“Cheerleading is more than just entertainment — it is a demanding sport”
As athletes in a female-dominated sport, cheerleaders have long had to fight for recognition. At Concordia, it’s no different.
Concordia is one of the only universities in Montreal without a competitive cheerleading team. Head cheer coach Monica Knaapen and assistant coach Fatouma Guindo are trying to change that.
“[Our] goal is to demonstrate that cheerleading is more than just entertainment — it is a demanding sport,” said Guindo.
Currently, the team operates as a club under the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and is not licensed as a Stingers team. Without official recognition as a varsity team, Concordia cheerleaders cannot compete in their own sport.
“Concordia is just a little late to the game when it comes to cheer,” said Knaapen. “We are in the works of it with athletics because athletics is very, very supportive of us.”
According to Knaapen, the team’s status is primarily a financial issue within Concordia’s athletics department. “Our uniforms are really expensive. The training, the gym…” said Knaapen. “We have to work with what we have because it’s expensive.”
Steph Medalsy first became interested in collegiate cheerleading as a way to find community at Concordia. Now, as a team member and advisor who assists her coaches, she expressed feeling let down by the lack of competitive opportunities.
“I would absolutely be interested [in competing], given the opportunity,” said Medalsy. “It’s disappointing but we are not giving up. We continue to make strides everyday to get there.”
While continuing to fight for varsity status, the team is staying competition-ready with four to nine hours of weekly training. This training ranges from choreography, to conditioning, to learning and mastering elaborate stunts. Knaapen said she often feels that there’s an impression her team does not work as hard as the men they share the field with.
“We do, we train, we train just as hard,” said Knaapen. A feeling echoed by team members.
As head coach, Knaapen said she feels a responsibility to instill a sense of pride among her athletes.
“I want the members on the team to feel like they are athletes because they are,” said Knaapen. “If we want people to take us seriously, we need to take ourselves seriously.”
Concordia’s cheerleaders have been able to connect with other athletes through Swarm, a student organization that promotes Stingers athletics. Knappen said that this has opened them up to tremendous support from Concordia’s female athletes.
“Concordia women’s sports are killing it,” said Knaapen. “I like that within [women’s sports at Concordia] everyone supports each other because I feel like there’s this understanding amongst all women that you’re already getting the short end of the stick for no reason. You want to make a point of uplifting one another.”
She believes that female athletes are rarely recognized for their accomplishments until after they have proved themselves, saying: “No one is going to stand right away and clap for you.” To that point, Knappen has made an effort to organize performances for women’s sports events as well as men’s.
Team member and advisor, Kaya Marciano said that performing at women’s events has allowed her to experience her sport in a totally new atmosphere.
“Cheering for all-male teams feels almost patriarchal,” she said, “with the men in the spotlight at the center of the field, and the women on the sidelines cheering them on. It’s almost symbolic.”
Beyond building solidarity, performing at women’s sporting events helps frame female athletes as people worth celebrating.
“We must be there to support one another,” said Medalsy. “As cheerleaders, we are representatives of Concordia. We need to set the example that it is important to support all our athletes equally.”
