Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition. Cheerleading routines typically range anywhere from one to three minutes, and contain components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting. Cheerleading originated in the United States, where it has become a tradition. It is less prevalent in the rest of the world, except via its association with American sports or organized cheerleading contests.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are the National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team.
National Football League Cheerleading or simply NFL Cheerleading, is a group of professional cheerleading organizations in the United States. 24 of the 32 NFL teams include a cheerleading squad in their franchise. In 1954, the Baltimore Colts became the first NFL team to have cheerleaders. They were part of Baltimore's Marching Colts.
The U.S. All Star Federation (USASF) is one of the four main governing bodies for all star cheerleading and dance in the United States. The USASF was founded in December 2003 by cheerleading competition sponsors National Cheerleaders Association, Universal Cheerleaders Association, Cheersport, and America's Best to develop a standard set of safety rules and competition regulations and conduct the Cheerleading Worlds.
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Spirit Squads comprise the cheerleading organization at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Being the first program ever to form worldwide, the University of Minnesota is consequently considered the "Birthplace of Cheerleading". Today, the Gopher Spirit Squads consist of four separate squads: a cheer squad, a dance team, a hockey cheer squad, and the school's mascot, Goldy Gopher. The squads consistently perform well at national competitions including 21 national championships in dance since 2003, a 2nd-place finish for All-Girl in 2013, a fifth-place finish in 2017, and four-time national champion Goldy Gopher in 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2018. The current head coach is Sam Owens.
World Cup All Stars, founded by Elaine Pascale and Joelle Antico, is home to the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2017, and 2019 USASF Cheerleading Worlds champions in the Large Senior All Girl division, the World Cup Shooting Stars. In the International Junior All Girl division, the World Cup Starlites are the 2007 and 2008 World Champions. World Cup was founded in 1994 in Freehold, New Jersey by owner Elaine Pascale and her daughter Joelle Antico. World Cup is one of the most respected all-star programs in the U.S.
The University of Kentucky cheerleading squad represents the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1905 and its first cheerleaders were yell leaders who were usually male. University of Kentucky's first coed squad began in 1938, consisting of four males and four females. The coed squad became the norm in the late 60s, early 70s. T. Lynn Williamson was the cheerleading advisor from 1978 until his retirement in 2020. Williamson oversaw the program and brought in coaches to help build and advance the cheerleading program. Willimason's role encouraged Dale Baldwin to attend the University of Kentucky, who was a member of the University of Kentucky Cheerleading squad when the team won its first national championship in 1985. The University of Kentucky cheerleading squad has won the Universal Cheerleaders Association National College Cheerleading Championship twenty-four times.
Cheerleading is a sport that is practised all throughout the world, with increasing popularity within the United Kingdom. Cheerleading has over 89,000 athletes within the United Kingdom, with just over 900 teams in England alone, with the newfound success and passion of UK based teams on the international stage helping to change perceptions within the region. Teams from the United Kingdom have gained international recognition, with the Olympic Channel producing a 10 minute short documentary following United Allstars' team Ruby to highlight the increase momentum of competitive cheerleading within the United Kingdom.
Kiara Nowlin is an American gymnast, World Champion power tumbler and an internationally ranked Cheerleader. She was a part of the 2007 World Age Games held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (WAG) Gold Medalist in Tumbling, the 2008 and 2009 USAG Winter Classic First Place Tumbler, and the 2009 USASF Gold Medal Young Athlete Merit Scholarship Recipient. She was at the 2009 World Age Games held in St. Petersburg, Russia, gold medalist in tumbling and gold medalist in double-mini trampoline. Nowlin also competed for the California Allstars in the Small Senior Co-Ed division (Smoed) and competed in the Unlimited Co-Ed division, and has won three U.S. All Star Federation Cheerleading Worlds Gold medals with her team. She was on the acrobatic gymnastics team at Baylor University from 2013 to 2017.
Varsity Spirit, LLC, also known as Varsity, is an American cheerleading company owned by Varsity Brands. Founded in 1974 as the Universal Cheerleaders Association, the company is a manufacturer of apparel for cheerleading and dance teams, organizer of cheerleading competitions, and operator of training camps and sanctioning bodies.
The US National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) was established as a way to bring cheerleaders together to learn new skills. Since 1951, the NCA has held summer camps, and is credited with the invention of the herkie jump, the pom pom, the spirit stick and being the first uniform manufacturer.
Cheer Extreme Allstars is a branch of cheerleading and competition dance gyms found throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Illinois, Florida and Virginia. Cheer Extreme is most well known for its Small Senior and Large Senior teams, which received numerous national titles and have ranked in the Cheerleading Worlds competitions, with Cheer Extreme Senior Elite winning the first-place title in 2010, 2012, 2013, and after a decade of being placed as runner up the team took home a gold metal in 2023. At the 2015 Cheerleading Worlds, Cheer Extreme's Coed Elite won first place. Also at the 2016, 2018, 2019,2021, and 2024 Cheerleading Worlds, Cheer Extreme's SSX won first place. Cheer Extreme has over 850 National Champion titles.
Mary Maddison "Maddie" Gardner is an American news reporter and internationally recognized former Allstar Cheerleader. She was the point (center) flyer for the Senior Large All Girl Level 5 competitive cheerleading team Senior Elite of the Cheer Extreme Allstars from 2006-2012, winning a gold medal at the Cheerleading Worlds in 2010 and 2012.
The Cheerleading Worlds, or Cheerleading World Championships, colloquially known as "Worlds", is an annual international championship event for competitive cheerleading held in the United States hosted by the U.S. All Star Federation in partnership with the International All Star Federation. Teams from around the world annual to receive a bid to go on and compete in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The event is typically held across a three-day span in April or May, featuring preliminary competitions, semi-finals and finals. Only level 5, 6 and 7 cheerleading teams with bids from regional and national competitions are eligible to participate, being offered a "paid" bid covering all expenses up to $25,000, or an "at-large" bid which does not cover any costs. Around 9,000 athletes from around 40 countries compete annually, with routines being judged on difficulty, execution, creativity and overall composition. The top teams from each round advance, with the winners in each of the 22 divisions receiving championship rings.
Judy Tharp Trammell is the current head choreographer of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She is also a former member of the squad. She appears in the CMT reality series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
In Australia, competitive cheerleading is a minor sport, seeing over a 10,000% increase in athlete participation between 2000 and 2022. This growth happened through a 15–20% increase in participation each year between 2006 and 2016.
Cheer is an American sport television docuseries airing on Netflix starting in January 2020. The six-part series follows the nationally ranked forty-member Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team from Corsicana, Texas, under the direction of coach Monica Aldama, as they prepare to compete in the National Cheerleading Championship held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. The episodes focus especially on five individual Cheer Team members and include elements of the history of cheerleading, including the formation of the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA).
Jeremiah Harris is an American convicted sex offender and former cheerleader who received national recognition after appearing in the 2020 Netflix docuseries Cheer. In September and December 2020, he was charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with production of child pornography and other child-related sex crimes: "sexual exploitation of children, receiving child pornography, traveling with the attempt to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, enticement and other charges. On February 10, 2022, Harris pled guilty as charged to two of the seven indictments against him. On July 6, 2022, Harris was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and 8 years of court supervised probation to commence after his release from prison.
La'Darius Marshall is an American cheerleader and television personality. He received national recognition after appearing in the Netflix docuseries Cheer.
