Following a federal lawsuit aiming to disallow the San José State University women’s volleyball team from playing in the Mountain West Conference tournament, Boise State University team withdrew from a semifinal match against SJSU.
The federal Judge S. Kato Crews ruling the case, appointed by President Biden in the U.S. District Court in Colorado, denied the motion to block the SJSU team from competing in the Mountain West Conference tournament, as reported on Nov. 26 by The Spartan Daily.
Filed by SJSU’s current co-captain Brooke Slusser, suspended assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and two former players for the team, the lawsuit alleges that the National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy infringes First Amendment rights and contributes to Title IX violations.
Slusser (10) and Melissa Batie-Smoose, second
right
season … Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our studentathletes, our coaching staff, and many associated with our program,” Kress said.
Austin Eberhart, an SJSU first-year civil engineering student, talked about how harmful the rhetoric being spread about the trans community is as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“There should be some sort of funding, whether that be state or federal, to organize research of trans players in women's sports and see what their performance actually is,” said Eberhart.
Chris Kutz, the Boise State University’s associate athletic director, emailed the Spartan Daily a statement on behalf of Boise State Athletics.
“The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” Boise State Athletics said in an issued statement. “Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday.”
The statement said the team should not have to forgo the opportunity of
“As explained below, because the (National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy) purports to allow men to participate in college sports on sex-separated women’s teams the (National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy) cannot be lawfully adopted, implemented or relied upon by an entity subject to Title IX,” stated in court documents.
playing while waiting for a thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.
Boise State, Utah State University, University of Wyoming and University of Nevada, Reno forfeited against SJSU this past season.
SJSU (No. 2 seed) lost to Colorado State University (No. 1 seed) on Saturday, Nov. 30 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, scoring 3-1.
Samantha Garcia, an SJSU third-year forensic science major, said that the issue facing the teams needs to be solved and talked about.
“I know for me personally when it comes to sports, I love sports and I wouldn’t
want to win on a forfeit,” Garcia said. “I would actually want to go on the court or the field and play my heart out and deserve to have that championship or win that game. Instead of knowing that a team forfeited.”
Garcia expressed her perspective on the transgender participation policy saying that it goes against her morals.
“I personally believe that if you were born a male, you should not be allowed to play women's sports, even if you identify as a woman,” Garcia said.
Todd Kress, SJSU’s head coach of the women’s volleyball team, issued a statement regarding the forfeiture.
“I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months,” Kress wrote.
“Our team prepared and was ready to play each match according to established Mountain West and (National Collegiate Athletics Association) rules of play.”
According to the Mountain West Conference which follows suit of the (National Collegiate Athletics Association) policies, SJSU follows their outlined rules, as stated in the Mountain West Conference handbook.
“Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this
The NCAA specifically outlines its policies on transgender student-athlete participation which consist of an approved testosterone threshold of <10 nmol/L for women’s volleyball, according to the NCAA policy document.
“I think that the (National Collegiate Athletics Association) as a whole is really going to have to really dive into trans players, period,” Eberhart said. “I’ve done a paper on this for an English class in high school, that's my final project. There’s really not a lot of research done now and I think that research needs to continue.”
Students decompress before finals week
San José State’s Fall 2024 semester is starting to wrap up, and exam season and finals week quickly following behind.
While the pressure of finals is stressful enough for students, it is even harder for those who already struggle with their mental health, food insecurity, housing and financial troubles, wellness and more, according to a Jan. 11, 2023 article from EdSights.
International Student and Scholar Services hosted a Global Connections event on Monday in the College Professional and Global Education building to increase student morale with upcoming finals.
International Student and Scholar Services provides support to international students at SJSU and creates connections by offering resources, hosting events, holding programs and providing a welcoming community, according to SJSU’s website.
The event was open to all students on campus, and provided snacks, board
games, puzzles, cards, crafts and art supplies in order to help students relax during finals week.
Suhaas Teja Vijjagiri, a computer engineering grad student and a global leader for International Student and Scholar Services, facilitated the workshop.
“It really helps a lot of students make new friends who are maybe shy initially, it kind of gives them the (opportunity) to make connections,” Vijjagiri said.
Vijjagiri said that as an international student, it was difficult at first to create relationships with other students on campus because of cultural differences and feeling overwhelmed in a new country.
He said with the Global Connections program, any student can come in, have fun and make friends. The goal was to have students de-stress during finals week with a chill vibe.
“We International Student and Scholar Services Global Leaders) work as the face of (International Student and Scholar Services) and we help conduct events which can foster international connections and we try to
organize events which can help international students improve their connections and meet new people,” Vijjagiri said.
Yash Kumar, a grad student in software engineering, was one of the students who came to this event to take advantage of its resources.
Kumar played card games and made origami lucky stars with one of his good friends, Sebastian, who he said he met through Global Connections.
“It provides me with an opportunity to meet people outside of my country. It gets my mind off of the stress that I’m thinking of the rest of the week,” Kumar said.
Programs like Peer Connections, Accessible Education Center and the Writing Center are also available to all students for academic support, according to SJSU’s website.
Peer Connections provides a space where students can be tutored and mentored by peer educators, according to another website from SJSU.
SJSU’s Writing Center provides assistance to supplement student’s writing skills, by providing tutoring, workshops, support for writing assignments and
resources about several different areas of the writing process, according to another SJSU website.
SJSU Cares hosts the Spartan Food Pantry, available for eligible students. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays every week, according to their Instagram.
It can also help with CalFresh Food (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) applications for students in need to receive a
debit or a Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card to buy groceries, according to a web page from SJSU.
SJSU Cares even provides temporary emergency housing to students who are unhoused or who are experiencing housing insecurity. SJSU Cares also provides help with searching for housing, according to SJSU’s Housing Assistance website.
Sebastian Sutjipto, a thirdyear psychology student, also attended the Global Connections event to de-stress and connect with his peers.
“It’s (Global Connections) every week, so it’s pretty helpful for me, especially on Monday, where people are usually very stressed on the first day of the week,” Sutjipto said.
SATURN WILLIAMS | SPARTAN DAILY
Brooke
from
are both involved in the lawsuit filed against SJSU.
SOFIA HILL | SPARTAN DAILY
Students gather together and to take a moment to de-stress before finals week.
By Sofia Hill STAFF WRITER
‘Moana 2’ is another washed up sequel
By Jackson Lindstrom STAFF WRITER
Disney has a long history of being bad at making sequels, even when it comes to its most iconic movies, and “Moana 2” is no different.
The second installment in the series lacked the charm of the first film, with a lackluster plot, mediocre songwriting and uninteresting characters.
In the first movie, Moana, played by Auli’i Cravalho was faced with an internal conflict of whether she could become a master way-finder or not, but in “Moana 2,” she completely lacks any kind of interesting character development.
Moana’s goal in the first film is to become a master way-finder, someone who could navigate the sea when nobody else on her island could.
This was no longer a plot point in “Moana 2” because she succeeded in doing so, but
the second movie had no new internal conflict.
This lack of character development can be seen with every character in the movie.
Maui, the supporting character played by Dwayne Johnson and who I thought was the coolest character in the first film, was uninteresting and didn’t have nearly as much screen time as I would have preferred to see.
The side characters, Kele, Moni and Loto, were pretty flat as well, and there was nothing particularly interesting about any of them.
Dana
Starring:
Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson
Genre: Adventure Animation
Throughout the film, it seems like the side characters are simply there as filler so the audience gets a variety of different characters on screen instead of the film solely focusing on the titular character.
There was a new character introduced in this film,
Matangi, played by Awhimai Fraser, who I originally thought would be the villain, but – very confusingly – this changed when she started to help Moana.
Matangi, who I also thought would add an interesting element to the film, has a very
another element of the movie that was quite bland.
At best, the musical numbers were forgettable, and clearly lacked much inspiration because the songs all sounded like they were just trying to mimic parts of the first film.
series, “Where You Are.”
I was also disappointed at the quality of Maui’s song, “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” because the character’s feature song “You’re Welcome” in “Moana” was significantly better and catchier.
The plot was yet another
film was that Moana wanted to prove there were other islands out in the world and attempt to connect them to one another.
To link the islands together, the main character had to find a specific island in the middle of the sea that connected every other island, but it was part of a cursed area and had sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
This ended up completely overshadowing the idea of bringing the islands together because it had barely even been a major plot point of the film by the time that it mattered.
“Moana 2” was announced on Feb. 7, 2024, meaning it came out the same year it was announced, according to a web page from the Walt Disney Company.
Knowing this, it’s pretty likely that Disney rushed the film to come out without giving the animators and writers nearly enough time to put the film together cohesively.
If Disney had allotted more time to allow its staff to make the film instead of pursuing a quantity over quality mindset, it’s more likely that “Moana 2” would have been a much better movie.
“Moana 2” is an uninspired sequel to its iconic predecessor, and audiences could save themselves the time and money of going to see it in theaters by waiting for it to come out on the Disney+ streaming service.
small part after her one and only song, and she doesn’t appear once after the second half of the film.
The musical score is
For example, the first song in the film “We’re Back” felt very similar to the first song featured in the first installment in the “Moana”
glaring problem of the film, which was barely addressed through the entire 1 hour and 40 minute run time.
The main plot of the entire
‘Gladiator II’ should’ve been a draft
By Alejandra Gallo STAFF WRITER
“Gladiator II,” released on Nov. 22, managed to transport me to ancient Rome and experience the life of a gladiator but unfortunately, it did not entertain me.
The sequel comes around 25 years after the original “Gladiator” movie directed by Ridley Scott, which follows the story of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) and his life from general to gladiator, according to an IMDb web page.
“Gladiator” is one of the movies with the most nominations and it was widely popular, grossing $34.83 million in only the opening week, according to a AS USA Latino March 10, 2024 article.
The 143-minute-long sequel felt more like watching the same movie again, except worse.
The plot of the movie is almost completely identical to “Gladiator,” because the main character, Lucius (Paul
Mescal), returns to Rome as a gladiator after he loses his wife and is captured as a slave.
Though I like Mescal’s character, it wasn’t the same as seeing Maximus on the screen, a character that I was truly rooting for.
Getting to know Maximus and his evolution from general to gladiator was compelling because he was driven by the anger of losing his family.
In the end, his despair, sadness and love for Emperor Aurelius’s dream of Rome helped him fight as a gladiator and become one of the best.
Soon, he managed to gain the respect of the other gladiators and create a plan to overthrow Emperor Aurelius’ son who became emperor after killing his father.
Despite the $250 million budget, the sequel was not able to wow me even with the epic fight scenes the same way the original did.
A big budget isn’t
A big budget isn’t enough to create a masterpiece if it doesn’t completely move the audience and make them root for the character on the screen.
enough to create a masterpiece if it doesn’t completely move the audience and make them root for the character on the screen.
When I first heard there would be a sequel to the movie, I was upset because “Gladiator” is a movie that didn’t need to be touched.
I understand that continuing the story 25 years later following the success of a great film may seem exciting, but as I sat in the movie theater, I couldn’t help but compare it to the original.
Though it wasn’t the best, the movie was good because the actors’ portrayals of
the characters were noteworthy.
I was moved by Mescal and Pedro Pascal’s
movie review
“Gladiator II”
Rating:
characters because they are both strong and powerful figures but at the same time, they have a sweet side and have very important values.
Their love for Rome is vibrant throughout the movie and makes for a great cinematic experience, especially inside the Colosseum where the arena was filled with water, ships and sharks for a naval battle.
However, the sequel also mentioned a quote from Maximus’s original monologue delivered in the arena the day he dies – “Whatever we do in life echoes in eternity” –about a million times.
“Gladiator II” tried
creating a sequel with fresh takes to the original movie that also connects it back to Maximus, but I was annoyed that the movie copied so many ideas from the original film and didn’t try anything new. I wanted to enjoy the movie to feel the same excitement and awe which I felt while watching the first movie.
However, I found myself waiting for the film to be over and for “Gladiator II” to be ancient history.
Moana (voiced by Auli i Cravalho) holds her younger sister Simea (voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) in her arms to reach towards an incoming wave in the sequel, ‘Moana 2.’
PHOTO FROM DISNEY UK
“Moana 2”
PHOTO FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Paul Mescal (left) and Pedro Pascal (right) charge toward each other and draw their swords to fight as their characters Lucius and Marcus while spectators watch them in the Colosseum in “Gladiator II.”
Directed by: Ridley Scott Starring: Paul Mezcal, Denzel Washington Genre: Historical Action
ALBUM REVIEW
Kendrick Lamar revs up culture
By Charity Spicer STAFF WRITER
Kendrick Lamar revives the culture in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and beyond with his new album “GNX.”
The title makes direct reference to the Buick Grand National Experience model for muscle coupes, and means more than just a vehicle to Lamar.
The cover artwork for the album featured Lamar posing next to a 1987 GNX and was previously posted on his alternate Instagram account back in March a photo of him with a remote control GNX car as a child.
Lamar has been hitting on topics from his experience growing up in Compton, California to dealing with alleged “pedophiles” of the music industry shooting shots at his talent—2024 has been quite the year for him.
Lamar was featured on “Like That,” a track from Future and Metro Boomin’s collaborative album “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” back in March.
The song broke the internet and industry finds him taking further shots at Drake – arguably one of the most commercially successful rappers to date – and sparked a feud that has continued to make Lamar shine and Drake’s memory extinguished.
Lamar quietly dropped a thread of singles or “diss tracks” that aimed at attacking Drake as a rapper, father and man.
Just a few months later after Lamar gained a steady reputation as the winner of the feud, “GNX” was released
on Nov. 22 as a surprise to fans and foes.
The beginning of the album begins with the song “wacced up murals” with vocals from Deyra Barrera, a local Mariachi singer from L.A. coupled with a wall of uncanny sounds that seem like they would be featured in a Jordan Peele Monkeypaw Production film.
Jordan Peele is an actor, comedian and filmmaker known for his horror and scifi films “Get Out” and “Us,” which feature soundtracks of hip-hop classics with eerie remixing.
Throughout the lyrics, Lamar addresses his feelings of betrayal from the hip hop community nodding to Snoop Dogg’s reaction to Drake’s single “Taylor Made Freestyle” and Lil Wayne’s disapproval of the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show pick, which was Lamar himself.
“You ever ate Cap’n Crunch and proceeded to pour water in it? / Pulled over by the law, you ridin' dirty, so you can't argue with 'em? / Then make it to be a star, bare your soul and put your heart up in it? / Well, I did,” raps Lamar.
Lamar grew up in poverty and has strong ties to his community in Compton, according to a 2016 GQ documentary with Rick
Rubin. This line alone just shows how culturally relevant Lamar is to his own community compared to rappers who try to pretend like they grew up differently.
The second track, “squabble up” features a sample of the 1995 West Coast anthem “When I Hear Music” by Debbie Deb and unites his community through L.A. slang and references to cultural movements like G-funk and hyphy.
G-funk (gangsta-funk) is a
album review
subgenre of hip-hop from the late 1980s and 1990s that was pioneered by Dr. Dre from the notorious rap group N.W.A. who hailed from Compton, according to Brittanica.
“Hyphy” is another subgenre of hip-hop which is upbeat and more danceinfused which was forged by rappers E-40 and Too Short, according to KQED.
“I feel good, get the fuck out my face / Look good, but she don't got no taste / I walk in, walked out with the safe,” Lamar inflects.
The accompanying music video included unique elements from Lamar’s neighborhood in Compton as well as turf dancers from the Bay Area with specific references to California-based cultural moments such as lowriding, according to a Nov. 25 KQED article.
Turf dancing is a local dance movement from Oakland, California which is “synonymous” with the culture in the city and the rest of the Bay Area, according to a docuseries “If I Could Dance” by PBS.
Not only did this track go hard on its own, but it felt close to home because the sample has been played at family cookouts growing up and I’ve attempted these dances with my friends.
My favorite R&B-infused song from Lamar is “luther (with sza)” because it’s the type of track you play in the car with your significant other while watching a sunset go down by the seaside.
The song samples the 1982 cover of “If This World Were Mine” by Cheryl Lynn which features R&B/Soul legend Luther Vandross.
“I can’t lie / I trust you, I love you, I won't waste your time / I turn it off just so I can turn you on,” SZA and Lamar croon together about their lovers.
I found this song to be incredibly head over heels and dreamy, which is a big turn from the majority of Lamar’s music that discusses women and sex in a superficial way. The following song “man at the garden” explores Lamar’s career and accolades as a rapper and person, but could also be viewed as a cultural recognition of his heritage.
Follow Charity on X (formerly Twitter) @charity.spicer
GRAPHIC BY CHARITY SPICER, PHOTO FROM FLICKR
SJSU outlasts Stanford in the clutch
By Anfisa Pitchhadze STAFF WRITER
After a hard-fought battle, the San Jose Staté football team came back late in the fourth quarter to earn a nail-biter and regular season finale 34-31 victory over “power four” school Stanford University.
SJSU pulled off a challenging win (7-5, 3-4 MW) against Stanford (3-9, 2-6 ACC).
With the Spartans controlling the lead throughout the game, the final quarter took a turn of events for the team before sealing the game with a touchdown.
With 2:45 remaining on the game clock, Stanford faced a third down and short on its 23 yard line while leading 31-27.
The Cardinals junior quarterback Ashton Daniels decided to throw the ball, resulting in an interception by SJSU junior defensive back Isiah Revis.
“I got my eyes to the nearest passing threat which was the receiver,” Revis said.
“He’s running upfield and then he breaks on a corner route, and then once I’m over top of that, I give my eyes back to the quarterback. I just see the ball in the air in front of me and I just lay out for it.”
Stanford’s decision to throw the ball was unexpected for the Spartans.
“I was standing next to the referee to get ready to call a timeout, thinking they (Stanford) were going to run the ball and make me burn the last time out,” SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
SJSU junior quarterback Walker Eget went on to throw the game winning 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver TreyShun Hurry with 1:55 left in the game.
The Cardinals scored 14 answered points to start the fourth after Eget fumbled the ball on the second play of the fourth quarter. Spartans junior offensive lineman Peseti Lapuaho scooped the ball up and ran forward, but lost the ball.
“It was a learning experience for him (Lapuaho), but it’s one that will be used for him to teach all our offensive lineman,” Niumatalolo said.
The secondary defense played a vital role by recording a total of three interceptions off of Daniels, one from senior safety Robert Rahimi in the first and another from junior defensive back DJ Harvey.
Harvey recorded his fourth interception of the season while racking up six solo tackles and a tackle for loss in the game, according to an ESPN stats page.
“It was just us communicating in the back end just being more tighter on coverage,” Harvey said.
Harvey also said that it was key to take advantage of the opportunity of the error Stanford made.
“Revis capitalized and made points of that, so for them (Cardinals) making a foolish mistake like that, you got to capitalize,” Harvey said.
“He (Hurry) makes plays and he’s a guy that doesn’t get the recognition as Lockhart or Nash,” Eget said. “He’s never phased by anything and
always comes to work.”
Senior standout wide
receiver Nick Nash also shared words on Hurry’s game winning catch.
“He can go off and make plays and we decided to give him a chance to walk through a perfect ball,” Nash said.
Hurry stepped up for the Spartan offense and made key contributions as he finished with 4 receptions and 71 receiving yards.
Eget had himself a game going 33 for 49 on his completions with 385 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
He also went on to throw to several wide receivers including seniors Sebastian Macaluso and Justin Lockhart as well as junior Matthew Coleman, who all had over 40 receiving yards.
SJSU started to heat up in the second quarter, scoring 17 points before the halftime break and where Eget was able to find Nash in the endzone twice.
Nash finished the game with eight receptions and two touchdowns, according to the Spartans Athletic Page.
The wide receiver also set an SJSU single-season record with 16 touchdown receptions passing Chandler Jones, according to the same Spartans Athletic Page.
“It was awesome seeing that during the game and it’s a huge accomplishment,” Nash said.
Nash ends his final season with the Spartans on a solid note while also first in the country in receiving touchdowns (16), receiving yards (1,382) and total
receptions (104), according to an NCAA stats page.
SJSU still kept its head in the game with Lockhart catching a 19-yard touchdown pass and followed by senior kicker Kyler Halvorsen draining a 24-yard field goal kick to put the Spartans up 27-17.
Stanford recovered the ball in the endzone, earning a touchdown to only be down 27-24 in the beginning of the fourth.
In the next drive, the Blue and Gold drove the ball up on offense to Stanford’s 14-yard line where Eget threw a crucial interception that was returned 46 yards on a pass intended for Nash to potentially score a touchdown.
Stanford then responded by driving the ball with five plays for 53 yards that later resulted in a one-yard
touchdown run from Daniels to help the Cardinals earn its first lead, 31-27.
“There were a lot of ifs and foes in the game, but credit to our young men, they just kept fighting,” Niumataolo said.
SJSU ended its regular season on a solid note earning its first over win against its Bay Area rival in Stanford since 2006 and now awaiting for a bowl game, according to the same Spartans Athletic Page.
“I think the biggest thing is just winning,” Eget said. “We are a competitive place and people don't know that about San José.”
DANIEL POTTER
SJSU redshirt junior quarterback
Cheerleading is definitely a sport
By Sofia Hill STAFF WRITER
Pom-poms, glitter, skirts and flips. Cheerleading has many glamorous aspects, but it shouldn’t negate how hard these athletes work.
The number of these injuries is larger than any other female sport, making it statistically the female sport with the most injuries.
Even though cheerleading requires intensive training and dangerous stunts, some people still don’t consider it a sport or think of cheerleaders as genuine athletes.
However, I don’t think that the definition of athleticism has to do with catching a ball and scoring points.
The definition of a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill regulated by set rules or customs in which an individual or team competes against another or others, according to a web page from the Oxford English Dictionary.
Cheerleading involves all of these characteristics, with physical exertion and precise skill being the minimum required abilities needed to be in cheer.
There is also competitive cheerleading, which fulfills the second part of the definition. Competitive cheerleading consists of teams that participate in competitions and tournaments against other cheer teams through dance routines, stunts and tumbles.
It is even more strenuous than sideline or varsity cheerleading and is both
mentally and physically demanding.
Points are scored on several criteria, but one of the most important categories is neatness and not appearing sloppy by having weak or disorganized movements. You must appear seamless and perfect for the highest score. Any type of cheerleading requires hours of daily, mandatory practice to perfect dances, tumbling and chants.
In my opinion, all of
this isn’t feasible for the average person, you must be extremely physically fit to keep up.
To pull off the moves safely and gracefully, cheerleaders must put in lots of training and dedication. They have to be very in tune with their bodies and be strong enough to move their limbs every which way, according to a web page from the Worldwide Spirit Association.
There are several dangers that come with the sport of
cheerleading. Broken and fractured bones, sprains, concussions and spine injuries are just some of the injuries cheerleaders can expect to experience.
Stunts accounted for 34% of all cheerleading injuries and tumbling accounted for 32%, according to a Dec. 2012 article from the National Institute of Health. While complex dance routines and learning lengthy chants are difficult and can take months to perfect, a lot of the danger
comes from tumbling.
Tumbling typically includes gymnastic moves like flips, jumps, handstands and handsprings.
Stunting is even more dangerous. Stunting is the act of lifting or throwing other cheerleaders into the air and catching them. It requires extreme attentiveness and strength to make sure you either don’t drop your teammate or fall to the ground yourself.
College-level cheerleading was 70.5% of all female
catastrophic sports injuries and high school level cheer was 65.2%, according to the same article from the National Institute of Health.
Mental health issues are also prevalent in cheerleading, with some cheerleaders dealing with anxiety from performing, burnout from non-stop work and body image issues, according to Jan. 26 article from EW Motion Therapy
As someone who has friends who were in cheer, I watched a majority of them developed eating disorders stemming from constantly performing and being judged, or from feeling the need to be thinner as a flyer.
A flyer holds the position of being thrown into the air or held up by the other people on the team. Being thinner as a flyer can feel more like a responsibility if your teammates have to carry and throw you into the air.
A study done by the National Institute of Health in Oct. 2012 found that the risk for cheerleaders to develop eating disorders was 33.1%. The same study found that cheerleaders who were flyers were at even greater risk.
For a sport so timeconsuming, mentally straining, physically dangerous and requiring nearly as much dedication as a full-time job, it’s difficult to argue that cheerleading isn’t a sport.
