Cheerleading in high school creates memories that will last a lifetime. Once team members reach the teen years, cheers become a bit more involved. The demands of creating original cheers and presenting new routines in front the fans can increase. Unique cheers can keep the team engaged and the fans interested.
Sports Specific Cheers
Sports are a big part of high school cheerleading. Some schools have different squads for specific sports and other schools require cheerleaders to cheer across several different sport seasons. Whether you are on an all sports squad or cheer for only basketball or football, you will find cheers for your squad below.
- Basketball Cheers - These cheers are meant to get the crowd pepped up and chanting along with the squad. There are cheers for when the team is playing offense or defense. You'll also find some general cheers that are suitable at any time during the game. "Rocks the House" is a good one to use when a timeout is going on and you need a quick cheer to present to the crowd for distraction. You'll also find cheers that get the crowd involved.
- Football Cheers - When your team is out on the field playing defense, you'll want to use cheers that encourage them to keep on pushing, such as "Push Push." Pay attention to the game, because when the team moves to offense, it is time to switch to a cheer like "Touchdowns Are Fun." You'll also find unique cheers to use when your team scores a touchdown, to show school spirit or to use during halftime.
- Soccer Cheers - Soccer may not be a sport that is typically associated with cheerleaders, but as interest in this sport has increased more schools are cheering their soccer teams on to victory. Whether your squad is there in an official capacity to represent the school or you just want to attend a game and help cheer on the players, these cheers will help. Since soccer is such a fast-paced game, the cheers are short and to the point. Cheers focus on elements that are unique to soccer such as the chant called "Soccer Shirts" which talks about not playing with baby dolls but instead kicking soccer balls.
- Baseball Cheers - For years the crowds have chanted things like "Hey, batter batter." Some schools have spirit squads called Bat Maids or something similar. These cheerleaders will help out by serving the team water and cheering them on. Whether you are an official school spirit representative for your baseball team or you are a parent or fellow classmate, these baseball cheers will give you the words to shout them on to victory. There are cheers for the pitcher, the person up to bat and the umpire. When it comes to baseball and softball, many of the cheers and chants are interchangeable with one another, which gives you even more to choose from.
Pep Rallies
The whole school is gathered for the pep rally. The students wait to see if you'll excite them into a frenzy and the team wonders if the school will support them, even if they lost the last five games. The pep rally is the cheerleader's chance to show off skills she may not have time to perform at a regular game. Of course, you want to present unique, catchy cheers that encourage fans to join in.
- Pep Rally Cheers - These cheers have been created specifically for a pep rally. Although they are unique, you may want to adjust them a bit to fit your school's mascot, school colors or other specific elements associated with your sports teams. You'll find cheers focused on increasing school spirit. Pep rally cheers can also focus on a specific event such as homecoming or championship games.
- Long Hello Cheers - A pep rally is a great time to introduce your squad to the rest of the school. Hello cheers offer a cheerleading squad the opportunity to share the name of each cheerleader. These longer cheers also feature a bit of information about each member of the squad. These samples will get you started, but you'll need to come up with slogans for each girl (or guy) on your own. "Step Forward, Step Back" is a great hello cheer when introducing a squad with a lot of new members because each cheerleader steps forward as she is introduced.
Unique Cheers For Unusual Situations
Sometimes you need a cheer that doesn't fit into any preplanned event or specific moment in the game. These cheers are handy to use as fillers during those times when you aren't quite sure what else to use.
- Class Cheers - During spirit week, each class may be required to come up with a cheer to represent the students in that grade. The cheerleaders often help groups of students put together these class cheers. For ideas, look at examples like the "Freshman Dazzle" or "Junior Jam."
- Competitions Cheers and Chants - If you've seen the movie Bring It On you probably noticed that the opposing team's squad chanted a funny cheer to Rancho Carne High's cheerleaders and the girls had a quick response ready to shoot back at them. While it might be best not to engage in this sort of back-and-forth for fear of being accused of poor sportsmanship, if your school has a big rivalry with another school and the two teams have practiced this tradition for years, you may want to have something prepared. These cheers will help you shoot back a competitive cheer without going too far. For example, "Ahh, Watch Out!" offers a cute take on telling another team to be afraid without being outright insulting.
- Legless Cheers - If your squad has one or more special needs cheerleaders who are unable to stand on their own, then legless cheers will help you get every squad member involved. The sample cheer called "We Are the Suns!" will show you how everyone on the squad can be incorporated into the routine.
Writing Your Own Cheers
These cheers will give you some unique examples that you can take right to your game or pep rally. However, it is also a good idea to learn to write your own cheers. The best cheers come from experiences that are unique to your school or sports team. If your football team won State for the last three years, then write a cheer about three-time winners or three times being the charm. By pulling on experiences the whole school is familiar with, you are certain to write winning cheers that everyone will love.
