Smiles and colorful pom-poms shaking to the sound of battle cries. Popular, beautiful, and skinny girls; always unbearable and dumb; who sexualize themselves and grab attention during the halftime of football games. That’s how American cinema portrays cheerleaders.
Productions like Bring It On, Glee, and High School Musical only reinforce this stereotype, as if cheerleaders could only be a sideline for what really matters (usually a basketball or football game).
Far beyond dances to entertain viewers during breaks, cheerleading involves acrobatics, physical strength, technical rigor, and an enormous amount of team spirit. Especially in Brazil, where the sport is still not widely known, athletes face prejudice and underestimation. It’s common to hear phrases like “That’s not even a sport” or “But you guys just dance.” Teams — whether university-based or all star (independent) — fight to be recognized not only as athletes, but as high-performance athletes.
Sideline vs Competitive Cheer
What many people confuse is the difference between sideline cheer (focused on supporting teams) and competitive cheer.
Sideline cheer is the most seen in movies, with dance routines and pom-poms shaking in the stands, meant to energize the crowd. This form of cheer is completely valid and still demands significant practice and commitment; however, it’s not competitive, functioning more as a choreographed dance.
Competitive cheer, on the other hand, features a routine filled with complex acrobatics that demand intense training schedules, all aimed exclusively at competitions. These routines include tumbling _- incorporating cartwheels, rolls, handstands, and other “gymnastic” elements — as well as stunts, where two side bases and a back spot lift the flyer into the air. There’s also a dance section, focused on sharp, well-timed movements, with absolutely no sensualization permitted.
Both styles demand technique and practice, but with distinct purposes and rules. Some university teams perform both types of cheerleading, while others focus on just one.
The Competitions
In Competitive Cheer, competitions are organized by levels, ranging from 1 to 7, according to difficulty. Higher levels allow riskier moves such as multiple spins and high throws. In addition, there are different divisions: coed (where any gender is allowed), all girl, all boy, university, youth and all star. Each with specific regulation and rigorous scoring systems that reward technique, execution, and creativity.
Each team has about two and a half minutes to perform the routine they’ve prepared so intensely for. In that short time, athletes must combine acrobatic jumps, pyramids (stunts), and floor movements (tumbling) — all in perfect sync and under the judge’s watchful eyes.
By now it’s clear that cheerleading is not just a bunch of pretty girls doing little dances. It’s a sport that demands immense responsibility; both for oneself and, especially, for others, because it is an extremely collective discipline. If one falls, everyone falls and if one is missing, the entire team is affected.
Training Preparation
With an intense training schedule, the routine of a cheerleading athlete is comparable to that of Olympic-level athletes.
Behind the precisely synchronized choreography and flawless smiles lies intense physical preparation. Training includes strength work, agility, and flexibility, along with endurance to perform several full-outs (a full-out is when the coach runs the entire routine from start to finish). Beyond physical endurance, emotional resilience and discipline are equally essential. The difficulty of the workouts, combined with strict scoring systems in competitions, often makes these athletes perfectionists, dealing with high levels of pressure — from themselves, teammates, and coaches — and heavy expectations, especially in competitive teams.
Small timing or positioning mistakes can compromise the entire routine, which is why mental training is also crucial: focus, muscle memory, and trust are just as important as strength.
There’s No “I” in Team
The responsibilities within a routine are divided among athletes with different roles: Base, Back Spot, Flyer,Front, and Spotter.
- Bases (subdivided into main base and side base) are responsible for supporting and lifting the flyer, holding her feet firmly.
- Back Spot provide support from behind the flyer, helping the bases push her upward. These athletes ensure the stunt’s safety and stability.
- Flyers are lifted into the air and must maintain balance throughout the routine — always with their cheerface ready for the cameras!
- Front, when active, provide frontal support, aligning the flyer’s height and aiding in upward momentum.
- Spotters must stay alert for any falls or loss of balance, acting as “guards” to ensure the flyer’s safety.
Closure
At the end of the performance, the lights go out. In just three minutes, it’s over — a routine that, although it may look light and fun to those watching, is the result of months of training, fine-tuning, perseverance, and the athletes’ discipline, comparable to any elite sport.
The future of cheerleading: growing recognition as an official sport (and in some countries, already on the path to becoming Olympic); expansion of teams in Brazil and around the world; a new generation redefining what it means to be a cheerleader; and the question of aesthetic pressures.
Cheerleading is a blend of strength, synchronicity, endurance, and, above all, unity. It’s a sport that builds bonds — a family that extends far beyond the mat.
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The article above was edited by Rafaela Navarro
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