DALLAS -- Cheerleaders balance atop the social pyramid in many high schools.

The Texas-sized zeal for all things football buoys their popular roles, fulfilling a destiny that for some began with childhood visions of becoming Cowboys cheerleaders.

And where there are teenage girls and big dreams, there is drama.

A number of public squabbles over cheerleading at Texas high schools have recently drawn attention to a sport that many parents and coaches say sparks some of the nastiest, emotional dust-ups in schools.

Sure, parents and kids can get intense about football, the marching band and other activities, but there is something special about cheerleading, they say.

The latest controversy erupted this month in McKinney, Texas, when a coach resigned because she says administrators didn't allow her to discipline the squad. A recent spat in Southlake, Texas, also tore at the seams of the school's community.

"Being a coach, you ask yourself whether you even want to be involved in this," said Ronda Sherrill, longtime cheer coordinator at Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas. "There is a cheerleading issue every day. ... It happens in every district."

Some high school cheerleaders view the activity as a sport, no different from soccer or tennis.

But parents and coaches say the trouble comes when girls look at cheer as the source of social status.

Getting cut from the team or benched for a game suddenly means losing an identity.

"There is still something about saying 'I'm a cheerleader' that means something to a kid in high school," said Lisa Albert, who used to run a cheerleading gym in Fort Worth, Texas. "Sometimes they think that is the key to their popularity."

Some argue that cheerleading is not worse than anything else.

Karen Halterman, senior vice president of marketing for the National Cheerleaders Association, said disputes arise just as often in football and other sports.

"Why can't it be accepted as a wonderful, athletic and engaging behavior that parents choose to keep their kids in to teach them life skills?" she asked.

Many girls start cheerleading classes as young as age 3. Some parents are as wrapped up in cheerleading as their kids -- wearing spirit gear, painting signs and decorating locker rooms.

The subject is so touchy that many parents would not talk about cheerleading on the record, saying it was too risky for their daughters. Some were quick to say they're not like "other cheerleading parents."

"A lot of people think if your daughter makes cheerleader, she's really arrived and parents get very involved," said Linda Edwards, whose daughter is on a squad.

Many parents live vicariously through their children.

"It's the mom's dream," Cindy Littlejohn said of many of her fellow cheerleading moms. "It's not even healthy. They just kind of live through their child. It becomes a huge part of the mom's life."

When a girl is cut from a squad or disciplined, she is often quick to turn to her parents, who storm into the principal's office and threaten to call their lawyers, coaches say.

"The parents get involved, and then it's not real pretty," Sherrill said. "The parents can be really vindictive. It's about who has money and who did private lessons."

The parents' actions may have more to do with the social cachet of cheerleading than the activity itself, said Jennifer Schroeder-Steward, a psychology professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

"The child becomes their identity, and if that is threatened, they react very strongly because it's a direct threat to them," Schroeder-Steward said.

Some of the emotion comes down to money.

Cheerleaders and their parents often dole out more than $1,000 a year for camp, uniforms, megaphones, backpacks, cheer shoes and pompoms. As a result, sitting on the sideline feels like money wasted.

Vanessa Hirt, whose daughter was a captain on her squad last year, said many parents think that investment gives them leverage.

"A lot of the parents feel that they do have a say in what goes on since it costs so much," she said.

Disputes often focus on who runs the squad. Most area high schools hire outside judges for tryouts and draw up strict constitutions to spell out the rules, but that doesn't seem to ward off some issues.

Littlejohn said parents from her daughter's school still confront each other at football games.

"The girls have united at this point, but the moms have not," she said.

Many disagreements never reach a public audience. And some cheerleading squads operate without squabbles. Two coaches from Dallas said they rarely encounter problems, and suggested that teams in the suburbs may suffer more strife because suburban parents tend to spend more time and money on cheerleading.

Wherever it occurs, the problems can have high stakes for kids.

Sarah Edwards, a captain on her squad, said some girls take it casually, but it's emotional for others.

"It is certainly a big deal to be a Highland Park cheerleader," Sarah said. "I can see how people are emotional."