Whether cheerleading is a sport was recently back before the courts.  Again, United States District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill has ruled that competitive cheerleading has not developed enough to be considered a college sport for Title IX purposes and, thus, Judge Underhill ordered Quinnipiac to keep the women’s volleyball team and create a compliance plan.  Since previous rulings in the case, the cheerleading team has been renamed the acrobatics and tumbling team and two organizations have created more cohesive rules of competition and a better championship format.  Although impressed by the changes, Judge Underhill stopped short of believing that cheerleading has evolved enough to be considered a sport for Title IX purposes.  Judge Underhill pointed out that acrobatics and tumbling is not recognized by the NCAA as a sport or an emerging sport.  Additionally, he stated “acro lacks what every other varsity men’s team sponsored by Quinnipiac enjoys: the chance to participate in an NCAA-sponsored championship.”  More information on previously rulings can be found here.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@bgsfirm.com.