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 Hamburg Blue Angels are a cheerleading squad for the Hamburg Blue Devils American football team in Hamburg, Germany. They were founded along with the team in 1992.
The Universal Cheerleaders Association Division I-A College Championships were first introduced in 1978 on CBS Sports. Top cheerleading teams from colleges across the U.S. and foreign countries perform routines consisting of gymnastics, partner stunts, dance moves, pyramids and high-tosses called basket tosses. The championship is split into large co-ed, small co-ed and all-girl divisions. The University of Kentucky has won the most large co-ed championships with 25 national titles, Hofstra University has won the most small co-ed championships with 10, and Indiana University has won the most all-girl titles with six.
The Koshien Bowl (甲子園ボウル) is the annual Japanese American college football national championship game, usually played in December at Koshien Stadium.
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.
The University of the Philippines Varsity Pep Squad, more popularly known as the UP Pep Squad or simply UP Pep, was formed in 1994. Beginning as a group of 5 UP basketball fans known as the "Hecklers", the squad eventually became the official cheerleading and cheerdance team of the University of the Philippines. The squad performs at the halftime of the basketball games of the UP Fighting Maroons in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and represents the University in the UAAP Cheerdance Competition, where they were the champions for eight non-consecutive years. UP holds the unprecedented most podium finishes at 20 years straight.
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.
The National Cheerleading Championship, commonly known as NCC, is the Philippines’ first and oldest National cheerleading competition. The annual competition, which started in 2006, is modeled after U.S. competitive cheerleading competitions.
The International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC) was formed in 1998 and is a non-profit federation based in Tokyo, Japan.
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.
Sammy Bearkat is the mascot of Sam Houston State University (SHSU), located in Huntsville, Texas. He is a popular attraction at many athletic events such as football, basketball, and volleyball. He also appears for various campus and community functions. Sammy's two-minute routine earned him a national championship of the mascots division at the 2005 United Spirit Association Collegiate National Championship. Sammy was also named the 2010 and 2011 National Cheerleading Association (NCA) Mascot National Champion. In the 2012 nationals season, Sammy competed with the SHSU Co-Ed Cheer Team at the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) collegiate cheer competition. Together they won first place and earned the title of NCA Division I Cheer National Collegiate Champions. In 2013 Sammy also competed with the SHSU Co-Ed Cheer Team who won their second straight national championship title for NCA. Sammy returned to the Band Shell in Daytona Beach to compete alongside the SHSU All-Girl cheer team who won the NCA All-Girl Division I National Championship Title in 2014. In 2015 Sammy was able to wrap his paws around another NCA Division I title as he competed alongside the Co-Ed Cheer Team. In 2016, Sammy competed alongside the SHSU Division I Co-Ed Cheer Team to win another 1st place NCA National Championship. Sammy was also chosen as the 2016 NCA Mascot National Champion after showcasing a great routine in Daytona Beach, Florida. Sammy has now brought home 1st place in various different flavors in 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016, 2017, 2018.
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.
The University of North Carolina has run cheerleading teams since 1914, performing at Tar Heels sports events. They have frequently participated in cheerleading competitions at the national level. Currently there are two teams: JV and Varsity.
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.
Jeff Webb is an American entrepreneur and business executive primarily focused on the development of cheerleading. He is the founder of the Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA) and Varsity Spirit. He is the founder and current president of the International Cheer Union (ICU), the world governing body of the sport of cheerleading, as well as founder and chairman of The New American Populist.
The Japan Curling Championships are the annual Japanese men's and women's curling championships, organized by the Japan Curling Association (JCA). The winners get to represent Japan at the men's and women's World Curling Championships and the next season's Pacific-Asia Curling Championships.
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).
