[hillbilly]

It is a sport. The state does not classify it as one, yet it regulates it right along with football and basketball down to the dead period in June. The National High School Federation regulates it right along with all the other sports. The problem is, funding, plain and simple. If it were considered a sport, schools would have to provide funding for sports with comparable size participants. Most schools do not provide funding for the cheerleaders(if they do it is negligable) and that is why it can get expensive. As far as Title IX goes, it is not considered a sport, but the Feds do and did have a say how multiple squads at one school are looked at in as far as how they are selected and how they are classified.