Passion for Cheers
Cheerleading is normally associated with the US and as a discipline supporting other sports, mainly by chanting and dancing. This was undoubtedly the origin of the sport, which started in 1898 at the University of Minnesota.
Today, Cheerleading evolved into a unique practice; a separate and competitive team sport, where athletes are working together in unison to create something spectacular which is a mix of gymnastic, dancing and acrobatics.
At a typical cheerleading competition, teams perform a 2 and a half minutes routine with music that includes sequences consisting of stunts, tumbling, baskets, jumps, a pyramid and a dance.
Competitive cheerleading may involve teams that are either associated with a school or university, or are “All-Star”, which means the programme is run as a business and may have several teams at different levels/ages.
All Star teams typically consist of 5 to 38 athletes, all girls or mixed genre and they train year-round for competitions. Each team member is vital to the team and the performance and they all have different skill sets. At competitions, the teams are divided by age and ability level.
On July 2021, Cheerleading became an official Olympic Sport.
The new Olympic status means that an Olympic host nation is now able to select Cheerleading for inclusion at its games.
The International Cheer Union Association comprises of 119 members National Federations and includes over 10 million athletes across all 7 continents. Between the 119 countries are some unexpected countries, many with a very active base.
In 2023 I travelled to Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Viet Nam and Greece to document the skills, ability, sweat and passions of the local teams but also to highlight the special bond within each team, so strong that creates a support network comparable to a family.
A joyful and colourful project that intends to challenge prospective and stereotypes often associated with cheerleading and the included countries.