UNC Town Hall Meeting

There were definitely some interesting topics brought up in the town hall meeting.  There were propositions brought up to create a women’s athletic club, create a football camp, and to host an event to inform people about athletes and their grades. 

To start off with, I think the most effective argument presented made was made by Havanna’s group.  They brought up a very important issue of women’s athletics being underappreciated.  They supported this claim by bringing up very valid points about how at Late Night with Roy, hardly anyone knew that the women’s basketball team was there as well.  They had a lot of statistics to show how few fans the women’s teams had, but how many the men’s teams had.  It is very sad that women’s sports teams are getting so little support when they play just as hard as the men do.  They proposed a great idea to start a club called the Carolina Women’s Athletics Club, or CWAC for short. They stated that starting this club would hopefully get the word out about women’s athletics, and therefore bring a larger turnout at the games.  They said that the main problem is that most of the people simply do not know when or where the women’s athletic events are held, and that the Carolina Women’s Athletics Club would advertise the events by holding things such as pep rallies and pit sits to increase awareness. They proposed specific events such as “Hangin’ with Hatchell” and Field Day with the softball team to increase awareness and advertisement of the women’s games and to get fans pumped up about the upcoming seasons.  They stated that the club would, in a sense, fund itself through the $15 membership fee and the increased revenue from game turnout.  I think this was the strongest proposal because they presented a very valid claim and supported their claim with true evidence.  They also came up with a great proposal on how to fix this problem.  Overall, it was a good presentation. 

The next group that I think had a pretty good presentation was Mallory’s group.  Their group also presented a strong claim that academic reform is necessary with college athletes.  The included details about how there is inequality in the classroom, and how some athletes are given extensions on deadlines that the rest of the students are not given.  They also talked about how some Ivy League schools even abolished their athletic program altogether so that all the students would feel equal.  They said that colleges only look at athletes as money and do not really care what or how they do academically.  The main issues they stated were tutors doing the athlete’s work, and teacher favoritism.  They proposed an event to get the students and faculty at UNC more aware of this problem by having a presentation to talk about the problems and hopefully encourage these problems to stop.  They said that this event should go directly to the problem by confronting the teachers and tutors and letting them know that what they are doing is wrong.  I think that the details of the proposed event were a little weak and could have used some more explaining.  I was kind of confused about how their proposition would fix the problem stated in their claim.

The other group, Ana’s group, I think was the least effective argument presented.  To begin with, I do not really understand what their claim was.  They talked about and gave details of the recent football scandal at UNC.  They said that the scandal was giving UNC a bad reputation both locally and nationally.  They proposed the idea to start a football camp during the summer at the closest middle schools in the area.  They said that the camp would continue for five years and would be free. Personally, I do not know how you are going to host a camp at four middle schools for five consecutive years for free.  They said that the camp was supposed to show that the football team is “dedicated to the community.”  I feel like the idea of a camp is not a bad idea, but the way they proposed it made it seem like the football team would be doing it only in spite of the bad reputation they currently have.  This presentation was definitely the weakest for me. 

If I had to vote on one of the propositions to go into effect, I think it would definitely be Havanna’s group.  They presented a strong argument and proposed a good, detailed idea to solve the problem.  My vote would go to CWAC, who would yours go to?

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

            Throughout the course of history, cheerleading has mainly been viewed as support for athletic teams or just merely an activity.  The truth is cheerleading has evolved rapidly in the past few decades.  It no longer solely consists of yelling “Go Team!” or “Rah-Rah!” as some would say, it has become increasingly more competitive.  Although it still involves cheering for the team and showing school spirit, cheerleading also includes stunting, jumping, and tumbling.  Not only do cheerleaders cheer at games, they also compete at cheer competitions and showcase at exhibitions.  Cheerleading is definitely not as easy as it looks.  A cheerleader has to constantly keep the counts of a routine in her head, hit the right motions, say the right words, and keep the flyer from hitting the ground, all while smiling and showing spirit.  It takes hours of practice and sometimes years of training to do some of the higher level skills required at the collegiate level.  Despite all the hard work and athletic ability cheerleading takes, some still say that it is not a sport.  Honestly, I am not sure why or how anyone could even argue this point.  It involves practicing and competing just like other sports teams, the only difference is it does not involve a ball.  Some squads spend more time working out and practicing in the gym than even a football team would, so cheerleading definitely involves physical activity.   The dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical activity and competing.”  Cheerleading fits this definition perfectly. 

            I think that cheerleading should be considered an NCAA Varsity college sport just like football and basketball.  Cheerleaders should be able to get scholarships and recognition as an athletic sports team.  It is only fair that this change happens.  Cheerleading squads compete against other squads and determine a winner just like other sports.  They practice and train just like other athletes. As a cheerleader myself, I personally know how hard cheerleading really is. I have been cheerleading pretty much my whole life, so it is an insult when people make the comment that cheerleading is not a sport. Most of the time guys are the ones who make this comment because they just assume that all cheerleaders do is yell for the team.  I guarantee they would have a completely different attitude if they went to just one cheerleading practice. 

            Personally, I want to see the sport I love so much to finally get the recognition it deserves.  Officially changing cheerleading to an actual sport would not involve that much of an adaptation from the way things currently are.  It would affect those who cheer or those within the cheerleading world, such as coaches and judges for competitions.  It would also give cheerleaders everywhere a feeling of satisfaction that the sport they work so hard on is in rank with other sports.  Because it would be an easy transition, I propose that the change should take place at the beginning of the next school year.  This will allow time to prepare the rules and regulations necessary for a new NCAA sport.  Allowing this change to take place would finally let everyone see how hard cheerleading really is.  It would provide justice for this amazingly under thought of sport.  After all, this country is about justice, right?