FISU World University Cheerleading kicks off

FISU World University Cheerleading Championship started off in Lodz, Poland on October 5. The World University Championships (FISU) is renowned internationally, but this is their first Cheerleading Championship. There are a total of 10 countries participating and Mongolia is competing in the pop and hip hop genre. From Mongolia, E.Urangoo, A.Oyungerel, S.Margad, and T.Michidmaa are competing with N.Javkhlan working as the coach representing Mongolia.

The first FISU cheerleading event was showcased at the 2013 Kazan Summer Universiade. It was only months earlier that the International Cheer Union, the governing body of cheerleading, joined the International Olympic sports fraternity as a recognized member and since then, cheerleading was officially declared a sport.

Cheerleading competitions are often held in two categories: cheer and cheer dance. Cheer includes acrobatic elements into routines that are accompanied by chants and yells. Cheer Dance is a sport dance with gymnastics, where grace, synchronicity and plasticity of movement meet. It’s in cheer dance that the use of pompoms is also mandatory.

FISU believes that by adding cheerleading to the World University Championship calendar, they are helping the sport go beyond the sidelines of other sports games. The modern-day sport of cheerleading is to no longer be about the crowd-leading element, but rather focus on the technical and athletic components of cheer. The championship will consist of everything from the partner stunts and pyramids to the basket tosses and is aiming for new standards of athleticism and technical precision within the sport.