Illinois competitive cheer is scored on one sheet, used at every sectional and at the State Final in Bloomington. It looks simple, eight lines and a total, but almost all of the score is decided by the rubric behind it, and that rubric changed in June. If your routine was built in August against the 2025 wording, a few of your difficulty scores may already be capped before the team takes the floor on January 30. Here is the sheet, the change, the chart that now drives difficulty, and a way to score your own routine while there is still time to fix it.
The IHSA cheer score sheet, category by category
Every official uses the same sheet. The first four categories are skills and carry a separate difficulty and execution score. The last four are performance categories scored once each.
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| Category | Difficulty | Execution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jumps | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Tumbling (standing or running) | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Pyramids or tosses | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Partner stunts | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Motions and dance | Scored once | 10 | |
| Projection and showmanship | Scored once | 10 | |
| Skill utilization | Scored once | 10 | |
| Routine composition | Scored once | 10 | |
| Raw score | 40 | 20 | 100 |
Sixty points ride on the four skill categories, and two thirds of those sixty are difficulty. Every difficulty and performance score sits in one of four ranges, Level 1 at 6 to 7 up to Level 4 at 9 to 10, and execution is scored below level (2 to 3), average (3 to 4) or above level (4 to 5). Two floor rules sit on top of that. A team that performs no skill at all in a category gets a 0 there, and a team that misses the required minimum in a category is held to 5.0 to 6.0 for difficulty. IHSA also tells officials to score comparatively, meaning placement inside a range is judged against the other routines in the same division on the same day.
Extra skills are not wasted. The rubric sends every jump, tumbling pass or stunt beyond the ones credited for difficulty into skill utilization, which is worth another 10. That is where a deep roster gets paid for its depth.
What changed in the IHSA cheer rubric for 2026-27
The current rubric is dated June 18, 2026. The one most coaches still pass around, including the copy that ranks at the top of a Google search for this sheet, is dated June 5, 2025. We compared the two line by line and read the March 4, 2026 advisory committee minutes that approved the change. Four things are different.
- Majority is gone. The 2025 rubric placed a team in a difficulty range when "a majority of the team" performed the skill. The 2026 rubric uses required minimums, a fixed count of athletes that must perform the skill, set by how many athletes are on the floor.
- Stunts and tosses got their own counts. Minimums were added for partner stunts and single based stunts, and the toss numbers were rewritten by floor count.
- Small teams got a stunt cap. A team with seven or fewer athletes on the floor that misses the stunt minimum can still score, but its stunt difficulty tops out at 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 or 9.0 for Levels 1 to 4.
- Pike and layout are now defined. The NFHS definitions were added so officials stop crediting a piked skill as a layout. They are different skills with different credit.
Two rule changes outside the rubric also touch the score. Music time rose from 2:00 to 2:15 inside the same 3 minute routine, so a mix cut to last season's limit leaves 15 seconds on the table. And IHSA made entrances and exits a point of emphasis for 2026-27: they are not part of the routine and should not be choreographed, because they muddy what is being timed.
The required minimums chart
This is the table that now decides difficulty. It counts the athletes who must perform the skill for the team to earn a range, based on how many athletes are on the floor.
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| Athletes on the floor | Jumps and tumbling | Stunt groups | Single based stunts | Tosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 (capped if missed) | 2 | 1 |
| 6 to 7 | 4 | 2 (capped if missed) | 2 | 1 |
| 8 to 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 to 11 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 to 13 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 14 to 15 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 16 to 17 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 to 19 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 20 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
From IHSA Definitions and Scoring Tools, updated 6/18/2026. Quad stunts and single based stunts can be combined to meet the stunt minimum as long as the athletes involved are a majority of the team, counting four per quad and three per single base.
What the chart means for how many athletes you put on the floor
Under the old wording, adding an athlete raised the bar a little and evenly. Under the chart, the bar moves in steps, and some of the steps are steep. IHSA allows 26 on the roster but 20 on the floor, with a floor minimum of 12 in 3A, 8 in 2A and 5 in 1A. Inside that window, three break points matter most.
- 15 to 16 athletes adds a third stunt group, a third toss and a ninth tumbler in the same step. It is the most expensive single athlete on the chart.
- 11 to 12 raises single based stunts from two to three, which is also the 3A floor minimum, so every 3A team starts at the higher number.
- Every second athlete adds one to the jumps and tumbling count, so a team with exactly nine clean back handsprings clears Level 2 tumbling at 16 or 17 on the floor and falls short at 18.
So the question in October is not how many athletes you have. It is how many can perform each skill cleanly, counted per athlete and per level, and which floor count those counts support. A 3A coach with 17 athletes and eight standing tucks is short of the Level 3 tumbling minimum by one. Dropping to 15 on the floor meets it, but costs spacing, motions and skill utilization depth. That trade is worth making on paper with real numbers, not on the bus to sectionals.
This is the part a spreadsheet makes painful and a skill tracker makes quick. When every athlete's record shows which jumps, passes and stunt roles they have landed, the count per level is a filter, not a meeting. Our skill tracking for cheer keeps that record per athlete across the season, and the cheer skill tracking software comparison shows how the tools on the market handle it.
IHSA cheer deductions for 2026-27
Deductions are subtracted from the averaged score, not from each sheet. These are the values on the 2026-27 deductions form.
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| Deduction | Points | Example on the form |
|---|---|---|
| Music over 2:15 | 1 | Music runs past the music limit |
| Routine over 3 minutes | 1 | Total time runs past the limit |
| Incomplete tumbling skill | 0.25 | Lands on feet, then touches hands |
| Incomplete tumbling skill | 0.50 | Lands on feet, then falls to another body part |
| Missed stunt skill | 1 | A building skill falls, a twisting dismount lands on the stomach |
| Pyramid collapse | 2 | Two or more connected stunts fall |
| Major stunt fall | 2 | Top person lands on the mat in a compromising position |
| Terms and Conditions violation | 1 | Per violation |
| Boundary violation | 0.25 | One body part completely off the mat |
Two details save points. Overtime is not charged until 3 seconds past the limit, confirmed on two stopwatches, and an athlete who leaves the mat because of injury or bodily fluid does not trigger the boundary deduction. NFHS rule violations go on a separate legalities line, 1 point for a minor violation and 5 for a major one, capped at 2 points per article for minor ones. Several illegal skills in the same section count once per rule article, but the same violation in different sections counts every time.
How the officials turn sheets into a score
At each sectional IHSA assigns three panel officials and three technical officials per division, with a head official who does not score and gives comments only at sectionals. At the State Final each division has five panel officials, a head panel official and three technical officials, and one head technical official oversees all four divisions. The sheets are averaged, the deductions come off the average, and ties are never broken: every team tied for a qualifying spot in prelims advances. The top five in each division at each of the five sectionals go to Bloomington. The full calendar, divisions and costs are on our IHSA cheer 2026-27 page.
Score your own routine before sectionals
Run a mock scoring session with your staff at least three weeks out. Film one full out run, score it on the IHSA sheet as three officials would, independently, then average. Do it category by category:
- For each skill category, count the athletes who performed the credited skill in that section and check the count against the chart for your floor number.
- Mark the level you actually reached, not the level you choreographed. A skill that is in the routine but missed by two athletes may drop you a range.
- Score execution with the IHSA execution rubric's words: majority versus most. "Most" means nearly all.
- List every extra skill for skill utilization and every pause for routine composition.
- Time the music and the routine separately, from first movement to last.
Captains who know the safety rules catch problems at practice that a coach would only see on film, so some coaches turn a rules PDF into a quiz for captains before the first scrimmage. On our side, the cheerleading score sheet page covers how score sheets work across governing bodies, the NFHS cheer rules page covers the safety rules IHSA plays under, and the cheerleading practice plan page shows how to build the last three weeks around the categories where you lose the most.
IHSA cheer score sheet, questions coaches ask
How is IHSA competitive cheer scored?
Each official fills in the same 100 point IHSA score sheet. Jumps, tumbling, pyramids or tosses and partner stunts are each worth 10 for difficulty and 5 for execution. Motions and dance, projection and showmanship, skill utilization and routine composition are worth 10 each. The officials' sheets are averaged, then deductions come off the average.
What changed on the IHSA cheer rubric for 2026-27?
The June 18, 2026 rubric replaced "a majority of the team" with required minimums, a fixed count of athletes that must perform a skill, set by how many athletes are on the floor. It added minimums for tosses and partner stunts, capped stunt difficulty for teams of seven or fewer, and added NFHS definitions for pike and layout.
How many judges score IHSA cheer?
At a sectional, three IHSA panel officials and three technical officials work each division under a head official who does not score. At the State Final each division gets five panel officials, one head panel official and three technical officials, plus one head technical official over all four divisions. Scores are averaged, not totaled.
What are the deductions in IHSA competitive cheer?
On the 2026-27 deductions form, a missed stunt skill costs 1 point, a pyramid collapse or major stunt fall 2, an incomplete tumbling skill 0.25 or 0.50, a boundary violation 0.25, a Terms and Conditions violation 1, and going over the 2:15 music limit or the 3 minute total limit 1 each. NFHS legality penalties are separate, 1 point for a minor violation and 5 for a major one.
How long can an IHSA cheer routine be?
The routine has a 3 minute limit, and no more than 2:15 of it may be music. The music allowance rose from 2:00 for 2026-27. Timing starts with the first movement, voice or note and ends with the last. Officials allow 3 seconds of grace and confirm overtime on two stopwatches before the 1 point deduction applies.