[Sports Day Cheer Songs] A roundup of classic cheer songs and recommended tracks for parody versions
Cheer songs and background music are essential for sports days and athletic festivals! Classic staples that make you want to start running the moment you hear them are a given, but it’s also long been common to rewrite the lyrics of popular J-pop songs and sing them as parodies.
In this article, we’ll introduce plenty of Japanese songs that are perfect for cheering at school sports events! Of course, we’ve also picked out songs that will hype up the crowd even if you sing them as-is.
Be sure to read through to the end!
- Top Songs to Hype Up Sports Day and Athletic Festivals [2026]
- Cheer songs to hype up the sports day! A collection of motivational tracks recommended for kids
- Recommended cheer songs for elementary school students: popular tracks to listen to when you want a boost
- Songs that hype up Sports Day and Athletic Festivals: Japanese Music / J-Pop Artist Rankings [2026]
- Carefully selected J-pop to liven up sports days and athletic festivals! Also great as entrance songs.
- Get hyped! A collection of Vocaloid songs to energize your sports day and athletic festival
- [Dance Songs] Recommended for school sports days and athletic festivals! A curated selection of popular tracks that are fun to dance to
- Sports Day/Athletics Festival: Crowd-Pleasing Cheer Battle Ideas and Performances
- [Youth Songs] Songs that liven up sports days and athletic festivals. Music that adds color to the event.
- Recommended cheer-up songs for middle schoolers: Classic Japanese hits that will empower student life
- [To All Athletes] Inspirational Sports Anthems & Empowering Theme Songs
- Before a match or when you feel like giving up! Cheer songs to keep you going in club activities
- Let's send our teammates a powerful cheer! A roundup of cheer calls for sports day.
[Sports Day Cheers] A roundup of classic cheer songs and recommended tracks for parody versions (41–50)
Limit-Break x SurvivorHikawa Kiyoshi
Released in 2017 as the theme song for the TV anime Dragon Ball Super.
It’s sung by enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa.
This is a powerful, fast-paced rock-style track that’s perfect as BGM for a school sports festival.
The song also drew major attention for its visual-kei-inspired makeup and intense live performances.
strong wind slicked-back hairyukopi
Yukopi, a Vocaloid producer, released a song in 2023 called “Gale-Force Slicked-Back Hair.” It depicts the situation of going out on a windy day and having your hair blown back into a slicked-back style.
Its addictive hook led to many people imitating it by singing and dancing.
How about playing this as a cheer song at your sports day? It could also be fun to turn it into a parody tailored to the event.
For example, you could match classic events like the relay to the chorus lyrics for a creative twist.
Sugar Song and Bitter StepUNISON SQUARE GARDEN
A number marked by distinctive lyrics and guitar phrases.
This song was newly written as the ending theme for the anime Blood Blockade Battlefront.
UNISON SQUARE GARDEN is a three-piece band under Sony Music Artists that has been active since 2004.
The message seems to be: even though each passing day has its ups and downs, keep moving yourself toward whatever makes your heart race with excitement! It feels like the song is cheering on anyone doing their best day by day.
Cry BabyOfisharu Higedan Dism
If you’re looking for a passionate cheer song that can completely change the atmosphere of the venue, we recommend “Cry Baby.” Released in 2021 by Official HIGE DANDism, a four-piece band that has led the J-pop scene since the late 2010s, it was featured in the anime Tokyo Revengers.
While they excel at jazzy tunes, the exhilarating groove of this track even evokes elements of classical and hard rock.
With “battle” as its theme, it’s sure to instantly raise the voltage at a sports day event.
Don’t give upZARD
“Makenaide” is a smash hit that represents the 1990s and propelled ZARD into a popular band.
It’s an uplifting anthem that energizes you no matter the situation, and many people have surely drawn courage from it.
“Makenaide” is also a great pick as a cheer song for school sports days.
The chorus lyrics are perfect for kids giving their all and enjoying the event! You could even swap parts of the lyrics with your class name or teams like the Red Team and White Team to get everyone even more excited.
Try making your own parody version and use it as a sports day cheer song!
The Zero Sense10-FEET
You can’t take your ears off the powerful guitar sound! It’s a track by 10-FEET, a three-piece band from Kyoto.
It’s included on their ninth album, Collins, released in December 2022.
The song was used as the ending theme for the film THE FIRST SLAM DUNK.
The lyrics, which symbolize the journey of taking on dreams and achieving self-realization, are particularly striking.
With its up-tempo feel, it would also fit well with a scene of a quick, running exit.
Listening to this track will make you feel like it lights a fire in your heart! It’s also recommended for those looking for popular artists’ songs to use as cheer-style parody lyrics at school sports days.
School HeavenFingā 5
A smash hit by Finger 5 that everyone in the grandparents’ generation knows.
For the parents’ generation, the versions by Kyoko Koizumi or Shingo Mama played by Shingo Katori might be the most familiar.
And of course, the Dream5 version is full of energy too! In any case, it’s the perfect song to lift your spirits from start to finish—ideal for cheering.
The call-and-response in the intro is guaranteed to fire up the crowd, whether you do it within your own team or team up with your rivals and call back and forth.
Paying homage to Finger 5 by dressing up with thick-rimmed “dragonfly” glasses would be fun as well.