Editing Cheerleading (section)

====High school====
[[File:Mercer Island High School Cheerleaders.jpg|thumb|High school cheeerleaders from [[Mercer Island High School]] in [[Mercer Island, Washington]] in December 2005]]
In high school, there are usually two squads per school: [[varsity team|varsity]] and a [[junior varsity team|junior varsity]].  High school cheerleading contains aspects of school spirit as well as competition. These squads have become part of a year-round cycle. Starting with tryouts in the spring, year-round practice, cheering on teams in the [[Autumn|fall]] and [[winter]], and participating in cheerleading competitions. Most squads practice at least three days a week for about two hours each practice during the summer.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}} Many teams also attend separate tumbling sessions outside of practice. During the school year, cheerleading is usually practiced five- to six-days-a-week. During competition season, it often becomes seven days with practice twice a day sometimes. The school spirit aspect of cheerleading involves cheering, supporting, and "hyping up" the crowd at football games, basketball games, and even at wrestling meets. Along with this, cheerleaders usually perform at pep rallies, and bring school spirit to other students. In May 2009, the [[National Federation of State High School Associations]] released the results of their first true high school participation study. They estimated that the number of high school cheerleaders from public high schools is around 394,700.<ref>[http://www.nfhs.org/web/2009/05/survey_indicates_nearly_400000.aspx NFHS.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608110413/http://www.nfhs.org/web/2009/05/survey_indicates_nearly_400000.aspx |date=June 8, 2009 }}</ref>

There are different cheerleading organizations that put on competitions; some of the major ones include state and regional competitions. Many high schools will often host cheerleading competitions, bringing in IHSA judges. The regional competitions are qualifiers for national competitions, such as the UCA (Universal Cheerleaders Association) in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], [[Florida]], every year.<ref>Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) 2008. 7 December 2008. [http://uca.varsity.com Varsity.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818141533/http://uca.varsity.com/ |date=2010-08-18 }}</ref> Many teams have a professional choreographer that choreographs their routine in order to ensure they are not breaking rules or regulations and to give the squad creative elements.