Cheerleading

This article is about American-style cheerleading. For Japanese-style cheerleading, see Ōendan.
"Cheerleader" redirects here. For other uses, see Cheerleader (disambiguation).

College cheerleaders performing a liberty stunt

All-Star cheerleaders performing a prep double

Cheerleading ranges from chanting, to intense physical activity for sports team motivation,
audience entertainment, or competition based upon organized routines. Competitive 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, and remains predominantly in America, with an
estimated 1.5 million participants in all-star cheerleading. The global presentation of cheerleading
was led by the 1997 broadcast of ESPN's International cheerleading competition, and the
worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring It On. Due in part to this recent exposure, there are now
an estimated 100,000 participants scattered around the globe in Australia, Canada, China,
Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan,[1] the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United
Kingdom.[2]

CHEERDANCE, sometimes referred to as cheerleading, is a team physical activity using

organized routines for the purpose of motivating a sports team, entertaining an audience, or
competition.

Cheerdance performances usually take a few minutes and is always done by multiple performers,
with formal cheerdance competitions outlining various requirements such as minimum and
maximum number of performers and a time limit.

Performances usually involve dances, tumbles, jumps, cheers, and stunts. In its original form,
cheerdancing was done to encourage a sports team – often referred to as cheerleading in this
context – by directing the audience to show support, providing the team with motivation and a
psychological edge in the game.

Over the years, cheerdancing has evolved into a contest on its own, with cheerdance competitions
held in conjunction with team-based games, such as basketball or football. Today, cheerdance
competitions are often held independent of any other event, becoming a sport all its own.

Cheerdance in Cebu

Since 2003, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) has encouraged the development
of cheerdance in Cebu through an annual competition usually held in September or October.

Winners of school intramural cheerdance contests would move on to represent that school in the
Cesafi Cheerdance Competition. Through the years, the University of Cebu, the University of
Southern Philippines Foundation, and the University of the Visayas has gained a reputation for
being the top contenders in Cebu cheerdancing.