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Dancers wake up early on Saturdays, stretch out, and prepare to dance the day away by 7:00 A.M. Marching band members spend their summers under the hot sun, carrying heavy instruments and perfecting a series of precision drills. Archers require the physical ability to draw back and hold steady an 80 pound bowstring, and dedicated martial artists train every day of their lives, often starting as young as five years old. Yet those in the outside world consider none of these to be sports. These athletes should reap the same rewards as their culturally-recognized counterparts; something needs to change.

While there are a variety of athletic activities, few are culturally-recognized as sports. Though many people are referred to as athletic, few earn the title of “athlete.” Football, basketball, and baseball- these are culturally-recognized sports. The general public puts these players on a pedestal, showering them in scholarships and social praise while putting the unrecognized athletes in the shadows.

Nearly every form of media, as well as sporting organizations across the Nation, primarily the NCAA and its conferences, reinforce the overwhelmingly exclusive scope of cultural recognition in regards to sports. In fact, the NCAA recognizes and sponsors only 22 athletic activities as sports for Division I, II and III, according to the NCAA’s official website. Additionally, according to the Big Ten’s official website, only 17 of the NCAA-recognized sports are recognized by the Big Ten conference; the Big Ten doesn’t recognize bowling, fencing, rifle, skiing, or water polo, and pays most of its attention to football and basketball.

The Big Ten, established over 120 years ago, prides itself on having the most prestigious Universities that cultivate the finest athletes. On the Big Ten’s official history page, it states it is “Widely known as one of intercollegiate sports' most successful undertakings [and] the Big Ten boasts a lineage of legendary names and an ongoing tradition of developing strong leaders. Even in its infancy, the conference established itself as the preeminent collection of institutions in the nation, where the pursuit of academic excellence prevailed as the definitive goal of all Big Ten universities.”

The exclusivity of recognized sports doesn’t stop with collegiate organizations and conferences, either. The media and its dedicated viewers make sure to get their two-cents. Sports Writer Chad Parker insists that  viewing sports through the eyes of fans and spectators, when it comes to recognition, some sports, such as football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, are seen as “more of a sport” than others. In his article, “What is a Sport, what Isn’t” Parker presents the idea that “If there is not some disparity in the definition of a sport, then we would all be equally satisfied with watching golf matches, [and] track and field events…as we were with watching college football, the Super Bowl, March Madness, the NBA finals, and the World Series.”

ESPN, self-titled “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” reinforces Parker’s belief that sports fans and spectators think some activities deserve the title of “sport” more than others. ESPN broadcasts primarily NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR, along with NCAA-recognized sports such as college football, soccer, basketball, tennis, golf, and lacrosse, according to ESPN’s official website. In addition to the collection of college leagues and professional games, ESPN, NBC, and networks across the globe broadcast the Olympics every four years. According to the line-up on ESPN’s official website, the network also features boxing and MMA fights, rugby, horse races, and the X-games.

In his article, Parker mentions ESPN, saying “When ESPN launched the first 24-hour sports network many wondered if they could fill airtime. For television purposes- covering sports around the clock- anything that had an athlete participating qualified as a sport. For viewing purposes, fans may have a different opinion. Yes, fans, this is the time of year where there is a lull in sports. Every sports fan knows it.” Part of the population may see golf or track and field as true sports, but large media outlets like ESPN and sports writers like Parker seem to disagree. These “lesser sports” may earn air time, but the main focus of the public’s sports consumption will never find its way to the cultural-outcasts of the sporting world. Self-proclaimed die-hard sports fans keep a short list of “real sports,” and refuse to afford the title of athlete to anyone who doesn’t play one of those sports.

While “lesser sports” occasionally earn coverage and recognition from sporting networks, they won’t find themselves among the culturally-recognized sports list. Though the X-games, MMA fights, and golf earn air time on ESPN, the general public won’t unanimously agree that these are sports. Compare that idea to football or baseball, the undeniable sports of America.

Sports Illustrated, perhaps the most widely-recognized sports magazine in the nation carries cultural-recognition to an extreme, giving the public what it supposedly wants, often omitting sports completely.

An opinion article in the Utah Valley University Review, written by Brittany Plothow discusses the front covers of Sports Illustrated, and how in its attempt to cover what the general public wants, it is becoming more of a Playboy wannabe than a sports magazine. “The swimsuit issue has a long history of objectifying women while using the guise of sports. Since its beginning in 1964, the cover has gotten more and more revealing and pornographic,” writes Plothow. “In recent years model Kate Upton has been featured on the cover twice, once topless and one wearing an extremely thin bikini. Opening the cover of the 200-page magazine will assault the viewers with dozens upon dozens of topless models in suggestive poses. The magazine also features models in nothing but body paint. Remind me again how this is supposed to be about swimsuits? And what happened to the sports?”

What did happen to the sports? In addition to scantily-clad women, Sports Illustrated features college football, the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, golf, hockey, soccer and tennis, as well as the Olympics, as listed on SI’s official website. Admittedly, Sports Illustrated occasionally lists material on cricket, similar to baseball, equestrian competitions, cycling, track and field, and figure skating. What about the dancers, cheerleaders, swimmers, archers, marchers, and every other athletic non-athlete? Excluded. Instead, the biggest sports magazine features naked or near naked women, and “real sports.”

When looking for the definition of “athlete,” mention of specific sports as a requirement to hold the title failed to make an appearance. Instead, Webster’s dictionary defines “athlete” as “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.” While dancers, cheerleaders, and other participants in physical activities meet the criteria outlined in the definition of athlete, they don’t earn the attention of the NCAA, or most of the die-hard sports enthusiasts mentioned by Parker. Though the difference between “athlete” and “athletic person” varies slightly, it makes a big difference, and people find themselves asking why it matters. To the athletes who can’t earn cultural-recognition, it matters a lot. Culturally-recognized athletes at the high school and collegiate levels earn an amount of prestige and recognition over their peers, no matter how actively their peers may commit to an activity. As soon as athletes graduate from community recreational leagues and start playing sports for spectators other than their parents, holding the title of “athlete” becomes nothing short of sacred.

Most high schools make a point of recognizing their student athletes through the displaying of awards and student walls of fame. The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL),  founded in 1916 and composed of over 300 high schools, offers an annual “Triple ‘A’ award” for academics, arts, and athletics, according to the MSHLS official website. Within the guidelines for the award on the website, it is stated that the “ideal students” who win this award have “achieved academic excellence and, at the same time, put forth the time and effort to participate in a League-sponsored athletic program and a fine arts activity.” A student who obtains high academic marks and participates in both arts and athletics seems pretty straight-forward and equal, except for two little words within the guidelines: “League-sponsored.” This means dancers, marching band and athletic band members, cheerleaders, martial artists, aesthetic swimmers, archers, and every other culturally unrecognized athlete who commits their time and energy to a sport that isn’t recognized by the MSHSL get excluded.

Furthermore, A Google search for “athletic recognition in high school” yields approximately 15,100,000 results, with the first 10+ pages of the search referring to documents published by specific high schools outlining their athletic recognition programs.

The prestige afforded to culturally-recognized athletes doesn’t end in high school, either. Some colleges, like Towson University, recognize athletes on special “honor rolls” that differ from a Dean’s List or honor rolls that recognize non-athletic students, as explained on Towson University’s athletics page, towsontigers.com.

According to the athletics page, Towson’s academic recognition highlights “student-athletes who excel academically during their sports season [who] are recognized by the NCAA and Towson University.  Certificates honoring their academic achievements are awarded to the student-athletes the semester following the conclusion of their sports season.”

In addition to social prestige, students at the high school and collegiate levels who hold recognition as athletes and play culturally-recognized sports are also afforded more scholarship than those who participate in other athletic activities.

Sallie Mae, one of the top providers for student loans in the United States, offered a scholarship in 2001 to student athletes who participate in recognized sports. The terms of the scholarship, as outlined in the document “Sallie Mae Recognizes Excellence in Academics and Athletics” state that “The scholarships are awarded by Sallie Mae, along with the Sallie Mae Cup, to the high schools whose students accomplish the most in both the classroom and in athletic competition.” While the Sallie Mae website, in addition to helping students and parents understand loans, has tools to assist students in searching for scholarships, but Sallie Mae itself lists no other scholarships offered by the company.

State Farm Insurance Agency also offers 10 annual scholarship of $1000 to student athletes who play in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. Other private companies such as Fodale Energy, Piccadilly Restaurants, and Musemeche Photography offer athletic scholarships to participants of recognized sports in the Southern United states, as shown on a hand-out distributed by the Louisiana High school Athletic Association, titled “Scholarships and Awards.” From Northern Minnesota to the southern states, culturally-recognized athletes have a foot up on those who play sports that fewer people consider to be “real sports.”

According to Patrick O’Rourke, author of "College Athletic Scholarships & Chances of playing college sports," In 2012, approximately 177,559 athletic scholarships were offered for NCAA-recognized sports in the United States. O’Rourke findings also show that 16,998 colleges in the United States sponsor NCAA-recognized sports, but only 268 colleges in the United States sponsor sports not recognized by the NCAA.

For those committed to athletic activities not classified as sports, participants put in all the physical commitment, but reap none of the recognition, whether it is social or monetary. Cheerleading and competitive dance raise the most controversy among unrecognized sports. According to Abigail Perkiss, writer for the “Constitution Daily,” Biediger vs. Quinnipiac, a case against competitive cheerleading in favor of women’s volleyball, closed in July 2010, after four years in court. Quinnipiac University’s volleyball team brought the case to court when the university decided to cut the team and replace it with a competitive cheerleading squad. Perkiss explained the decision for the case, stating that by cutting the women’s volleyball team, the University violated Title IX. Perkiss said the top reason for the ruling was that “The University had erroneously defined competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport for the purpose of Title IX compliance.

In her article, Perkiss writes “‘Competitive cheer,’ wrote [Federal Judge] Underhill, ‘may, sometime in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX; today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.’”

According to an article written by Andrew Johnson and Pam Sailors, sports journalist Frank Deford said as a result of the Quinnipiac case, “A federal judge has ruled that cheerleading is not yet a real sport, even though 64,000 high school girls are registered in ‘competitive spirit squads.’”

The case sparked controversy across the nation, and even became the topic of an article submitted to the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, titled “Don’t Bring it On: The case against cheerleading as a Collegiate Sport.” Within this article, Andrew Johnson and Pam Sailors state “no form of collegiate cheerleading currently in existence deserves, from a moral point of view, to be recognized as a sport for Title IX purposes.”

Johnson and Sailors argue that there isn’t an adequate scoring system or standardized rules for competitive cheerleading, so it cannot be considered a sport, and is instead an activity. However, with the intent of being disproven, the article states “as much media of the Quinnipiac case pointed out, modern cheerleading demands considerable strength, flexibility, and stamina. Today’s cheerleaders are part gymnast, part acrobat. The aerial stunts, pyramid stands, and tumbling flips they perform require great athleticism, fitness, and physical skill.” Anderson and Sailor disprove the overall argument, insisting that though cheerleading qualifies as an athletic activity, athleticism alone doesn’t make cheerleading a sport. What they don’t address is whether or not these athletic girls who are “part gymnast and part acrobat” are athletes.

Along the same lines as cheerleading comes competitive dance team. According to an article in the Star Tribune, written by Michelle Rotter, dance team is statistically the second most-participated-in sport in the state of Minnesota, but gets hardly any recognition as a sport.

Rotter said in her article “Dance Team: A sport that doesn’t get the Respect it Deserves” that “Dance team is a huge sport, though most people never think twice about it. The participants are sometimes thought of as ‘pageant girls,’ just there to entertain the crowds at halftime until the real sport of football comes back onto the field. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Rotter points out to her readers that dance team isn’t usually mentioned in news broadcasts or in the papers. She admits that “sometimes, there is a 10-second clip of the state tournament at the end of the sports segment” but the recognition ends there.

Dance and cheerleading are not the only sports not recognized as such, but they are the most debated. Sports such as figure skating, marching band, martial arts, aesthetic swimming, and countless other competitive athletic activities are left without acknowledgement and recognition.

O’Rourke’s findings suggest that in the entire nation, only 268 colleges sponsor sports, such as cheerleading, that aren’t recognized by the NCAA. With so much recognition, social prestige, and scholarship given to students who participate in NCAA sponsored sports, athletes who participate in anything else are given the short end of the stick. These athletes should be allowed to reap the same rewards as their culturally-recognized counterparts; something needs to change.