Cheerleader

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Re-energize a room through rapid physical play and lighthearted group support without analytical demand.

Use it when: Use during mid-session slumps, post-lunch lulls, or after prolonged seated work when people need quick movement and vocal release.

Skip it when: Skip when meeting in noise-sensitive venues, when participants cannot tolerate sudden loud noise, or when the group needs reflective focus.

Group arrangement: Pairs merging into progressively larger cheering squads

Timing: UWT plan structured for 10 minutes based on Teampedia 5 to 15 minute guidelines

Materials and tools

• Open room space free of tripping hazards

Before participants arrive

1. Clear chairs and tables to the perimeter to allow safe, open movement.
2. Ensure adjacent rooms will not be disrupted by shouting or applause.

Say this to open

We are going to play Cheerleader, a tournament of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Pair up with someone near you. When I say go, play a single round. If you win, you move on to find another winner. If you lose, you immediately become the personal cheerleader for the person who beat you. Chant their name and follow them. Whoever they beat joins the squad, and if your player loses, your whole squad starts cheering for the player who beat them. We keep going until two finalists face off with the whole room behind them.

How to run it

1. Pair up and learn rules 2 minutes

   Demonstrate hand signs: Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beats Paper, Paper beats Rock. Count together on three taps and show on four: one, two, three, shoot. Direct all participants to find one partner. If there is an odd number, one person acts as the neutral head referee or begins as a cheerleader for a designated pair.

2. Initial rounds 3 minutes

   Signal players to begin. Each pair plays one round. Ties re-shoot immediately. The runner-up begins chanting the winner's first name. Winners lead their cheerleaders to locate another winner to play. When two winners play, both squads chant their player's name.

3. Final face-off 3 minutes

   Combine squads as winners defeat winners. When two undefeated players remain, pause play briefly. Place the two finalists in the center of the room with their accumulated cheering sections flanking them. On your count, finalists play one decisive round. Celebrate the final outcome with the whole room.

4. Cool down and debrief 2 minutes

   Bring volume down to conversational levels. Invite two or three brief observations on how shifting from player to supporter felt.

Debrief questions

• What was it like to shift immediately from competing to cheering for the person who beat you?
• How did the volume and energy in the room affect your focus during the final duel?
• Where else in work or community life do we rally behind someone who takes the lead?

Finished output: A completed tournament ending with the entire group unified in support of two finalists, leaving participants physically active and alert.

Remote

Run in the main room with cameras on. The facilitator announces pairings. Each pair unmutes and plays one round on camera using hand gestures. Eliminated players rename themselves in the platform to include 'Cheerleader for [Winner Name]' and use text chat and unmute to shout encouragement during their winner's subsequent rounds until the final match.

Hybrid

Hybrid play causes severe latency and sightline splits. Keep in-person participants playing in the physical room. Assign one remote hub with a facilitator or run remote attendees in their own parallel video breakout tournament, then have the remote winner and in-person winner duel over the main display while both groups cheer.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer lower noise levels can wear ear protection, offer silent visual clapping, or act as scorekeepers.
• Anyone can pass on playing and choose to start as a sideline judge or referee without giving a reason.

If the session gets stuck

Odd number of participants leaves one person without a partner in the opening round.

Assign the extra person as the grand referee who counts down the starts, or have them immediately start cheering for any starting pair.

The noise escalates beyond acceptable levels for the facility.

Set a rule that cheerleaders must use visual cheers, synchronized hand claps, or whispered stadium chants rather than screaming.

Terms used here

• Rock, Paper, Scissors: A hand game where players simultaneously form one of three shapes: closed fist (rock), flat hand (paper), or two fingers extended (scissors). Rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock.