When all-male pep clubs chanted catchphrases from the stands during Princeton University football games in the late 19th century, that is when organized cheerleading first appeared.
A competitive sport that incorporates elements of tumbling, dance, jumps, and stunting has grown out of what originally served as a means of promoting school teams and communities. Here are a few of the world's top cheerleading squads.
Cheer Athletics
Cheer Athletics started in Plano, Texas, in 1994 with just two athletes. Since then, they’ve evolved into one of the biggest programs in the country, with thousands of athletes and nearly 90 separate teams. In total, they’ve won 26 USASF World Championships, 61 Worlds medals, and more than 70 NCA National Titles, making them quite possibly the most decorated cheer program in the United States. See photo on Instagram
Navarro College
This community college squad from Corsicana, Texas, was featured on the Netflix series Cheer. The Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team has won 14 junior college National Championships, and five Grand National Championships for the highest score out of all teams, including much bigger universities. See photo on Instagram
Trinity Valley Community College
The other school featured on Netflix’s Cheer was Trinity Valley Community College, located just 65 kilometres (40 miles) away from Navarro in Athens, Texas. Trinity is a cheerleading powerhouse of its own, having recently won their 12th National Championship after losing out to Navarro in 2019. See photo on Instagram
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky cheerleading team has won 24 national championships, far and away the most in Universal Cheerleaders Association history. They won their first title in the UCA’s coed Division IA in 1985, and recently won four times in a row from 2016 to 2019. See photo on Instagram
University of Central Florida
Although the University of Kentucky is the winningest program in U.S. history, the most recent winners of the National Collegiate Cheerleading Championships was the University of Central Florida, who defeated Alabama to pick up their first title since 2007 and third in the program’s history. See photo on Instagram
Concordia University Ann Arbor
The University of Michigan Wolverines football team isn’t the only sports powerhouse in Ann Arbor. The Concordia University Ann Arbor Cardinals won the NAIA Competitive Cheer National Championship in 2019, with a score of 82.12. The NAIA is made up of 250 small colleges and universities in North America. See photo on Instagram
US National Team
Team USA became the Coed Premier Champions by narrowly edging out the Canadians at the 2019 World Cheerleading Championships, held by the International Cheer Union. It was the Americans’ 10th title in 11 World Championships, and fourth in a row at the tournament. See photo on Twitter
Team Japan
In 2018, Japan cleaned up at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Cheerleading Championships, held in Lodz, Poland, beating out 12 other countries for the top spot. Competition took place over two days and included disciplines such as pom, hip-hop, and jazz. See photo on Instagram
FC Cologne
Cheerleading has grown worldwide, developing in European countries such as Finland, Norway, the UK, and Germany. The German first-division soccer team FC Cologne, which competes in the Bundesliga, even has its own cheer team, which began in 1997 with 10 women and now has 60 members. See photo on Instagram
CA Wildcats
Texas cheer team the Wildcats turned heads with their performance on America’s Got Talent in June 2020. Made up of members ranging in age from 13 to 30, their routine has been described as “less like a cheerleading recital and more like an expert dance routine chock-full of flips, lifts and drops.” Although there was no audience due to COVID, the Wildcats received an enthusiastic standing ovation from the judges. See photo on Instagram
Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders
Nicknamed “America’s Sweethearts,” the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are no doubt the most recognizable and popular in the NFL. Dating back to 1960, the cheerleading squad was originally called the “CowBelles & Beaux,” because it was made up of both men and women.
Miami Heat Dancers
The Miami Heat Dancers are the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders of basketball. They’re the self-professed “hardest working, best conditioned, strongest, most passionate, professional, confident, empowered dance team in the NBA.” See photo on Instagram
Florida Tech
The Florida Tech Panthers were named the top cheer squad in the world at the 2020 ICU University World Championships, held at Orlando’s Walt Disney World. They beat out hundreds of teams from around the country to represent the U.S. at the tournament. See photo on Instagram
Weber State University
A pair of cheerleaders from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, went viral for their gravity-defying routine in 2019. Mekenzie Grabau and her stunt partner Kollin Cockrell, a former Olympic weightlifter who converted to cheerleading after a back injury, put on a show in front of a crowd in Daytona Beach, Florida, pulling off flips that don’t even seem humanly possible. As a program, Weber State won a fourth consecutive national title in the NCA Advanced Large Coed division in 2021 and was named Grand National Champion. See photo on Instagram
California Allstars
Founded in 2001, the California Allstars is one of the top competitive cheer programs in the U.S., with four gyms in California, one in Nevada and one in Arizona. In 2019, they were ranked second in the world behind only Cheer Athletics of Texas. They’ve won six UCA Championships since 2014. See photo on Instagram
Cheer Extreme Allstars
With more than 110 teams and 1,000 athletes in 12 locations around the United States, Cheer Extreme Allstars is one of the biggest programs in the country. The senior elite team was featured on a CNN segment in 2011 showing their preparation for the Cheerleading World Championships. See photo on Instagram
Team Finland
You might be surprised to learn that Finland is one of the most dominant cheerleading countries in the world. In 2018, the Scandinavian country won gold in the Premier All Girl division at the World Cheerleading Championships, knocking off the U.S. for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Cheer Sport Great White Sharks
Ontario’s Cheer Sport Great White Sharks started in 2003 with Ali Moffatt and Alana Potter and 35 athletes. Since then, it has grown into one of the most dominant programs in Canada, with four World Championships and five NCA Championships. From 2016 to 2018 they took six teams to the World Championships, with three finishing inside the top 10. The program is the focus of a reality series called Cheer Squad. See photo on Instagram
Texas Tech Cheer
Texas Tech Cheer were the NCA Division 1A Large Coed National Champions in 2017 and 2019. In addition to competitions, the team cheers at football games, women’s home volleyball games, and men’s and women’s home basketball games. They also travel with the football team to all post-season bowl games, and attend Big 12 tournament basketball games. See photo on Instagram
Vaqueros All Star
Vaqueros All Star of Vaqueros Rodeo is Mexico’s top cheerleading squad. They finished sixth overall in the Large Coed division at the 2019 Cheerleading Worlds Finals with a score of 106.05, the best result for a team outside of the USA or Canada. Their impressive routines can be found on YouTube. See photo on Instagram