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• The cheerleaders for basketball, both professional and collegiate, are considered some of the best in their field
• Cheerleading squads use a combination of basketball cheerleading chants, tumbling and dancing to effectively motivate the crowd

Cheerleading has grown in popularity since the 1960’s and is now a common sight at collegiate and professional basketball games across the country. To be the best basketball cheerleading team requires a dedicated squad willing to sacrifice countless hours perfecting their routines. An enthusiastic cheerleading team can be invaluable in getting that all important “sixth man”, the crowd, into the game.

Cheerleading begins as early as middle school in some areas but is a staple in high schools across the nation. Most high school squads primarily use basketball cheerleading chants to motivate the crowd and encourage the home team. Since the teams are predominantly made up of girls, difficult stunts like rewinds and twisting and flipping basket tosses are tough to pull off. However, some high school teams incorporate variations of the pyramid and some minor basket tosses. They can also use dance routines and tumbling in their cheer routines. Most routines average about 2 to 2½ minutes. In addition to cheering on the basketball team, the cheerleading squad can help promote school spirit among students and the community.

Collegiate cheerleading squads are capable of performing advanced maneuvers like 2½ level pyramids and complicated basket tosses to motivate the crowd. They also incorporate complicated dance and tumbling routines during stoppages in play. These coed squads are truly dedicated and practice as often as the basketball teams they cheer for. Some of the best squads in the nation belong to the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and the University of Central Florida. The NCAA holds a yearly competition among the best squads in the country to determine their “national champion”. As a testament to how much the sport has grown the competition has been televised on ESPN2 for the last few years.

The NBA Professional Cheerleading League is the official organization for NBA cheerleaders and provides guidelines for how each team fields a squad. Just about every team has a cheerleading squad that performs during TV timeouts and breaks in the play. Unlike in college basketball, to be the best basketball cheerleading team in this league, your routine has to focus heavily on the dance element. Several teams have high profile squads such as the New York Knicks and Miami Heat but the most popular of all basketball cheerleading squads belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, they’re popularity has grown such over the last few decades that they regularly make promotional visits during the offseason.

The best basketball cheerleading teams put in tremendous amounts of practice time to be the best at what they do. To be the best, these squads incorporate many difficult elements including tumbling, dance, and of course, the cheer itself. By working hard and perfecting these techniques, the best squads add a dimension that truly brings a basketball team a home court advantage.