There are many different types of cheerleading, a few of the main ones being school cheer, allstar cheer and recreational cheer. 

School cheer has the main focus of promoting and supporting the school’s athletics/sports teams; they work to keep the team’s fans and the crowd at games fired up. Although school cheer teems do often compete against other teams they put their own competitions secondary to any games of the sports team they support. Traditional school cheering consists of chants, pom routines and dances. 

Allstar cheer is the most demanding and disciplined type of cheerleading. This version of cheer is purely competitive as opposed to school cheer where another team is being supported. Allstar cheer teams perform a routine of 2 minutes and 30 seconds in front of a judging panel. This routine must include cheer, dance, tumbling  (cartwheels, roundoffs and other more advanced skills) and stunts. 

Recreational cheer is a bit like school cheer in that the cheerleaders are associated with a specific community. Some examples of organisations that hold their own cheer teams are churches, and sports leagues. Rec cheer teams also complete against other recreational teams when not cheering for their specific community. 

For those who already know about cheerleading or are already part of a team will know that the competition season is rapidly approaching.

When taking part in a cheerleading competition it is important that the team looks good and well presented to look united. Hair and make up has become an important factor of cheer, team’s often want to look good to boost confidence and perform well. A common feature of cheer make up is glittered features, glitter makes a team look spirited and reminds them of ‘old school’ cheer. Preparing make up for cheer is a task that takes a lot of consideration and preparation. The team will be performing a distance from the judges and constantly on the move, this will make the teams make up difficult to notice unless it is very bold. Finding the right hair style is key for cheerleading, you will need to find a style that is both practical and elegant. A simple ponytail is very commonly used within cheer, along eith other alternatives such as braids, plaits and buns.