On October 7 2015, cheerleading was officially announced to be a fully sanctioned sport in the state of California.

   According to the Official USA Today High School Sports website, “As announced by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) itself, as well as other media outlets, California Governor Jerry Brown signed State Assembly Bill 949 into law, making cheerleading an officially sanctioned sport beginning with the 2017-18 academic year” (usatodayhss.com).

    “I’m excited about it [cheer being sanctioned as a sport], because I have  also done competitive cheer, and people were  very ignorant about it, but I’m happy now that it’s considered a real sport,” said Junior Sofia Rose.

   “All of this time, people would say ‘oh, it’s not a sport, because technically it’s not classified as a sport,’ but it absolutely was, and now it officially is. So now, no one can tell us it isn’t,” said Sophomore Morgan Johnson. “In my opinion, the fact that we’re throwing people in the air or you’re being thrown in the air makes it a sport,” Johnson continued.

   “I’m actually really excited, because it is a sport. You have to put a lot of hard work into cheer, and it’s good to know that we’re being recognized,” said Senior Natalie Harding. “It hasn’t really changed anything for this year, but it’s exciting for future years,” said Senior Caitlin Sanders.

   “I think it’s cool to get the recognition, because we practice in the summer just like football does,” said Senior Ally Blumenfeld.

   “I think that it should be recognized as a sport because we put a lot of hard work and dedication into our practices, and a lot of people don’t see that,” said Sophomore Ashley Wilcox.