Cheerleading Information

• Cheerleading Clubs in the Australian Capital Territory – ACT
• Cheerleading Clubs in New South Wales – NSW
• Cheerleading Clubs in Queensland – QLD
• Cheerleading Clubs in South Australia – SA

• Cheerleading Clubs in Tasmania – TAS
• Cheerleading Clubs in Victoria – VIC
• Cheerleading Clubs in Western Australia – WA

Introduction
Cheerleading is an organized activity which involves leading a series of cheers to rally the crowd at sports events. On high levels, cheerleading is itself a sport, with participants performing dances and complex tricks which are extremely physically demanding. Cheerleaders can often be seen on the sidelines at professional sports games, and organized cheerleading also exists in schools, from elementary school all the way through college. Some people are dismissive of cheerleading as a sport, because it may not initially appear to be very strenuous, but cheerleaders at the top level of competition are actually very serious athletes, comparable to top-tier athletes in other sports.

In addition to cheering on athletic teams, cheerleaders also compete against each other in regional competitions. These all-star games feature cheerleading and dance teams who may not necessarily be associated with a particular school or athletic team, and they represent the cream of the cheerleading crop. In the 2000s, the risk of injury among cheerleaders began to be seriously discussed, and several safety commissions formed to set basic policies and oversee the sport, ensuring that athletes are at a minimal risk of injury. One of the biggest concerns that critics of cheerleading have is that it places extreme demand on the bodies of young women. In addition to the physical demands of routines and tricks, cheerleading squads also encourage a very specific body type which can be difficult to achieve.
 

Performer and Gender Types
Professional
Can range from a dance only squad to an acrobatic team, but the primary goal is to support a professional sports team. Professional cheerleaders and dancers cheer for sports such as football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, or hockey. There are only a small handful of professional cheerleading leagues around the world; some professional leagues include the NBA Cheerleading League, the NFL Cheerleading League, the CFL Cheerleading League, the MLS Cheerleading League, the MLB Cheerleading League, and the NHL Ice Dancers. Although professional cheerleading leagues exist in multiple countries, there are no Olympic Teams. In addition to cheering at games and competing, professional cheerleaders also, as teams, can often do a lot of philanthropy and charity work, modeling, motivational speaking, television performances, and advertising.

School and Varsity
Most middle schools, high schools, colleges, and varsities specifically in North America have organized cheerleading squads made up solely of students. Several colleges that compete at cheerleading competitions offer cheerleading scholarships. School-sponsored cheerleading promotes school spirit and motivate the players and fans as well as enjoyment for the participants. A cheerleading team may compete outside of sporting events (local, regional, and national competitions), and cheer for sporting events and encourage audience participation. Cheerleading is quickly becoming year-round, starting with tryouts during the spring of the preceding school year, organized camp as a team, practices, attendance at various events and ending with National competition season, typically from winter through spring.

School cheerleaders also compete with recreational-style routines at many competitions year-round. They practice hard for them and come up with a no greater than 2 minute 30 second routine to show off at the competitions. Like other school-level athletes they compete to win their league title and move on to bigger competitions eventually reaching nationals the ultimate title for a school squad. The advantages to a school squad versus an all-star squad is cheering at various games. For some squads the level of competition on the weekends can equal that of an all-star squad.

The tryout process sometimes takes place over many days. The cheerleading coach usually will arrange for a cheerleading clinic, during which basic materials are taught or reviewed before the final day of tryouts. The clinic gives returning cheerleaders and new cheerleaders an equal chance of becoming familiar with the material. Skills that coaches look for include jumps, tumbling, motions, and dance ability. Tryouts often take place during the spring, so that the coach has the team chosen in time to attend summer camp as a team.

All Star
These are Non-school teams that compete only doing a 2.5 minute team routine to music that includes jumps, dance, tumbling, pyramids and acrobatics. During the early 1980s, cheerleading squads not associated with a school or sports leagues, whose main objective was competition, began to emerge. As the popularity of this type of team grew, more and more of them were formed, attending competitions sponsored by many different organizations and companies, each using its own set of rules, regulations and divisions. This situation became a concern to gym owners because the inconsistencies caused coaches to keep their routines in a constant state of flux, detracting from time that could be better utilized for developing skills and providing personal attention to their athletes. More importantly, because the various companies were constantly vying for a competitive edge, safety standards had become more and more lax.

All-star cheerleaders are placed into divisions, which are grouped based upon age, size of the team, gender of participants, and ability level. The age levels vary from under 4 year of age to 18 years and over. The divisions used are currently Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Junior International, Junior Coed, Senior, Senior Coed, Special Needs, and Open International. It originally began with “all girl” teams and later co-ed teams began to gain popularity.

If a team places high enough at selected sanctioned national competitions, they could be included in the Cheerleading Worlds and compete against teams from all over the world, as well as receive money for placing. Each team receives a bid from another cheerleading company and goes in the name of that company. One must get a bid from a company in order to compete at the Cheerleading Worlds. For example, a team could get a bid from Cheersport, and they compete as a team representing that company. Cheerleading companies give out three types of bids to go to Cheerleading Worlds, Full Paid Bid, Partial Bid, or an Un-paid bid. The Cheerleading Worlds are only for teams that are level 5 and up.

Single-sex or Co-ed
In Single-sex format all members of the squad are of the same sex. And in Co-ed format the squad in mixed gender.
 

Cheerleading Uniform
Cheerleaders wear very characteristic uniforms, including snug tops and short skirts for women, with men wearing more conservative pants. They also tend to wear bright, bold colors in basic patterns.

Cheerleading Top and Bottom
A cheer uniform consists of a sports top and bottoms (pleated skirt or spandex shorts) along with cheer briefs, cheer socks, and cheer shoes.

Cheer Sock
Depending on the style of sock the team is required to wear. Socks that are comfortable, absorbent, and have cooling technologies to keep the feet dry and comfy from game time to finish. Footsies, ankle socks, crews, and stay-put knee-highs complete the look and wrap the feet in comfort.

Cheerleading Shoes
Cheerleaders are on their feet a lot, and it’s important to have comfortable, flexible shoes that can be worn for long periods of time. The best kind of cheer footwear will have good treads, good arch support, be lightweight and breathable, and allow the feet a full range of flexibility.

Caps and Visors
Keeping the sun out of the eyes while cheerleaders are outdoors should give them more to cheer about! Adjustable and lightweight mesh visors do just that, plus wick away moisture, and come in colors to match cheer uniform.
 

Cheerleading Equipment
Cheerleaders may carry colorful equipment in hand to use in their routines and to support their bodies. A cheerleading squad works within a similarity.

Poms
Traditional cheer poms, or pom-poms are colorful tufts of plastic strips with handles used by cheerleaders to jazz up their routines. Poms come in many color combinations and shimmery effects.

Cheer Megaphone
Cheer squads often use megaphones to make their cheers more audible. Electronic and acoustic hand-held megaphones amplify the voice, making it easier to interact with the crowd.

Batons and Flags
Batons and colorful flags are used by cheerleaders to use in routines.

Athletic Wrap and Tape
Even the most experienced and flexible athletes pull tendons and get sore muscles. High quality athletic tape is a staple for protecting the ankles, shins and knees.

Bands and supports
There are times when a gymnast’s ankles, knees, wrists and elbows need extra support. Neoprene compression sleeves, bands and braces provide the extra needed protection for sore limbs and muscles, and assist athletes recovering from injury.
 

Types of Cheer
Acro & Tumbling
This type of cheer involves skill sets of acrobatics, tumbling, pyramids and a 2.5 minute team routine.

Stunt
Stunt removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer; including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling, and a dynamic team performance.

Competitive Cheer
In Competitive Cheer, teams perform skill sets similar to Acro & Tumbling but without music.

Traditional Cheer
The performance of organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to spectators.

Sideline Cheer (With Tumbling)
Traditional Sideline cheerleading team that does not do acrobatics or tumble, may or may not compete with a primary goal of supporting other teams, and being an ambassador for their school or recreational team.

Sideline Cheer (Without Tumbling)Sideline cheerleading team that in addition to jumps, motions and dance, they do acrobatics and tumble; they may or may not compete with a primary goal of supporting other teams and being an ambassador for their school or recreational team.

Cheer Dance
A squad will incorporate a specific dance style (i.e. freestyle, hip-hop, jazz or lyrical), technical work (tumbling, leaps, turns, kicks, splits, jumps) and, depending on the routine, pompon and/or cheers.

Street Cheer
A unique fusion of hip-hop and dance, Street cheer incorporates achievable street style moves with elements such as Locking and Popping, Jump and Freestyle elements, along with Cheerleading Cheers and Chants.

Pom Dance
As cheer dance, except the squad will use pom-poms in all its dance routines.
 

Major Competitions

ICU World Championships
The International Cheer Union currently encompasses 105 National Federations from countries across the globe. Every year the ICU host the World Cheerleading Championship. Countries assemble and send only one team to represent them.

USASF / IASF Worlds
Many United States cheerleading organizations form and register the not-for-profit entity the United States All Star Federation (USASF) and also the International All Star Federation (IASF) to support international club cheerleading and the World Cheerleading Club Championships. This competition is only for All-Star / Club cheer.

Cheerleading World Championships
This championship is organized by the IFC. The IFC is a non-profit organization based in Tokyo, Japan. The CWC is held every two years.
 

Cheerleading in Australia
Cheerleading is one of Australia’s fastest growing sports. AUS Cheer, the Australian governing body for Cheerleading is totally committed to ‘Sharing the spirit across Australia’ in a safe, fun and supportive environment. This organization’s main objectives are to develop a tailored national operating model which supports the growth of cheerleading, and at the same time, contributes to the sustainability of gymnastics, create products, packages and services which make cheerleading attractive and accessible to the community, build an event structure which increases participation and is consistent with the culture of the sport, develop strong, viable school programs and events which are consistent education priorities, and seek representation on key international committees to position Australia internationally. The ‘Nations Cup Event Series’ organized by AUS Cheer features Regional, State, National and International Cheerleading events.