IOC Cheerleading decision positive step for sport, local club
When Lesia Rathje was in elementary school, she was so inspired by the movie Bring It On that she went with a group of friends to her principal to get permission to start a cheerleading team.
So yesterday, when the International Olympic Committee announced it was giving the sport of cheerleading provisional recognition, the North Battleford native’s immediate reaction was very positive.
“It’s a really good step in the right direction,” Rathje said. She now runs Cheer Legacy Athletics in town and is also the coach of John Paul’s cheerleading team, despite having attended NBCHS while growing up.
“It’s something that cheerleaders all over the world kind of battle all the time, is people saying, ‘Well, it’s not a sport, it’s not in the Olympics. It’s not a sport!’ When people think of cheerleading, they usually think pom-poms cheering on the sidelines of a football game,” she said. “That’s definitely not what it is anymore. That’s how it started, absolutely. But that’s not what it is anymore.”