Jeff Webb, father of cheerleading, 1949-2026

Jeff Webb's stint as a cheerleader was brief and unremarkable. The Texan stuck at it for one year in high school and another in college before dropping out to pursue his studies. Yet Webb, who died on March 19 from a head injury at the age of 76, would go on to transform the quintessentially American pastime into a global, multibillion-dollar sport and entertainment business. Born in Dallas in 1949 to a middle-class family, Webb moved to Oklahoma to study, planning to become a lawyer. While at university, however, his work at a cheer training camp caught the attention of Lawrence Herkimer, founder of the National Cheerleading Association and the patent holder of the pom-pom. Herkimer -- known as the grandfather of modern cheerleading -- offered Webb a job at the NCA. By the age of 23 he was running it. Within a couple of years, Webb decided to break with Herkimer to pursue his own vision of what cheerleading -- originally an all-male, Ivy League tradition before the second world war pulled women in -- could become. He saw a future in which athleticism and entertainment could make it a proper sport, and began raising money from friends and family to set up a business running summer training camps. Webb told The Cheer Mom Podcast that the Universal Cheerleading Association, the enterprise he founded in 1974, was a "shot in the dark". Yet soon thousands of young people were flocking to learn this new, high-octane method and compete in the tournaments he created. More than 300,000 people now attend annual summer camps run by Varsity Spirit -- the Memphis-based umbrella group of the cheerleading businesses established by Webb. "We created the sport and we helped create the market," Webb said in a 2021 documentary about him. "We were developing cheerleading as you see it today as we went along." As their popularity grew, Webb negotiated a deal to air his cheerleading competitions on ESPN. He also built a business to provide outfits to the swelling ranks of cheerleaders, which would become the main profit driver of his empire. Staff dubbed the private jet he travelled on Cheer Force One, according to The New York Times. In 2011, Varsity Spirit merged with Herff Jones, which makes trophies and sportswear for student athletes, to form Varsity Brands. The company has since changed hands several times, most recently in 2024 for close to $5bn. But Webb's approach was not without controversy. His move to make cheerleading more acrobatic drew criticism for making it more dangerous. The sport accounts for around two-thirds of all severe head and spinal injuries suffered by female athletes in the US, according to academic research published in 2022 in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. However, the sport's governing body claims rule changes have since reduced the risks. The dominance of Varsity Spirit has also brought antitrust complaints alleging suppression of competition and inflated pricing, one of which was settled in 2024 for $82.5mn. There have also been several lawsuits related to sexual abuse by cheer coaches. The company has publicly denied wrongdoing. As the business grew, Webb noticed that cheerleading was beginning to take off outside the US. In 2004 he founded the International Cheer Union and served as its first president. In 2021, the ICU was recognised by the International Olympic Committee, the first step towards one day becoming an Olympic sport. "Jeff played a pivotal role in shaping cheerleading as it exists today and in building a community that has impacted generations of athletes, coaches and teams," Varsity Brands said in a statement following his death. Away from cheerleading, Webb was increasingly active in politics. Soon after leaving Varsity in 2020, he became co-publisher of Human Events, the conservative magazine once favoured by Ronald Reagan. He also became a close friend and mentor to the late Maga activist and influencer Charlie Kirk. "We just hit it off," Webb said of meeting Kirk, who was murdered last year. "He had everything. He had an incredible amount of charisma. He had a great sense of humour. He was fun to be around." Following Webb's death, Turning Point USA, the advocacy group founded by Kirk, posted a video tribute to him on its social media channels. In a statement, it called him a "dear friend to Turning Point USA and Charlie" and "a visionary who helped shape generations of young leaders and believed deeply in the power of community and country".