啦啦队是在竞赛活动中，在场边为参赛者加油、喝彩和打气的活动队伍。啦啦队通常见于大学、高校和专业的运动队伍， 甚至部份的中小学也设有啦啦队组织。他们打气的方式，是利用各种道具、口号、加油歌、海报和舞蹈动作，来达到鼓舞士气的效果。

运动场上的啦啦队组织也称为加油团或助威团，包括引导观众呐喊的志愿人员、场边演奏的乐队和带动气氛的啦啦队员。啦啦队发展成为的独立竞赛项目称为竞技啦啦队，两者的表演性质相似，都有结合体操、跳跃、特技和舞蹈的肢体动作，但在美国的学校中，是属于分别独立的组织。

日语、韩语把啦啦队称为应援团，其中日式应援团的团员以男性为主，华人地区也有以锣鼓、舞狮、艺阵助威的加油方式。 有些时候，学生乐队、舞队、仪队、旗队等团体也可以成为加油打气的队伍。

Cheerleading /ˈtʃɪərlidɪŋ/ ranges from yelling to intense physical activity for sports team motivation, audience entertainment or competition based upon organized routines. The routines usually range anywhere from one to three minutes, which may contain many components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting in order to direct spectators of events to cheer for sports teams at games or to participate in cheerleading competitions. The yellers, dancers, and athletes involved in cheerleading are called cheerleaders. Cheerleading originated in the United States, and remains predominantly American, with an estimated 1.5 million participants in all-star cheerleading. The presentation of cheerleading as a sport to a global audience was led by the 1997 start of broadcasts of cheerleading competition by ESPN International and the worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring It On. Due in part to this recent exposure, there are now an estimated 100,000 participants scattered around the rest of the world in countries including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.