Cheerleading may be the only high school sport where athletes are required to smile and scoring sheets look like judging criteria for a beauty pageant.

But don't let the clip-on hair and waterproof mascara fool you. High school cheerleading today is a bona fide sport, complete with lucrative college scholarships, nationally televised competitions and injuries that would make even the strongest linebacker cringe.

Cheer athletes compete and perform year-round, balancing grueling practice schedules with mounting homework and weekly athletic events. They're running hills, hitting the weight room, perfecting routines, honing tumbling and dancing skills — all while serving as ambassadors for their schools.

And it's time, coaches and athletes say, they get their due respect.

That means getting adequate facilities for practices and competitions, funding for coaches and travel expenses, and the recognition that cheerleading — like football, basketball and soccer — is a sport worth cheering about.

"As with anything, people have a hard time changing their ideas about evolving issues," said Jim Lord, executive director of the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors. "Administrators who grew up when many teams were elected by popular vote ... have a hard time realizing that cheerleading is truly athletic and needs to be seen as something that needs the proper support."

The varsity cheerleaders at Mililani High School — the defending large-division state champions — spent the summer conditioning for the upcoming season, lifting weights, running laps and working on fundamentals.

Since the school can't afford a tumbling coach, many of the cheerleaders take gymnastics classes to sharpen their tumbling skills. Others cheer on all-star teams — such as Pacific Cheer Academy and Cheer 808 — that recruit athletes from all over the state to compete nationally.

"Nowadays the kids are asked to be well-rounded. It's not enough for them just to be a good jumper or a good dancer," said Alex Obra, assistant cheer coach at Mililani and president of the Hawaii State Cheer Coaches Association. "They have to have all the cheerleading skills and fundamentals — stunting, tumbling, dancing, motions, jumps — to be able to perform."

MORE ATHLETIC

Leading up to today's HHSAA/Zippy's Cheerleading State Championship, the Trojans have been practicing several times a week in the school's cafeteria.

And if the conference championships are any indication, today's event should showcase some of the best cheerleaders to ever hit the mats in Hawai'i.

"Cheerleading has come a long way in Hawai'i," said Keith Amemiya, executive director of HHSAA, which has hosted a state championship since 2001. "Almost everyone would agree that cheerleaders today are much more athletic and their routines are much more difficult than even a decade ago."

Mililani upset powerhouse Kamehameha Schools in the large division at the last state championships, held in January. The Warriors had won the state title five years in a row. The varsity squad captured the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title last month.

Radford will defend its state title in the medium division. The Rams took first place at the O'ahu Interscholastic Association championships two weeks ago, beating out the senior-laden Menehunes with a 2 1/2-minute routine that scored high marks for degree of difficulty.

"The skill level of the teams seem to be getting better each year," said Bo Frank, cheer coach at Radford. "The difficulty of the stunts and tumbling overall has gotten better ... (Now) to get a higher score, cheer athletes must strive to master more elite skills."

INJURY CONCERNS

And that has often meant more injuries.

Former Kamehameha cheerleader Corrine Chun, who cheers at Oregon State, has torn ligaments in both ankles and suffered a concussion after she collided with a teammate during a routine at a national competition. (Her teammate sustained a torn ACL and dislocated shoulder.)

"That was the worse (accident) that ever happened to me," Chun, 18, said. "It was a freak thing."

An estimated 16,000 cheerleaders sustain serious injuries every year in accidents involving stunts and tumbles. But injuries — even serious ones — occur in every sport, coaches say. The number has grown, though, over the past decade as the sport became more competitive and stunts and tumbling got more difficult.

"The sport has grown in popularity and with more (squads) going to national competitions, there's more pressure to do well," said Kellie Mikami, HHSAA sport co-coordinator and former cheerleader and coach. "But to me, there are always injuries in sports. I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be."

A longtime gymnast, Chun knows how physical the sport can be. And that's part of the appeal.

"I love being active and I think I've always had that competitive blood in me," she said. "Cheerleading is just a really good sport for girls who want to stay active and have fun. It's been a really good experience."

IMPROVED SAFETY

The growing difficulty of the routines — and chance for major injuries — have prompted coaches to focus on the safety of the athletes. For example, cheerleaders now use better mats and wear better shoes. And coaches have more opportunities to get safety education and training.

"When I think back to some of the things we used to do in those days, it was pretty crazy," said Jill LaBoy, co-head cheer coach at Kailua High School who's been around the sport for about 27 years. "We are much safer now."

Not only are athletes safer and stronger, they have more opportunities to pursue cheerleading after high school, coaches say. Some colleges, such as the University of Hawai'i and Hawai'i Pacific University, offer full scholarships or other financial incentives to cheerleaders. From Kamehameha alone, athletes have gone on to cheer at Stanford, Loyola Marymount, Utah and the University of Cincinnati, said co-head coach Dolly Wong.

"We are making slow, but very positive progression forward," Wong said. "We are changing perceptions and the students involved in competitive cheerleading in Hawai'i are proving that they have earned the right to be called athletes."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.