Our Organisation

SportCheer England (SCE) is the National Governing Body for Cheerleading in England. SCE is officially recognised as the English Federation by the International Cheer Union (ICU), the Worldwide Governing Body as recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

We support athletes, coaches, programme leaders/owners and event providers. We're proud to promote our sport to the wider community to encourage and develop the growth of cheerleading for this generation and the next.

The sport of Cheerleading

Cheerleading is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, with over 89,000 athletes participating at recreational, competitive and elite level.
Cheerleading comprises both Performance Cheer (Traditional Pom and dance styles) and The Sport of Cheerleading: The Sport of Cheerleading is a high energy, team-based performance sport that is athletic, artistic and acrobatic. Depending on the division, athletes may be required to showcase a variety of skills including tumbling, partner stunts, pyramids, tosses, jumps and dance. The sport requires a great deal of teamwork and routines require synchronization and team uniformity. In its modern form, the Sport of Cheerleading is more akin to group acrobatics than the traditional side-line cheerleaders one might recognise from movies.

IOC Recognition
In July 2021 it was confirmed that the International Cheer Union became an International Olympic Committee member, and Cheerleading became an Olympic member sport, eligible for inclusion in future games.

Our Mission

Aims and Objectives

Domestic
• Regulation of coach education, credentialing and standards.
• Regulation of Safeguarding in the sport.
• Regulation of Competition Event Producers with regards to athlete health and safety.
• Supporting access to funding streams and support for grassroots clubs.
• Communication and representation on behalf of the sport with government and other bodies/organisations.
• Development and growth of the sport in England.

International
• Continued participation and success of Team England at the ICU World Cheerleading Championships.
• National talent ID pathways for athletes, coaches, and officials to compete at the international level (World Championships, Olympics, and Paralympics).
• In collaboration with the UK’s other National Governing Bodies (NGBs), to develop TeamGB representation at future Olympic Games.

Cheerleading in England: a brief history

The Sport of Cheerleading has been happening in the UK for 30 years. From humble beginnings in school halls, many UK teams now run bespoke gym facilities as businesses with full-time coaching staff.
An estimated 60 competitions per year are run by private event producers, with nationals held at large arenas such as the O2 and NEC.
England are one of the most successful countries at the ICU World Cheerleading Championships, taking Gold in various divisions since 2017.
England are also pioneers in the inclusion of disabled athletes in the sport, helping launch the ICU World Cheerleading Championship’s Para divisions in 2016, by showcasing the world’s first ParaCheer team, and going on to place highly in the division ever since.

Board & Officials

SportCheer England is registered with Companies House (Companies House No: 1056 1479) It is currently registered as ‘not trading’ and has submitted its last 2 years of accounts as dormant.

SportCheer England’s board has spent the last 2 years in a voluntary, unremunerated capacity with no budget, preparing policy and corporate framework ready to apply to Sport England and launch membership in 2022. It is envisaged that the board and its associates will continue to work in a voluntary unremunerated capacity at least until athlete membership is successfully implemented, at which point it is hoped a budget will allow for some executive and operational positions to become salaried.

The governance structure of SportCheer England has been created with reference to the Sport England Tier 1 requirements, the Code for Sport Governance and in consultation with The Value Circle consultancy.

This organagram shows the organisational structure of SportCheer England. The structure and positions within the organisation will be reviewed annually to ensure all positions held, sub-committees and steering groups remain serving the purposes for which they were developed.

Meet the board