Cheerleading is an athletic activity where teams perform organized routines combining cheers, chants, jumps, stunts, and tumbling to encourage spectators to support a sports team or to compete against other cheerleading squads. Cheerleaders might spell out their school's name with precise arm movements, build human pyramids, or perform synchronized flips and tosses while leading crowd chants at football or basketball games.

The sport has evolved dramatically since it began in the 1880s at American universities. What started as groups leading simple crowd chants has become a demanding athletic pursuit requiring strength, flexibility, timing, and courage. Modern competitive cheerleading involves intricate routines where team members launch each other into the air, execute complex tumbling passes, and perform precisely choreographed dances, all within a strict time limit.

Today, cheerleading exists in two main forms: sideline cheerleading, where squads support other sports teams and energize crowds, and competitive cheerleading, where teams compete against each other in tournaments, performing elaborate routines judged on difficulty, execution, and showmanship. Many competitive cheerleaders train year-round, much like gymnasts or dancers, developing skills that require serious dedication and athleticism.