On Game Days, our cheerleaders rally the crowd from the sidelines of Junior Knight and Junior Warrior football games. But NLYFA cheerleaders come together and hit the competition circuit as New Lenox Elite. 

Elite cheerleaders compete against the best in the state through the Illinois Cheerleading Association. Our competitive history is strong:
*In 2019, our seventh grade team took first place at State.
*In 2021, both the sixth and eighth grade teams were the Number 2 squads in the state, while our fourth grade team took fourth place.
*In 2022, our third grade team took second place at State, and our second grade team took third place.
*In 2023, all Elite teams were State Qualifiers and our second and fourth grade teams both took third place.
*In 2024, all Elite teams were State Qualifiers and our second grade took second place.
*In 2025, all Elite teams were State Qualifiers and our second grade were State Champions and our 5th Grade took second place.

Rising Grades K-8

 Kindergarten - Incoming Kindergarten athletes are welcomed into our program as Mascots for our Varsity teams! Mascots cheer with our Varsity-level athletes during games and are incorporated into our halftime routine. The cost for this is $125.00 and includes a cheer bow & t-shirt. 

Rising grades 1-8, - Cheerleaders can choose while registering to be Sideline Only (cheer for Jr. Knights or Jr. Warriors at their football games) or Sideline and Competition (cheer for football games and participate in ALL competitions).

Team Placement
For competition cheer, athletes are placed on a team according to age.

For sideline cheer, we have two teams: Jr. Knights and Jr. Warriors. Teams on both sides follow the same requirements and rules while offering comparable experiences to their athletes. We are unable to honor placement requests and cannot guarantee on which team a new participant will be placed.

Siblings are placed on the same side of the organization. Remaining new participants will be put into a lottery to determine which side of the organization they will be placed on.

Please contact our cheer directors with any questions you may have regarding our upcoming season!

Anne Swanson – NLYFA Cheer Director [email protected]
Kim Litke – Elite Cheer Director [email protected]

Social Media

Please follow us on Facebook @ NLYFA or Jr. Knights/Jr. Warriors & Elite Cheer.  Instagram @nlelitecheer.