Minnesota Golden Gophers Spirit Squads

It wasn't until 1898, after a losing streak in football, that a Minnesota student named Johnny Campbell began leading cheers forming a squad of yell-leaders for the football game between Northwestern University and Minnesota.

[2][3][6] Today, though the pioneering is now dominated by all-star programs and cheerleading schools, the Minnesota Spirit Squads continue to lead at the collegiate level consistently reaching national finals and finishing in the top 10 as cheerleading is changing from being an activity in support of other sports to being a sport of its own.

[7] The Spirit Squad coaches have remained relatively consistent since Sam Owens took over the program after graduating from it in the early 1990s.

They primarily appear at football and basketball games and are an annual participant of UCA Finals.

They primarily appear at football and women's basketball games and are an annual participant of UCA Finals.

This squad, cheers at every regular season home and post-season neutral site game of men's ice hockey.

They are known for their figure skating abilities and perform on-ice stunts, the complexity of which set this squad apart from other hockey cheerleaders, particularly at the collegiate level.

Members of the 2007-08 University of Minnesota Hockey Cheer Squad portray cheerleaders for fictional high school hockey team in the 2008 horror film Killer Movie, directed by Jeff Fisher and starring Paul Wesley and Kaley Cuoco.