Sports Day/Athletics Festival: Crowd-Pleasing Cheer Battle Ideas and Performances
Speaking of school sports days, there’s an event that’s almost as big as the competitions themselves: the cheer battle! Each class or team usually puts on a performance, but many people find it hard to decide what to do.
So in this article, we’ll introduce ideas for skits and performances that really hype up a cheer battle! There’s plenty to choose from—dances and songs, of course, plus cheers using props and classic ideas from sports cheering.
Be sure to showcase a unique, original performance that’s just for your class or team!
- [Sports Day Cheer Songs] A roundup of classic cheer songs and recommended tracks for parody versions
- [Dance Songs] Recommended for school sports days and athletic festivals! A curated selection of popular tracks that are fun to dance to
- Let's send our teammates a powerful cheer! A roundup of cheer calls for sports day.
- Top Songs to Hype Up Sports Day and Athletic Festivals [2026]
- Elementary schoolers can dance to it! Recommended dance songs and choreography for sports day
- Cheer songs to hype up the sports day! A collection of motivational tracks recommended for kids
- [Boost Your Energy] A Collection of Cool and Funny Team Huddles
- [Sports Day] Get Fired Up! Cool Phrases Recommended for Cheer Squads
- Get hyped! A collection of Vocaloid songs to energize your sports day and athletic festival
- Get Fired Up! A Collection of Anime Songs to Hype Up Your Sports Day and Athletic Festival
- Songs that hype up Sports Day and Athletic Festivals: Japanese Music / J-Pop Artist Rankings [2026]
- Recommended Songs for Group Gymnastics: A Collection of Tracks to Elevate Your Routine [2026]
- Songs that hype up the athlete entrance at school sports festivals
[Sports Day / Athletic Festival] Crowd-Pleasing Cheer Battle Ideas & Performances (21–30)
Give it some guts!!Ulfuls
This is a performance that powerfully cheers on the athletes to the strong, driving melody of Ulfuls’ classic “Gattsu da ze!!”.
The song uses many words that evoke strength—like “guts,” “powerful,” and “grit”—so by matching the choreography well to these, the sense of power stands out even more.
While the sound has a light, funky feel, moving strictly to that rhythm can make it seem too light; for a stronger presentation, it’s better to align with the vocal rhythm.
Let’s support them with as serious an expression as possible, showing the determination to face challenges head-on with all our might.
Cheering with a parody song
This is a type of cheering that uses parody songs, often heard at professional sports like baseball and soccer.
You pick a favorite or easy-to-sing tune and swap in sport-specific words—like “home run” for baseball or “shoot” for soccer—and everyone sings together.
Because it becomes the team’s original song, it helps everyone unite their hearts as they sing, which is really encouraging.
Pocari Gachi Dance
The dance that became a hot topic from the Pocari Sweat commercial, the “Pocari Gachi Dance,” sparked a boom in 2019 as a go-to cheer dance.
From the name “Gachi (serious) Dance,” many might think it’s quite difficult—but don’t worry.
While the moves are dynamic, the choreography itself is simple, and above all, the tempo is slow.
That’s why even those who aren’t confident in dancing can do it.
Use this dance to liven up your sports day or school festival!
Age-age hoi-hoi
Pumped-up BGM to hype the crowd, and high-energy dance moves—this performance is packed with everything you need to light up a sports day or athletic meet.
Don’t be shy: keep your movements sharp right to your fingertips, and, if you can, do it with a full-on smile.
It works great as an all-out solo by a cheer captain or representative, and just as well as a routine for the whole class.
Chanting in a huddle
Before heading into a competition—whether in sports or in a band—teams often form a “circle huddle” to fire themselves up.
It’s moving to see everyone link up in a ring and shout together, symbolizing their unity as they go into battle as one.
A key feature is how easy it is to add original elements: singing, stomping, or devising something unique for the team is part of what makes the huddle so great.
Wave
To liven up a sports day or athletic festival, you need multiple people to take the same action together.
But coordinating schedules for group practice is tough, and doing something on the spot can be hard too.
In those cases, the wave is a great option.
The wave is a very simple performance, and the method is simple: everyone just stands up and sits down in sequence! Of course, you don’t simply stand and sit at random—you time it to express the motion of a traveling wave.
It’s easy for anyone to do, so give it a try.
Exchange of cheers
When it comes to cheering at a school sports day, the usual thing is to cheer for your own team first, right? However, this “yell exchange” is a refreshing cheer battle grounded in sportsmanship, where both sides praise each other’s efforts and cheer one another on.
For example, the Red Team will wish the White Team success, and the White Team will do the same for the Red Team, engaging in a cheer-off.
The cheer squad steps forward, gives commands, and then everyone together chants to honor the opposing team.
