Cheerleading Pioneer and Charlie Kirk Mentor Dies After Pickleball Accident
Jeff Webb founded Varsity Spirit in 1974 and spent the next five decades turning cheerleading into a multibillion-dollar global industry. He mentored Charlie Kirk before most people knew who Charlie Kirk was. He served as president of the International Cheer Union.
He died because he fell playing pickleball. He was 76.
Two weeks before his March 19 death, Webb took a fall during a game and sustained a severe head injury. His family made the decision to remove him from life support. He was 76.
What He Actually Built
Most people who ever competed in a cheer competition, attended a cheer camp, or wore a Varsity uniform have no idea how much of that world traces back to one guy. Webb built the infrastructure around competitive cheerleading from the ground up—the camps, the competitions, the uniforms, the culture. Before him it was sideline entertainment. After him it was a sport.
In recent years he had been growing it internationally too, expanding competitive cheerleading well beyond the US market. Varsity Spirit put it simply after his death—his impact built a community that will keep inspiring generations to come.
His Connection to Charlie Kirk
Webb was one of Kirk's earliest mentors, meeting the then 24-year-old through a mutual friend in Atlanta years before Turning Point USA existed. When Kirk was shot and killed at a Utah college speaking engagement in September 2025, Webb was gutted.
"I think we probably lost a future president last week," he said at the time. "Charlie Kirk had it all—charisma, faith, respect for everyone. Now, in his absence, tens of thousands of new chapters are rising. His legacy is just beginning."
Turning Point USA returned the tribute after Webb's death, calling him a visionary and a dear friend to the organization and to Charlie personally.
Who He Was to His Family
Webb is survived by his wife, Gina; children Jeffrey and Caroline; his siblings Greg and Jenna; and two grandchildren.
His kids described him the way kids describe a really good dad.
"To most people he is a legendary entrepreneur," they said. "To us, he was our soccer coach and on-demand comedian, our mentor and father-daughter dance partner, our solace and our source of strength."
He built a global industry. Shaped a generation of conservative activists. And coached his kids' soccer games.
Now he is gone at 76 after a pickleball accident on an otherwise ordinary day. But his legacy will live on for generations.
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