WESTFIELD, N.J., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- High school cheerleading is now considered a sport like football in a New Jersey school district, so cheerleaders may now opt out of gym class.
"We're not ditzy little girls," 15-year-old Westfield High School cheerleader Brandi Alvarez tells The (Newark) Star-Ledger.
The Westfield board of education recently approved the cheerleaders' petition for their activities to be considered a sport, freeing them from having to play dodgeball in gym.
The next step is statewide recognition, the Westfield cheerleaders say.
That is because the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body for high school sports, does not consider cheerleading a varsity sport.
Unlike "the cheerleaders of yesteryear," modern-day cheerleaders "are competitive, well-trained individuals," said Patty Ann Romero, founder and director of the Central Jersey All-Stars, a competitive cheerleading academy in Cranford.
