Cheer guides from the Cheerleaders portal
Cheer Blog with Guides on Skills, Tryouts, Costs and College Cheer
Practical guides with real numbers for athletes, parents and coaches: skills and stunts, tryouts and levels, what a season costs, competitions, choreography and the road to college cheer.
Newest guide
Jul 1, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheerleading Competitions 2026 Calendar and Costs
The 2026 season runs November through April, entry fees average $60 to $120 per athlete per event, and registration windows close 4 to 6 weeks out. Here is the full calendar planning guide.
Read the guide
Oct 8, 2026 · 8 min read
Alabama Cheer and Alabama Cheerleading Recruitment for 2027
Alabama replaced open tryouts with recruitment: a $34 highlight reel registration that ran November 14, 2025 to January 2, 2026, an interest email by the end of February, and admission to the university first. Here are the eight UCA titles, the 87 member spirit roster, what the scholarship means against $35,392 or $60,400 a year, and four SEC programs compared.
Read the guide
Oct 7, 2026 · 8 min read
Ole Miss Cheer and Ole Miss Cheerleading Tryouts for 2027
Ole Miss replaced tryouts with a recruitment process: an interest form, a required in person clinic (the last fall date is October 18, 2026), a $105 video due November 30 and invite only recruit weekends. Here is the skills list, what the scholarship covers against $32,148 or $52,938 a year, and four SEC programs compared.
Read the guide
Oct 6, 2026 · 8 min read
Kentucky Cheer Tryouts and UK Cheerleading Scholarships
The University of Kentucky has won 24 UCA Division IA Large Coed titles, half of all ever awarded, and finished third in January 2026. Tryouts are by invitation only, handed out at clinics. Here are the skills the staff lists, what the scholarship covers against $14,177 or $35,846 a year in tuition, and the Kentucky schools to apply to as well.
Read the guide
Oct 5, 2026 · 8 min read
Trinity Valley Cheer Titles, Costs and How to Get Recruited
Trinity Valley Community College counts 20 national cheer titles, 18 at NCA and two at the NJCAA invitational, and swept both NCA Advanced Coed junior college divisions in 2026. Here is every title year, the new head coach, what a season in Athens costs and how the staff finds recruits.
Read the guide
Oct 3, 2026 · 8 min read
HBCU Cheer Teams and the Best HBCU Cheer Squads
The HBCU cheer teams that win national titles compete at NCA in Daytona. Here is who won from 2024 to 2026, how stomp and shake squads differ from competitive teams, and when each program holds tryouts.
Read the guide
Oct 2, 2026 · 8 min read
STUNT Colleges and Colleges With STUNT Teams in 2026-27
About 64 colleges field a varsity STUNT team, most of them in Division II. Here is every program by division, the 2026 champions, what the scholarship limits allow and how STUNT coaches find recruits.
Read the guide
Sep 30, 2026 · 9 min read
NCSA Cost for Cheerleading and Is NCSA Worth It
NCSA publishes no prices. Families who paid in 2026 report about $1,400 for the lowest paid tier and up to $5,000 or more for the top ones. Here is what each plan includes, the contract terms to read first, and what college cheer recruiting costs when you do it the way programs actually recruit.
Read the guide
Sep 29, 2026 · 9 min read
IHSA Cheer Score Sheet and Rubric 2026-27, Required Minimums
The IHSA cheer score sheet is 100 points, but the rubric behind it changed in June 2026. Difficulty now depends on a required minimum number of athletes per skill, set by how many you put on the floor. Here is the sheet, the chart, the deductions and a way to score your routine before sectionals.
Read the guide
Sep 27, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Uniform Companies Compared on Prices and Lead Times
Six cheer uniform companies, read from their own sites: which publish prices, how long custom orders take, what the minimums are, and the one policy they all share. None of them takes back a custom uniform.
Read the guide
Sep 26, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheer Coach Binder Cost, and When to Go Digital
A ready made cheer coach binder costs $23 to $92, and the printed planner covers one coach. Here is what the best known binder includes, read from its store, what goes in any cheerleading coach binder, and the point where a shared digital binder beats paper.
Read the guide
Sep 23, 2026 · 8 min read
sportsYou Cost. Is sportsYou Free? sportsYou Pricing
sportsYou is free for coaches, athletes and parents, with unlimited teams. The paid parts are sportsYou Pro at $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year and sportsYou Video by quote. Here is what each one buys, read from the App Store and the sportsYou Help Center, and what a cheer program still pays for somewhere else.
Read the guide
Sep 22, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheerleading Tryout Form and Cheer Tryout Packet Checklist
A cheer tryout packet should publish the dates, eligibility, full season cost, attendance rules and scoring model, then collect the application, medical forms and signatures. Here is what three real school and all star packets include, what they charge, and the mistakes they make.
Read the guide
Sep 21, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheer Practice Schedule With Days and Hours by Level
Novice and Prep teams practice once or twice a week, Elite teams two to four times, and school squads three to five days in football season. Here is what programs actually publish for 2026-2027, a season calendar from placement to end of season, and weekly schedules for one to four practice days.
Read the guide
Sep 18, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Gym for Sale, Buying a Cheerleading Gym and What to Pay
A cheer gym for sale is priced like any small fitness business, on a multiple of the owner's cash flow, and inspected like one far too often. The things that actually decide what an all star program is worth are cheer specific: sponsored athletes, the USASF division count, the spring floor, and whether the families follow the coaches or the building. Here is how to value one and what to check before you sign.
Read the guide
Sep 17, 2026 · 8 min read
Dance Team Tryout Score Sheet and Audition Rubric
Most dance team tryout score sheets are a list of skills with five points each, and they fall apart the moment two judges disagree or a parent asks why her daughter missed by one point. Here is a rubric that survives both: what to score, how to weight it for all star, high school and drill team, and the three scoring habits that quietly decide who makes the team.
Read the guide
Sep 10, 2026 · 8 min read
USA Cheer Membership Cost 2026-2027 for Coaches
Every USA Cheer membership price in one table, read from the source: $35 for a school coach, $30 for youth rec, $20 for a junior assistant, $35 professional and $50 for a STUNT official. Then the parts that cost more than the fee: an annual background check that takes up to ten business days, a safety course billed separately, and three named activities the liability coverage does not follow you into.
Read the guide
Aug 24, 2026 · 8 min read
USASF Membership Cost in Club, Coach and Athlete Fees
Three separate fees on one June to May clock that never prorates and never refunds. What USASF actually costs a gym per season, with the arithmetic done at three program sizes.
Read the guide
Aug 23, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheer Music Maker vs a Producer and What Coaches Should Buy
Music maker apps are cheap and getting better, and there is exactly one thing they cannot legally do for a competition routine. The split between what you can build yourself and what you have to buy, with the published prices on both sides.
Read the guide
Aug 22, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheer Choreography Cost with Choreographer and Music Prices
Published prices from four vendors who put their rates online, not estimates: choreography camps from $1,000 to $2,500, clean ups at $750 to $1,250, custom music from $800 to $3,605, and the travel line that is quoted separately almost everywhere.
Read the guide
Aug 20, 2026 · 9 min read
Game Day Cheer Divisions, Scoring and Competition Rules
The one division scored on the job a school squad actually does. The fixed three part order, the situational sideline nobody rehearses for, the props rule that bans the box you stand on at games, and why skill execution is only 20 of the 100 points.
Read the guide
Aug 23, 2026 · 9 min read
Back Handspring Drills, Spotting and How Long It Takes
The gate skill of the whole sport, and the one that gets rushed the most. What a back handspring is actually made of, the drill order, how the spot is faded, and why six week promises end badly.
Read the guide
Aug 20, 2026 · 8 min read
How to Do a Toe Touch With Cheer Toe Touch Technique
You never touch your toes, and the height was decided before your feet left the floor. The four phases of the jump, the six faults a judge writes down, and a six week block built on published rep counts.
Read the guide
Aug 16, 2026 · 8 min read
How to Move Up a Level in Cheer and What Coaches Check
Wanting it is not the requirement. Coaches move an athlete up when a skill is safe and repeatable, and tumbling is almost always the gate. What gets assessed, level by level, and why the team can stay put while the athlete progresses.
Read the guide
Aug 14, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Gym Insurance Coverage, Limits and Cost
General liability alone does not cover an injured athlete, and that is the gap owners find late. The USASF requirement in its own words, one carrier's published limit structure, and the abuse coverage question worth one email.
Read the guide
Aug 11, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheer Competition Fees and What Each Event Costs a Team
Entry fees run $60 to $125 per athlete per event, so a team of 20 spends about $8,500 across a season. Published fees, the costs the entry fee never covers, and why spectator admission belongs in your budget letter.
Read the guide
Aug 10, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheerleading Spring Floor Cost and Sizes
A complete 42 by 54 competition spring floor lists at $20,932.80, and the sprung deck alone at $13,984.80. Full published pricing size by size, plus what the springs actually buy you over a roll out floor.
Read the guide
Aug 5, 2026 · 7 min read
Used Cheer Equipment Including Mats, Uniforms and Gear
Most used cheer gear is worth buying at about half of new. The trick is knowing which items survive a second life, and which quietly do not.
Read the guide
Aug 5, 2026 · 8 min read
How Much Do Cheer Gym Owners Make? Owner Pay
No trade body surveys cheer gym owner pay, so here are the closest public benchmarks plus the margin math that decides which end of the range you land on.
Read the guide
Jul 31, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Software Pricing, 11 Platforms Compared
We checked eleven cheer and gym platforms against their own pricing pages. Half publish a flat price, half are quote-only, and most of the figures circulating online are invented.
Read the guide
Jun 18, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheerleading Tryouts Run Fairly and Scored Cleanly
A fair tryout comes down to three things: a rubric everyone saw in advance, judges who score independently, and results you can defend line by line.
Read the guide
Jun 24, 2026 · 8 min read
Cheerleading Fundraising Ideas That Cover Season Costs
The average all-star season costs families $2,000 to $4,000. These 15 fundraisers are ranked by effort versus payout, starting with the one most programs skip: reselling outgrown uniforms.
Read the guide
May 28, 2026 · 11 min read
How to Start a Cheer Team with Costs, Steps and Checklist
Starting a team takes roughly 90 days from decision to first practice. Here is the order that works: paperwork, budget, space, tryouts, uniforms, then your season calendar.
Read the guide
Jul 14, 2026 · 8 min read
Apps for Cheer Coaches and the Best Cheerleading Apps 2026
The best cheer app depends on whether you need messaging, fee collection or gym billing, and none of them scores a tryout. Here is the honest field, who each option is for, and where each one stops.
Read the guide
Jul 15, 2026 · 9 min read
How Much Does a Cheer Uniform Cost? 2026 Price Breakdown
A school sideline uniform runs about $100, while a custom all-star competition uniform lands between $250 and $700 before shoes and bows. Here is the per-piece breakdown and what drives the price.
Read the guide
Jul 17, 2026 · 10 min read
How to Become a Cheer Coach With Certifications, Steps and Pay
You do not need a cheer scholarship to coach, but you do need the right safety credentials. Here is the exact path: certifications, background check, how to get hired with no experience, and what the job pays.
Read the guide
Jul 15, 2026 · 10 min read
Cheerleading Attendance Policy Template Coaches Can Copy
A policy only works if it was written down before anyone broke it. Here is a full attendance policy you can copy, the consequence ladder behind it, and how to enforce it without an argument.
Read the guide
Jul 19, 2026 · 9 min read
How to Make a Cheer Roster with Fields, Template and Setup
A cheer roster is more than a name list: it holds positions, emergency contacts, medical notes and waiver status. Here are the exact fields to collect, a template to copy, and how to keep it current all season.
Read the guide
Jul 19, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Parent Code of Conduct Template and Rules That Work
A parent code of conduct only works if it is signed before the season, not waved after a blowup. Here is a full template you can copy, the rules that actually matter, and the consequence ladder that makes it enforceable.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 11 min read
How Much Does It Cost to Start a Cheer Gym? A Full Breakdown
Opening a cheer gym runs roughly $50,000 to $250,000 up front depending on your space and equipment. Here is where the money actually goes, line by line, plus the monthly costs that decide whether year one survives.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 10 min read
How to Hire Cheer Coaches, Where to Look and What to Ask
A cheer program is only as good as the coaches on the mat. Here is where to find qualified cheer coaches, the certifications and background checks to require, what to ask in an interview, and what to pay.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 10 min read
How to Build a Cheer Stunt Group with Positions and Order
A stunt group hits when the right athletes are in the right roles and the skills were taught in order. Here is how to pick bases, a flyer and a backspot, match the group to your level, and fix a stunt that will not stay up.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 10 min read
Cheerleading Parent Meeting Agenda as a Timed Template
The season parent meeting is the cheapest hour you will spend all year. Here is a timed agenda you can run as written, the numbers each block needs, and the six questions parents will ask whether you invite them or not.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 12 min read
Cheer Gym Business Plan Sections and Numbers
Lenders read two sections carefully: your local market analysis and your monthly cash flow. Here is every section of a cheer gym business plan in the order they expect it, with the numbers you have to defend.
Read the guide
Jul 21, 2026 · 10 min read
Cheer Practice Drills for Stunts, Tumbling and Jumps
Running the routine over and over is testing, not practice. These are the drills that fix what a run-through exposes, grouped by category, with a two-hour practice block you can run tonight.
Read the guide
Jul 25, 2026 · 9 min read
Cheer Competition Packing List With Everything a Team Needs
The forgotten bow, the dead phone, the missing spare shoe: comp day goes wrong in small, preventable ways. Here is the full packing list, split into the athlete bag, the beauty kit and the coach emergency kit.
Read the guide
Guides
Cheer guides by topic
Rules, dates, costs and scholarship numbers read from the official documents, grouped by what you are trying to get done.
Hire cheer talent
College cheer recruiting
High school and youth championships
All star rules and costs
Cheerleaders portal
Your cheer profile, free
Photos, skills videos, teams and titles in one place. Athletes 18 and over apply to paid gigs, and parents run a recruiting profile that only verified college coaches can see.
