The International Cheer Union (ICU) World Championships took place this past weekend in Orlando at the Wide World of Sports Complex found in Walt Disney World Resort. The Minnesota Dance team is no stranger to this stage. They are 23x National Champions and now 4x World Champions. They defeated Japan (second place) and Mexico (third place) in the Pom division. In Jazz Japan took home first, Minnesota took home second, and Mexico took third in this category.
This is the third time that Minnesota represents the US as the National Team in Worlds. They also went in 2010 and 2014. They also got gold in Pom in 2014 and silver in Jazz. In 2010 they took home gold medals in both Jazz and Freestyle Division (Pom) in 2010 and silver in Hip Hop. This year they took gold in 2025 and it marks the fourth time the Gophers have won gold and the third time taking home with silver. They performed the same pom with some changes and different cleans and are found with their new pom uniform. They also performed a different Jazz dance from the past nationals and was to Lose yourself to Eminem, they performed this routine at a past camp. They were also seen in new costumes.
The ICU was formed in 2004 and is the recognized world-governing body of cheer (Cheerleading & Performance Cheer). The ICU is a 120 member National Cheer Federations/10 million athletes on all continents, hosts World Championships consistently welcoming over 70 nations, many global continental and regional championships.
The Minnesota dance team won the Pom national title for the third straight year at the Universal Dance Association Dance Nationals (UDA). This is the same arena that worlds is held in. This year they also took second in Jazz for the second straight year and most recently won a national championship in Jazz in 2023. This is the same competition where they go head to head with The Ohio state dance team. They ended UDA nationals at the same placements, Gold in the Pom division and Silver in the Jazz division. They have a total of 23 national championships which is the most in the nation since 2003.
