Interesting court ruling out of Connecticut today, as a federal judge ruled the competitive cheerleading does not count as a sport for Title IX purposes.  This is the result of a lawsuit brought upon by the Quinnipiac volleyball team, which was scheduled to be eliminated while comeptitive cheer was retained.  The ruling required Quinnipiac to keep the volleyball team.  It will be interesting to see if the school appeals.

The ruling for the Connecticut district court is not binding in Oregon.  However, it does provide some precedent if someone were to wish to launch a lawsuit against the University on this issue.  Should Quinnipiac appeal and lose at the appealate level, it could be the end of competitive cheer as a Division 1 sport.

I was critical of the decision to add competitive cheer at the time, and still myself question its legitimacy as a Division 1 varsity program, so this ruling really comes as no shock (and is supported by the fact that only four schools, Oregon, Baylor, Maryland, and Quinnipiac have Division 1 programs).

This means nothing in the short term.  However, if this continues its way through the courts, it will be interesting to see what could happen.  The University implemented this sport to limit costs and avoid having to build a new facility.  Rowing, which would require a small facility at Dexter Lake, or gymnastics, which could be held in the new arena and would only require equipment purchase, could be the fallbacks if drastic measure must be taken, which, I emphasize, we are extremely far away from at this point.

Something to keep an eye out on.  Don't cry, Tako.