A fair cheerleading tryout needs three things: a 100-point rubric published before tryout day, three judges who score independently, and results you can defend line by line. Plan five days end to end: two clinic days, one tryout day, results within 24 hours.
Most tryout disputes are not really about the athlete's performance. They are about process: nobody saw the rubric, one judge scored everything, and the coach cannot explain why athlete 14 made the team and athlete 15 did not. Fix the process and the disputes mostly disappear.
Decide two numbers before anything else: roster size and alternates. Publishing "we are taking 20 plus 2 alternates" alongside the rubric removes the most common accusation, that the team size moved to fit a favorite. Run two clinic days before tryout day to teach the material; athletes are being judged on skills, not on how fast they memorize a dance.
Step 1: Build the rubric before you announce the date
Score out of 100 points across four categories, weighted by how much each skill actually matters to your routines:
- Motions and dance, 20 points. Sharpness, timing, memory of the taught material.
- Jumps, 20 points. Height, form and flexibility on a toe touch plus one jump of choice.
- Tumbling, 30 points. The highest skill performed cleanly, not the highest skill attempted.
- Stunts, 30 points. Body control in the position you are recruiting for: base, back spot or flyer.
Weight stunts and tumbling heavier because they take months to teach; motions can be cleaned up in two weeks of practice. Adjust the split for your program, but publish whatever you choose. Send the full rubric to athletes and parents at least one week out, with the taught material video if you use one. When everyone knows a standing back handspring is worth more than a perfect toe touch, nobody is surprised by the results.
Step 2: The 100-point score sheet
Here is a score sheet you can copy directly. Each judge fills one per athlete.
| Category | What judges score | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Motions and dance | Sharp hits, correct counts, full memory of taught material | 20 |
| Jumps | Toe touch (10) plus jump of choice (10): height, pointed toes, landing | 20 |
| Tumbling | Best standing skill (15) and best running skill (15), executed cleanly | 30 |
| Stunts | Position-specific: stability, technique, recovery under load | 30 |
| Total | 100 |
Two rules make the sheet defensible. First, judges score what happens on the mat, so a fallen back tuck scores as a fallen back tuck, not as the round-off that preceded it. Second, every score below 60 percent of a category maximum needs a one-line written note. Those notes are what you will read back in a dispute meeting.
Step 3: Set up a three-judge panel that scores independently
Use three judges, none of whom has a child or private client in the tryout. Good options: a coach from a neighboring program, a former collegiate cheerleader, a certified judge from your local association. Pay them or trade judging duty with another program; a $75 to $100 honorarium per judge is normal for a half day.
Independent scoring is the whole point of a panel. Judges sit apart, do not confer, and never see each other's sheets during the session. The athlete's final score is the average of the three totals. If one judge's total differs from the other two by more than 15 points, review that sheet before publishing; it usually means a missed skill, not bias. Running this on paper means a late night with a calculator, which is why many programs use cheer tryout score sheet software to collect the three sheets and average the rankings automatically.
Step 4: Run tryout day on a fixed timeline
For a 40-athlete tryout with groups of three, the day looks like this:
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 8:30 | Judge briefing: walk the rubric, agree on the note rule |
| 9:00 | Athlete check-in, numbered bibs, waiver check |
| 9:20 | Full-group warmup and taught-material review |
| 9:50 | Scored rounds, groups of three, about 6 minutes per group |
| 11:20 | Stunt evaluations by position |
| 12:15 | Athletes released; judges hand in sheets |
| 12:30 | Tabulation and coach review of outlier sheets |
Numbers, not names, on everything. Judges score "Candidate 14," which keeps returning athletes from carrying last season's reputation into this season's sheet.
Step 5: Publish results and handle disputes
Post results within 24 hours, by candidate number, at a stated time. Waiting longer invites rumor; posting names invites public comparison. Keep every sheet, note and ranking on file for the full season.
For disputes, offer one channel: a 15-minute score review meeting, scheduled within a week. In the meeting, show the athlete's own three sheets and the written notes, and nothing about any other athlete. In practice, a parent who reads three independent judges agreeing on a weak toe touch stops arguing. The meetings that go badly are the ones where the coach has nothing on paper.
If this is your program's first tryout ever, the rubric is only one piece of the setup; the full sequence of paperwork, budget and scheduling is covered in our guide on how to start a cheer team. Get the process right once and it becomes the template you reuse every May.