NEW YORK — Is competitive cheerleading a sport?

At first blush, it wouldn’t seem to qualify, though, to be sure, it involves physical skills, training and coaches, and there are regular cheerleading competitions around the country.

In any case, whether cheerleading is a sport wouldn’t seem a question of earthshaking importance.

But here in the United States of litigation, there’s a serious case under way on the matter, involving a Connecticut university, a federal district court, two lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union and the contradictory opinions of various experts — with laws governing gender equality in collegiate athletics at issue.

What happened is this: Quinnipiac University, an institution in Hamden, Connecticut, with nearly 8,000 students in 52 undergraduate and 20 graduate academic programs, announced that it was dropping its women’s volleyball team and substituting competitive cheerleading instead.

Local news reports explained that cheerleading involved more participants and cost less, so the move was basically an effort to use money more efficiently. The university also made cuts in men’s sports, like golf and outdoor track (there is no men’s volleyball team).