昆尼皮亞克大學案 (Quinnipiac University Case)
昆尼皮亞克大學案，是近年來在美國啦啦隊界討論最為廣泛的一個法律訴訟案，其判決牽涉的層面非常廣泛，從啦啦隊的歷史、運動本質、法源、參與權利與性別平等，都有許多深入的討論。這案件的起源是2009年的三月，昆尼皮亞克大學 (Quinnipiac University, 以下簡稱昆大) 為了發展一項新興的運動項目「女子競技啦啦隊」，將昆大原本擁有的女子排球隊、男子高爾夫球隊、與男子田徑隊的補助經費，移至這項新興女子運動項目。而女排隊也因此對學校提出訴訟。
2010年7月，判決出爐，結果並不令人意外，地方法院法官Stefan R. Underhill 認定啦啦隊並非一項「運動」。
（判決書內容點此下載觀看）
基於法源依據，目前「競技啦啦隊 (Competitive Cheerleading) 」仍不被NCAA認定為正式運動競賽項目，同時也不是新興發展運動項目 (emerging sport) 。同時，美國教育部 (Department of Education) 也尚未將啦啦隊認定是一項「運動」項目。而女子排球卻都符合前述的要件，所以在法源依據的前提下，提告的女排隊員們最終贏得了官司，而女子排球也恢復了校代表隊的地位與補助款，昆大需另籌經費來支持這新興的「女子競技啦啦隊」。（關於本案對於啦啦隊定位的討論可以參閱判決書第31頁）
然而除了法源依據外，在訴訟論證的過程有一位舉足輕重的證人，他是原告昆大女排隊安排的證人，他的證詞也呼應目前所有法規對「競技啦啦隊」一致的認定。這個人就是大名鼎鼎，美國知名啦啦隊集團 Varsity Brand 執行長，ICU (Internation cheer union) 主席、同時也是創立 UCA 的主要人物 Jeff Webb。他的證詞協助了昆大女排隊贏得訴訟，但內容卻值得玩味，甚至還可能會對啦啦隊的未來發展產生劇烈的改變！
現在我們來看看他在法庭上說了些什麼？
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To help promote his business, Webb began holding competitions for cheerleaders, the first of which took place in 1980. Soon, those competitions began to be televised, and cheerleading began to be recognized as a form of competition.（判決書頁.31）
為了促進其啦啦隊產品的營運與推廣，Webb開始為啦啦隊員舉辦啦啦隊比賽，第一屆的比賽在1980年代展開，很快的，這比賽開始出現在電視螢光幕上，同時這種型態的比賽方式便開始被認為就是啦啦隊競賽。-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webb testified, however, that he never imagined that his competitions would establish a new sport; rather, he understood his competitions as a publicity vehicle for his startup business.（判決書頁.31）
Webb坦承，無論如何，他從未想過他所舉辦的啦啦隊比賽會發展成一項新的運動，但他意識到他所舉辦的比賽是有助於推展他剛起步事業的一個宣傳手段。-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As was true with the UCA’s competitive events, Webb did not believe that his NCA competitions would eventually establish a sport that would, some day, be recognized by athletics organizations such as the NCAA.（判決書頁.32）
如同UCA的競賽活動，Webb也並不認為他所舉辦的NCA啦啦隊比賽最終會成為一項被NCAA這類運動組織認可的競賽項目。-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instead, he envisioned NCA competitions as a further promotion of his cheerleading supply business.(20) Indeed, testimony at trial revealed that the NCA’s scoring system was intertwined with the promotion of Varsity Brands. During the “spirit” portion of the competition, cheerleading teams are awarded points for using props, such as pom poms, sold by Varsity Brands; the more props a team uses, the more points that team receives.（判決書頁.32）
比UCA更進一步的是，NCA的比賽更進一步的成為他推廣業務的工具之一，事實上，NCA的評分規則中有部分內容與 Varsity Brands 的產品有密不可分的關連。 在評分項目"Spirit"的部分，隊伍使用道具是有納入計分的，如彩球的使用（Varsity Brand 同時提供彩球的商品）；參賽隊伍使用愈多的彩球，其得分也相對的更高。-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webb testified that he was not averse to competitive cheerleading eventually becoming an independent sport. Still, as a sideline cheerleading purist, Webb wants competitive cheer to be distinguished from traditional sideline cheer out of concern that competitive cheer will threaten his competitions – for instance, competitive cheer might annex certain moves and routines from sideline cheer – and lead to confusion about the difference between the two forms of cheerleading.（判決書頁.32-33）
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Webb並承認，他並不反對競技啦啦隊最終變成一項獨立的運動。儘管如此，身為一個「場邊助陣啦啦隊型態支持者」，Webb在基於競技啦啦隊可能會威脅到他舉辦比賽的立場下，他希望競技啦啦隊能與傳統的場邊助陣啦啦隊能區分開來，舉例來說，競技啦啦隊或許會沿用場邊助陣啦啦隊的技術動作，以致於造成大眾對這兩種啦啦隊型態的認知混淆。
Although Webb did not think that he was establishing a sport, his involvement in the creation of the USA Federation for Sport and Cheer (“USA Cheer”), a putative governing body for American sideline cheer, shows that he is open to the possibility of sideline cheerleading being recognized as a sport at some point. See Def. Ex. FN (bylaws of USA Cheer). Webb testified that USA Cheer was designed to give him flexibility to have a hand in sideline cheerleading should it, in the future, become recognized as a sport. Despite his involvement in USA Cheer, his testimony was consistent that he did not believe cheerleading was a competitive sport yet. Furthermore, in his testimony he distinguished competitive cheer, which is more likely to be recognized as a sport, from the traditional sideline cheer he supports through the NCA and UCA competitions and which USA Cheer is intended to regulate.
即使， Webb 不認為他創立了一項「運動」，但他創立了美國運動啦啦隊聯盟 (USA Cheer)，目前眾所皆知的美國傳統場邊助陣啦啦隊的管理單位，某種程度上也顯示出，他開始承認傳統啦啦隊被認可為一項運動的可能性。（參見 USA Cheer的組織章程）。 Webb 在證詞中也指出 USA Cheer 設立的的主要目的是以便將來，當啦啦隊被視為一項運動的時候，作為一個靈活的變通組織。無論 Webb 在 USA Cheer 裡的角色為何，他目前的證詞與他不相信啦啦隊為一項競技運動是相符的。並且，他在證詞中提到，他意圖區隔開的兩種啦啦隊型態，一種是目前被認為更有可能被認為是一項競技運動的「競技啦啦隊」，而另一種則是以往透過 NCA 與 UCA 支持與推展，同時也是 USA Cheer 意圖要掌控的「傳統場邊助陣啦啦隊」。（判決書頁.32, 頁尾註釋.20）-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Webb，你是真心想要推廣這項「運動」嗎？
昆尼皮亞克大學女子技巧與騰翻隊員，2009年訴訟當時，仍稱做競技啦啦隊 (Competitive cheerleading) 現已更名為技巧與騰翻隊 (Acrobatic and Tumbling)。
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