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Organised cheerleading started as an all-male activity.This cheer was yelled from the stands by students attending games, as well as by the athletes themselves. The cheer, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Tiger! S-s-s-t! Boom! A-h-h-h!" remains in use with slight modifications today, where it is now referred to as the "Locomotive".
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First official cheer was performed at the university of Minnesota by Johnny Campbell, a med student who picked up a megaphone and yelled. "Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!", making Campbell the very first cheerleader.
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November 2, 1898 is the official birth date of organised cheerleading. Soon after, the University of Minnesota organised a "yell leader" squad of six male students, who still use Campbell's original cheer today.
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In the 1920s women joined cheer teams. In 1923, at the University of Minnesota, women were permitted to participate in cheerleading. However, it took time for other schools to follow. In the late 1920s, many school manuals and newspapers that were published still referred to cheerleaders as "chap," "fellow," and "man".
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Women cheerleaders were overlooked until the 1940s when collegiate men were drafted for World War II, creating the opportunity for more women to make their way onto sporting event sidelines.
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In 1948, Lawrence "Herkie" Herkimer, of Dallas, Texas, a former cheerleader at Southern Methodist University, formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) in order to hold clinics for cheerleading. In 1949, The NCA held its first clinic in Huntsville, Texas, with 52 girls in attendance
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In the 1950s, the formation of professional cheerleading started. The first recorded cheer squad in National Football League (NFL) history was for the Baltimore Colts. Professional cheerleaders put a new perspective on American cheerleading. Women were selected for two reasons: visual sex appeal, and the ability to dance.
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By the 1960s, college cheerleaders began hosting workshops across the nation, teaching fundamental cheer skills to high-school-age girls.
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In 1965, Fred Gastoff invented the vinyl pom-pom, which was introduced into competitions by the International Cheerleading Foundation
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In 1978, America was introduced to competitive cheerleading by the first broadcast of Collegiate Cheerleading Championships on CBS.
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The 1980 saw the beginning of modern cheerleading, adding difficult stunt sequences and gymnastics into routines. All-star teams, or those not affiliated with a school, popped up, and eventually led to the creation of the United States All-Star Federation (USASF).
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in 1987, started applying universal safety standards to decrease the number of injuries and prevent dangerous stunts, pyramids, and tumbling passes from being included in the cheerleading routines
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By 1997 cheerleading was recognised as an independent sport, attracting national attention.
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It wasn't until 1999 that the sport of cheerleading was met with official approval.
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In 2003, the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE) was formed to offer safety training for youth, school, all-star, and college coaches. The NCAA now requires college cheer coaches to successfully complete a nationally recognized safety-training program.
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The United States All Star Federation (USASF) was formed in 2003 by the competition companies to act as the national governing body for all star cheerleading and to create a standard set of rules and judging criteria to be followed by all competitions sanctioned by the Federation.
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Eager to grow the sport and create more opportunities for high-level teams, The USASF hosted the first Cheerleading Worlds on April 24, 2004. At the same time, cheerleading coaches from all over the country organised themselves for the same rule making purpose, calling themselves the National All Star Cheerleading Coaches Congress
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As of 2020, all-star cheerleading, as sanctioned by the USASF, involves a squad of 5–36 females and males. 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 groups vary from under 4 years of age to 18 years and over. The squad prepares year-round for many different competition appearances, but they actually perform only for up to 2½ minutes during their team's routine.
