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 (31–40)
Cheer squad’s mass performance
It’s also a great idea to incorporate elements of a cheering squad.
It will give the performance a powerful impact.
For example, you could move with pom-poms like in cheerleading, or showcase straight punches.
Both types of movements are relatively easy to synchronize, so they pair well with a mass performance.
In this concept, the call-and-response chants are also important.
I’d like to hear unified cheers, just like a real cheering squad.
Also, pay attention to costumes that evoke a cheering squad style.
Paint performance
The “paint performance,” in which a large painting is completed on the spot during a cheering routine, draws the audience’s attention in a different direction and has a refreshing effect for spectators who are tired from cheering.
Usually, we admire a finished artwork, but with this paint performance you get to watch the process of completion, making it enjoyable as a live experience.
Since it’s often painted with large brushes or rollers, it turns into a very dynamic act!
wotagei
Serious performances are eye-catching.
At the same time, playful performances also have their charm.
As you know, this wotagei is a performance that developed from otaku culture, and I think it generally carries a playful image in the public eye.
It’s true that it can easily come across as goofy, but in the sense that both the performers and the audience can enjoy it together, it can be considered an excellent form of performance.
However, it does require a fair amount of practice, so be sure to allow sufficient preparation time.
Make a flag and cheer
Making a team flag really lifts everyone’s spirits, doesn’t it? It’s also fun to aim for originality in the design—writing everyone’s names from the class, featuring whatever’s trending right now, or even using the homeroom teacher’s face as a motif can be interesting.
On the day of the sports festival, let’s crank up the excitement by watching the team flags flutter in the wind!
Flag dance
Flag dance is becoming a new standard for cheering at sports festivals.
It’s popular because performing with a large group makes for a very impressive piece.
All you need to prepare are matching flags.
The routine mainly involves spinning and waving the flags to the rhythm, so the choreography isn’t too difficult.
You can also buy instructional books and DVDs with detailed explanations of the moves, so they’re great resources when you’re trying it for the first time!
[Sports Day / Athletic Festival] Exciting Cheer Battle Ideas and Performances (41–50)
Baseball-style jet balloon
Here’s an introduction to jet balloons, the dazzling highlight of baseball cheering that fans can’t get enough of.
They’re a famous tradition during the Hanshin Tigers’ turn at bat in the bottom of the seventh inning at Koshien Stadium! You inflate them with air, and when you let go, they shoot off like rockets—that’s the fun part.
The little “peep” whistle sound they make is delightful, too.
Sing the team cheer and launch your jet balloon at just the right moment, and the crowd will go wild.
It’s a visually striking and sure-fire way to boost the excitement.
Cheer with live music
In sports—not just at field days or athletic festivals—one of the most important elements is cheering.
Among the many forms of support, live instrumental performances pack an intensity that rivals the games themselves.
When a school wants to hype up events with performances like these, having a brass band or wind ensemble is practically essential.
Despite that hurdle, simply adding live music can instantly elevate the excitement of a field day or sports festival.
And because these events allow for trend-aware, fresh arrangements that are uniquely suited to the occasion, it can be a great opportunity for the school band as well.