A cheerleader is an athlete (mostly female) that participates in the activity of cheerleading, in which the participants cheer for a team as a form of encouragement, whether in high schools, colleges, and/or professional sport teams. Cheerleading can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity and can be performed to motivate sports teams, to entertain the audience, or for competition. Cheerleading routines typically range anywhere from one to three minutes, and contain components of tumbling, dancing, jumps, cheers, and stunting.
Originally an all-male activity in the United States, and remains predominantly in America, with an estimated 3.85 million participants by 2017. The global presentation of cheerleading was led by the 1997 broadcast of ESPN's International cheerleading competition, and the worldwide release of the 2000 sports comedy-drama film Bring It On.
The International Cheer Union (ICU) now claims 116 member nations with an estimated 7.5 million participants worldwide. The sport has gained a lot of traction internationally in Australia, Canada, Mexico, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with popularity continuing to grow as sport leaders pursue Olympic status.
