Junior Roar: the launch

Today we launched our Junior ROAR cheerleading initiative, an exciting new project in partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars of America’s National Football League (NFL).

We welcomed two ROAR of the Jaguars cheerleaders to our Birmingham studios to watch students from Ford Bridge Community Primary school and Shaw Hill Primary school demonstrate the skills they have learnt so far. The cheerleaders then presented the children with trademark ROAR teal pom poms as a reward for their hard work. The young dancers will continue to enhance their skills until the first phase of the programme ends in spring 2027. 

The programme was launched at the beginning of the summer school term. Participants consist of both boys and girls.  

Junior ROAR is an innovative dance-and-cheer initiative which will promote fitness, creativity, and well-being across schools in the Midlands. As dance becomes a formal part of the PE curriculum, schools will be expected to embed dance more prominently in physical education. This creates an exciting opportunity to fuse cheerleading and dance into a single, dynamic strand of physical activity – supporting physical literacy, teamwork, confidence and expressive movement in ways that are both artistically rich and physically robust. This is the first time an NFL team has invested in a junior cheer programme of this kind outside of the USA.

This exciting new partnership with BRB will assist schools in meeting these new curriculum expectations. It offers an accessible, high-energy programme that brings together the athleticism of cheer with the artistry of dance, delivered through a partnership that combines an elite NFL team and one of the world’s leading ballet companies.

The Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleading troupe, the ROAR of the Jaguars, performs at all of the team’s home games in Jacksonville and also travels to London and entertains crowds on the pitch at the iconic Wembley stadium for the Jaguars' annual home game in the capital. This year’s Wembley game takes place on 18 October against Houston Texans, which is preceded by a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Speaking prior to the launch, Jenn Toy, Vice President of Events and International Operations at the Jacksonville Jaguars said:

‘Cheerleading has long been a tradition at NFL games across the Unites States, and our dancers have always been welcomed at Wembley each year as an authentic part of the football experience. The Junior programme in Jacksonville is hugely popular with hundreds of young people participating each year, so it’s fantastic that we have been able to replicate it in the UK, where we have played at Wembley annually for so many years. It’s especially exciting to be partnering with such a prestigious organisation as Birmingham Royal Ballet and the talented teachers involved in the programme, and we are looking forward to watching the participants progress through each term and, hopefully, welcoming them to Wembley this Autumn to watch the ROAR perform.’ 

Rebecca Brookes, Head of Learning, Engagement, Access and Participation at Birmingham Royal Ballet, added: 

'We are delighted to be partnering with the Jacksonville Jaguars on this exciting and innovative programme. Junior ROAR reflects Birmingham Royal Ballet’s commitment to being Full of Heart, ensuring every young person has the opportunity to thrive through movement, creativity and belonging. By bringing together ballet, dance and cheerleading in schools, we are helping to deliver Ballet Everywhere – reaching children who may never have considered themselves dancers – and celebrating the fact that we are Diverse and Different, embracing a wide range of talents, backgrounds and ways of expressing ourselves. As the first programme of its kind outside the United States, it is a fantastic opportunity to inspire more children across the Midlands to be active, confident and ambitious.'