But what happens when a cheerleading team wins a national cheerleading competition?
When the Dynasty University of Otago competitive cheerleading team won the New Zealand university level 1-2 category of the Australasian Majors, in Auckland last weekend, all their celebratory manoeuvres went out the window and emotions took over.
Club president and team member Rebecca Stewart said there was a lot of jumping up and down and screaming, rather than backflips, Herkies or cartwheels.
She said the victory was even more satisfying because it was their first time competing at the event and they beat last year’s champions, UCheer, from the University of Canterbury.
"We were absolutely ecstatic. We really didn’t know how it was going to go until the prizegiving.
"The win has been amazing.
"Everybody has worked really hard to get to this point, and we put out the best performance that we could."
Ms Stewart said their routine was "absolutely incredible", and it was a big win because they were representing the University of Otago on a national scale.
The 16-member team, which included three men, was not just made up of physical education students at the university.
They were from a range of degrees, including accounting, law, dentistry and sciences, and were coached by the Eclipse Cheerleading Gym in Dunedin.
She said the nature of cheerleading was changing.
"Cheerleading in New Zealand, in particular, has really evolved over the past decade or so.
"I don’t think we really have cheerleaders that perform at sports games any more in New Zealand.
"It’s mainly competitive now.
"It is recognised as a sport, and competitions help because there’s a lot of amazing performances that the public can come and see."
The team were now looking to build on their success by winning other cheerleading competitions around the country, in the hope they would one day make it to the top of the country’s cheerleading pyramid.
