History of Cheerleading in Switzerland
In 1991, the first few cheerleading teams were established in Switzerland. Only five years later, the first attempt at an unofficial national competition was made at the 1996 American Football Final (Swiss Bowl). Back then, the whole competition fit into the halftime-break of an American football game.
The first official national championship was held in 2002 in Egg, Zurich. But it wasn’t until 2007 that we established our current governing body, then called the “CCVS” (Cheerleading und Cheerdance Verband Schweiz). Ever since, the Swiss national championships have been held every year in alternating cities. The SCA not only awards trophies to the winning teams, but also a shot at international glory; a qualification to the European championships (by ECU).
In 2022, Cheerleading and the SCA is officially recognized as a sport in Switzerland by the Swiss Olympic Association.
Through the years, cheer sport in Switzerland grew from only a few teams (many of them connected to other sports teams) to a total of 25 independent organisations across the country with over 1500 athletes between them. Today, a cheer sport program can be found in almost all major cities.
History of Cheerleading in the World
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It 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, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting.
Cheerleading carries the highest rate of catastrophic injuries to female athletes in sports, with most injuries associated with from stunting, also known as pyramids.
1898: First appearance of cheerleading at the University of Minnesota. Johnny Campbell was looking for a way to motivate the football team that was about to lose the game. He stood up and started to cheer the team on. Campbell founded the “Yell Captains” - a group of 6 men to cheer the team on regularly. The first cheerleading team was born.
1920ies: Over twenty years later the first women joined cheerleading teams because of their physical appeal and athleticism.
1940ies: Another twenty years later women took over cheerleading, because so many men were drafted for World War II. The sport became predominantly female. In 1949 the National Cheerleading Association (NCA) was founded. And a couple of years later, professional NFL Cheerleading was founded.
1960ies: The first cheerleading competitions are held in the United States. And ten years later cheerleading as a sport is found in almost every school in the USA. PeeWee and Junior teams start forming. By 1975 there are about 500’000 active cheerleaders in the USA.
1980ies: Modern cheerleading begins, adding difficult stunt sequences and gymnastics into routines. First teams with no affiliation to schools start showing up (All Star Gyms). Cheerleading finds its way to other countries outside of the USA.
2004: Our umbrella association the International Cheer Union (ICU) was founded. Five years later, the first Swiss team competes at the ICU World Cheerleading Championship. Under the new association CCAS (Cheerleading and Cheerdance Association Switzerland)
2019: In 2021 the ICU has 116 members and represents 7.5 Mio athletes. ICU receives full recognition of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)