
• Prong 3.Whether intercollegiate athletes of an underrepresented sex have been fully accommodated by their institution based on their athlete's interests in sports.

The three-pronged approach was the first official guideline that clearly stated what criteria were necessary when deciding what activity was considered a sport or not under Title IX. This approach was used and is still continued to be used by the Office for Civil Rights. Based on this approach the Office for Civil Rights still considers cheerleading, including both sideline and competitive, not a sport under Title IX.