Yes, cheerleading is a sport. The majority of people do not see what goes on in practice, they only see the girls in cute tight uniforms standing on the sidelines of football games and assume this is all they do.
And before I go further, I just want to make sure I am clear - it is up to the coach/athletes as to whether the girls are snotty, mean, etc. We do not allow this type of behavior on our teams. We had a small group of girls this year that thought they could behave like this, but we ended that very quickly. Every girl on our team is important and we do everything we can to make sure every girl has a moment to shine in our routines. And since the most "popular" girls at DD's school don't cheer, I've seen worse behavior from volleyball/softball/basketball/soccer girls, not to mention those horrible sing-songy chants the softball girls scream from the dugout and terrible bows they wear in my neck of the woods. lol
I am the VP of Cheer Operations and coach competitive cheer for a rec football and cheer league. I was never a cheerleader, but was always fascinated by the way they just seemed to "know" what to do. I never realized how much time and effort goes into a 3 minute routine! DS17 started playing football when he was about 7, and we would stay at practice (all the parents did in that particular league as it was out in the country in the middle of literally nowhere, and took 30 min to get there, 30 min back so it was just easier to stay and hang out). DD would watch the cheerleaders practice and when she was old enough she decided to join so that she would have something to do while we were there. She is now in 8th grade and this is her last season in youth cheer. She took gymnastics off and on over the years, but was never comfortable flipping herself over, so she never really progressed past a back walkover. However, she is an AMAZING backspot and her stunt group can do advanced stunts that we showcase in our competition routines, her jumps are technically beautiful, and she has a confident voice that can project!
We practice 6 hours a week, and sideline cheer at a game on the weekends. We also do 2-4 competitions per season and can advance to our state competition for the organization we belong to if we do well.
At a 2-3 hour typical practice, we do the following:
warm up and stretching
conditioning
running/laps
work on tumbling - the handsprings, flip flops etc. Standing and running tumbling for the routine, spacing and counts so each girl knows when to go
work on stunts - stunts are what you see when you have 3 girls putting one girl up in the air. The bases need to be strong enough to hold the flier up and the flier needs to be strong enough to hold herself up. The backspot leads the group in the counts, anchors the group, makes sure the flier feels secure, and makes sure the flier never hits the ground.
work on jumps - jumps need to be technically perfect, tight, and clean
Pyramid - every single girl is needed. Basically the pyramid is individual stunt groups working in sync with each other so they can link up (hitch) and do whatever they need to do before coming down clean and precisely. Nobody in on hands and knees while other girls climb on anyone's back. This isn't the 50's!
Cheer - this is the verbal part of the routine. Everyone must be in sync and precise. They must know where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing, where to go next, etc
Dance - the dance part of the routine. Same as above, but no verbal words
cool down conditioning
Everything has be to blocked and spaced out. The girls practice each element over and over until it is perfect. They spend a lot of time either holding themselves up in the air or putting their flier up in the air. Unlike any other sport, if one girl skips practice, then 3 other girls cannot practice their stunt either, and the whole team cannot practice pyramid. We need EVERY girl there, EVERY practice, so there is a HUGE commitment level that needs to be met.
There are different elements to the stunts that take concentration and precision. Their shoulders and arms take a beating - my DD13 has bruises all up and down right now her arms from catching her flier over and over. She has been kicked in the face more times than she can count and has had fliers fall right on top of her while she is trying to keep them from hitting the ground! Bloody noses, black eyes, mouths cut from braces being hit, scratches from nails that weren't cut properly, and bruises are so common that we are all first aid gurus lol The bases have constantly bruised shoulders because the flier pushes off their shoulders when going up in the stunt. Their wrists ache all the time from holding the flier, and their arms are all bruised from catching her. The flier has to be super tight in the air - knees locked at all times and core perfectly aligned so she doesn't lose her balance - like staying in a yoga pose over and over for 3 hours. They fall a LOT in practice as they are learning new stunts and of course get hurt, but they go right back up and try it again over and over until they get it right.
The dance and cheer part is basically a hip hop dance class. The music is very fast and the girls have a lot of moving parts to manage. They don't just worry about themselves, they worry about where everyone else is too because when they have to move, they have to know exactly where another girl is moving so they don't run into each other. They are supposed to be facing front at ALL TIMES so if they need to move to the back of the mat, they need to walk backward and look good doing it. They have to trust that the girl coming toward her is watching to make sure they don't collide. They need to stay tight and move with precision. And stay smiling at all times!
We are not crazy-expensive, this-is-my-life All-Star cheerleaders in our league. Our league is a rec competitive league, which means we don't hold tryouts - anyone can cheer with us and it is up to us to work with the ability levels of each girls to give them the best shot to win. However, the process is the same - the girls have to be very in-shape and ready to work HARD. They are sweaty and hair is messy and their bodies ache and hurt and they are tired and ready to drop by the time practice is over. We ask them to do it "one more time" and to push through until they can barely get their flyer into the air anymore. My DD comes home with badly aching legs and arms after every practice and she is exhausted. A lot of girls quit after one season because it was not what they expected. They came thinking the same as most people - I'll learn a few sideline cheers, dance around a little, and look cute in my uniform. It's a rude awakening that they actually have to work hard, get sweaty, ache at the end of every practice, and get told by people who have no clue that what they are doing is not a sport.
All for a 3-minute routine where they wear a cute little uniform, a perfect ponytail with no fly-a-ways and bow straight, clean white shoes (that can ONLY be worn for competition - they have nasty, dirty, sweaty, smelly practice shoes they wear daily!) and a smile on their face. Our girls make it look easy and effortless because that is what they are SUPPOSED to do. That is what they work so hard for - the literal blood sweat and tears that goes into a perfect routine is unimaginable to most people who don't know the sport.
Oh...and sideline cheers? We don't even practice those but maybe a few times the first month of practice in August. Most cheerleaders hate sideline cheering. It is boring, usually either really hot or really cold, and they just have to stand there until it is time to do a cheer. It is HARD for these ATHLETES to just stand there doing nothing on the sidelines!
*This* is the easiest thing we do - a basic prep stunt (not my team - just got this off the internet). Our girls can do much, much more than this. It looks easy, but even this takes a LOT of time and practice to master when the girls are young and just learning.
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Like you said, the kids are really more bouncing off each other than actually tackling...the ones who actually can tackle at that age are superstars. And watching them "run" down the field on a 70 yard touchdown is a riot. That's not a put down whatsoever, I think it's spectacular, it's just one of those things that make you smile and laugh. They're so cute.
