Why is it when it comes to sports, cheering is not taken seriously? I have been cheering for 10 years and, in those years, the majority of people I have met do not take cheering seriously.

Cheerleaders attend practices and games just like athletes in any other sport. We have to work hard at gymnastics, strength training, aerobics, timing and teamwork. Most people think that we cheer at games, but the biggest part of cheering is our competitions.

If you have never attended or watched a cheering competition you don’t know what cheering is all about.

A lot of kids, boys and girls, at our school make fun of cheerleaders because they think it’s easy and not a real sport, but I’d like to see them give it a try. They’d see that it’s not so easy. The girls that are flyers on the team are putting their lives in their teammates’ hands.

As stated on the local news, the thing that makes cheerleading so hard compared to the other sports is we only have one shot to get it right. It’s a three minute routine; you make a mistake and you’re done. That is pressure!

So people, stop thinking of us as ditzy cheerleaders and give us the credit we deserve.

Danielle Brewer, Lewiston