Pittsburgh (usa), 1961. Professional American football team Steelers from the city selected eight girls studying at the Robert Morris Institute to form the first team of cheerleaders or franchisee animators from the NFL. The Steelers had hardly any followers, nor stadiums, nor were they accompanied by poor sporting results, so they decided to start the Steelerette. The team of animators disappeared in 1969, apparently without meeting its goal; the Pittsburgh football team would begin to emerge in the 1970s, when it stopped receiving Steelerette's encouragement. But with the help of the octet, this curious activity took the leap into professionalism.

Before that, cheerleaders had already come a long way in U.S. universities. In the late 19th century, a student at Princeton, Thomas Peebles, came up with organizing activities to encourage college sports teams and motivate the public. But the first one to materialize the idea was Johnny Campbell, from the University of Minnesota. In 1898 the Minnesota football team faced the Nothwestern and Campbell sang in public the motto he had prepared: "Ah, Rah, Rah! Ski-U-Mah! Ah! Ah! Varsity! Varsity! Minn-e-so-tah!” The literary level of slogans has not evolved much throughout the century, but other elements have changed a lot.

At first, only men were involved in animator groups. But in 1923, they also gave permission to women. As they were unable to participate in the other sports activities, they began to hit the Pontiffs and by 1940 most cheerleaders were women.

In 1948 the NCA, the Cheerleader National Association of the EE.UU was founded, and 30 years later the first cheerleader championship was organized. Since then, independent cheerleader groups began to form, without connection with other sports teams, the gymnastics activities became more and more complex and have begun to hear the first voices calling for them to be encouraged as an Olympic sport.