Legal Research

A recent federal court decision on whether cheerleading is a sport has made a splash in the legal blogosphere.  Since I am mildly obsessed with the intersection between cheerleading and the law (if you're obsessed too, you can check out Cheerleading and the Law: Risk Management Strategies from our collection!), I feel it's necessary to mention the decision on ZiefBrief. 

As I reported last summer, women volleyball players and their coach sued Quinnipiac University following the university's decision to eliminate the women's volleyball team and substitute it with a varsity competitive cheerleading squad. Judge Stefan Underhill's 95-page decision agreed with the plaintiffs that the university's actions violated Title IX, ruling that, in its current state, cheerleading is "still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students."  Of particular concern for Judge Underhill - the lack of an organized season and the odd assortment of "opponents" assembled for competitions:

The Quinnipiac competitive cheer team plays collegiate club opponents who do not receive varsity benefits, such as scholarships, equipment, and training, and are not held to the same rules and regulations as a varsity program; collegiate sideline opponents who play their ?sport? not primarily to compete but to entertain audiences at other sport and campus events; all-star opponents who have no scholastic affiliation; and high school opponents who are younger, less experienced, and less physically mature than college athletes . . . No other Quinnipiac varsity team is forced to play such a motley assortment of competitors, and it cannot be doubted that the quality of competitions is more variant across the competitive cheer season than across the seasons of the university?s other varsity teams.

For an extensive discussion on the ruling and a link to the lengthy decision, see this article on Inside Higher Ed.