About Founding Season
Professional cheerleading launched in 2026 with 96 founding athletes, four teams, and a lot of unanswered questions.
I’m documenting the entire inaugural season—not from press row, but embedded with the athletes who are defining what professional cheerleading means. This is sports journalism covering the Pro Cheer League’s first year with the kind of access, technical expertise, and honest analysis mainstream outlets aren’t providing.
What you’ll find here:
Match Coverage - Technical breakdowns of competition, not just final scores. What happened, why it mattered, and what it reveals about how PCL is defining professional sport.
Athlete Profiles - In-depth features on founding athletes navigating unprecedented territory. Their paths to this moment, what $13,000 salaries actually mean, and how they’re building something that didn’t exist six months ago.
Industry Analysis - Honest reporting on league structure, Varsity ownership, judging philosophy, and the questions PCL isn’t answering yet. I cover both athletic excellence and structural complexity.
Behind-the-Scenes Access - Training, preparation, team dynamics, and the reality of being a founding professional cheerleader. The stories you won’t see in press releases.
This isn’t promotional content. This isn’t press release regurgitation. This is the first draft of professional cheerleading’s history, written by someone who actually knows the sport.
Why I Can Cover This
I spent nearly a decade inside competitive cheerleading—gym owner, coach, judge. I founded and operated Ideal Cheer Elite, Northern Minnesota’s first USASF all-star gym. I coached athletes to national competitions and judged at major events. I know this sport’s technical complexity, its monopolistic business structures, and the elite athletes who’ve been grinding without professional opportunities.
When the Pro Cheer League launched, I had the access and expertise to document what mainstream outlets couldn’t. I understand what a 1.25-twist rewind to a cupie actually requires. I know why judges prioritize execution over difficulty. I’ve watched Varsity Spirit’s vertical integration firsthand for years.
I’m not learning cheerleading to cover PCL. I’m applying insider knowledge to document a historic founding moment.
What Makes Founding Season Different
Other outlets cover PCL as:
Press release content (celebrating the league’s existence)
Occasional features (when something goes viral)
Surface-level recaps (final scores without context)
Founding Season covers PCL as:
Embedded journalism (consistent access across the full season)
Technical analysis (explaining skills, strategy, judging decisions)
Structural critique (examining Varsity ownership, athlete compensation, governance)
Historical documentation (this is happening once—I’m recording it)
I’m the only journalist covering every match of the inaugural season with both insider expertise and editorial independence.
Subscribe for Full Coverage
Free subscribers get match recaps, athlete features, and industry analysis throughout the founding season.
For a limited time, all subscribers get extended interviews, behind-the-scenes content, technical breakdowns, and early access to special reports.
All subscribers get honest journalism covering both the athletic excellence and the structural questions that define professional cheerleading’s first year.
This is professional cheerleading’s founding moment. I’m documenting it as it happens.
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