Coach guide
Cheerleading Score Sheet: The Cheer Competition Score Sheets and Judging Sheets, Line by Line.
Every category, every point value and every deduction amount, taken from the sheets USASF and the state associations actually publish. Then the part nobody prints: what a coach does with it on Monday.
Every number on this page is cited to the body that published it.
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17/18 confirmedLast comp
Winter Regionals
Place
2nd
Score
87.35
Packing lists, music timing and day-of schedules attach to each event.
Athletes are listed by competitor number.
Short answer: a cheerleading competition score sheet is a fixed rubric that a judging panel fills in while a routine runs, and deductions come off the total afterward. On the current USASF all star sheet there are ten categories, and the six skill categories each carry two equal scores, one for technique and one for difficulty. Stunts and pyramids are worth 40 points apiece, so on the 170 point Senior Level 6 sheet, building is 52.94 percent of the score before anyone tumbles. High school competitive cheer does not use that sheet at all. There is no national high school score sheet, so Georgia runs three panels to a 108 point scale while Michigan runs three rounds to totals near 790.
Two different documents get called a cheer score sheet.
Search results mix them constantly, and they are not interchangeable. One ranks people so you can pick a squad. The other ranks routines so a competition can name a winner. They share a name and almost nothing else.
Tryout score sheet
Ranks individual athletes
Scored by candidate number, on personal skills: jumps, motions, standing and running tumbling, cheer, dance and an interview. Written by the coach or the district, so the categories and the total are whatever your program decides. Totals of 50 and 100 are both common.
That is a different page: the cheerleading tryout score sheet covers the rubrics, point scales and published district sheets in full.
Competition score sheet
Ranks whole routines
Scored by a credentialed panel against a rubric you did not write and cannot change. Categories are routine elements: stunts, pyramids, tosses, tumbling, jumps, dance, composition, formations. The governing body sets the sheet, the event producer supplies the judges, and deductions are fixed.
That is what the rest of this page covers, for all star and for high school.
The USASF master score sheet, category by category.
This is the sheet almost every all star competition in the United States scores from. Varsity Spirit states that its all star scoring system "has become the standard in all star scoring, being utilized by almost every all star competition in the country." The table below is the USASF master score sheet for Senior Level 6, reproduced from the point values USASF publishes.
Read the two columns before you read the totals. Every skill category is scored twice, once for how well the skill was done and once for how hard it was, and the two are worth exactly the same. A team that throws a level appropriate pyramid cleanly can beat a team that throws a harder one badly, because the technique half of a 40 point category is 20 points on its own.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Category | Technique | Difficulty | Subtotal | Share of sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stunt | 20.0 | 20.0 | 40.0 | 23.53% |
| Pyramid | 20.0 | 20.0 | 40.0 | 23.53% |
| Tosses | 5.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.88% |
| Standing tumbling | 10.0 | 10.0 | 20.0 | 11.76% |
| Running tumbling | 10.0 | 10.0 | 20.0 | 11.76% |
| Jumps | 5.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.88% |
| Dance | 5.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.88% |
| Routine composition and creativity | not scored | 10.0 | 10.0 | 5.88% |
| Performance and showmanship | not scored | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.94% |
| Formations and transitions | not scored | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.94% |
| Total | 170.0 | 100% |
Source: USASF Scoring System Master Score Sheet, Senior L6 divisions, usasf.net/scoring. Percentages are USASF's own, as printed on the sheet.
The same sheet totals differently by division
Coaches lose points comparing raw scores across divisions that are not on the same scale. All Star Prep and Level 1 have no tosses category, so their sheet stops at 160. The IASF international sheets are shorter again. If you are benchmarking your team week to week, convert to a percentage first.
160
All Star Prep and Level 1 divisions. No tosses category.
170
Level 2 through Junior 6, and Senior Level 6.
140
IASF International Level 1 divisions.
150
IASF International Levels 2 to 7.
135
IASF International non tumbling divisions.
90
Points in building alone on the 170 point sheet: stunt 40, pyramid 40, tosses 10.
The deduction sheet is the other half of the score.
USASF publishes deductions as a separate document, with fixed values per occurrence, so a deduction is not a judge's opinion the way a difficulty score is. The version below is dated 7.1.2025 on the document itself. The distinctions matter more than the numbers: a stunt lowered from extended to prep because the bases lost it is a 2.0 bobble, but the same drop caused by timing is not a deduction at all.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Deduction | Points | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|
| Athlete fall | 1.0 | A drop to the floor during tumbling or jumps. A hand or hands down, a knee down, an incomplete twist. |
| Major athlete fall | 2.0 | Multiple body parts down during tumbling or jumps: hands and knees, seat and hands. |
| Building bobble | 2.0 | A building skill that almost drops but is saved. Lowering a stunt from extended to prep, or a base dropping to the floor under it. |
| Building fall | 3.0 | A drop from a building skill or transition, including a drop to a cradle, load in or prone. |
| Major building fall | 4.0 | The top person and bases or spotters go to the floor. Multiple bases down, or a top person landing on a base who drops. |
| Legality infraction | 4.0 | A safety violation: a skill not allowed at Level 6, or at Level 7 for Level 7 teams. |
| Skill performed out of level | 1.0 | A Levels 1 to 5 team throws a skill above its level that is still legal at Level 6. |
| Boundary violation | 1.0 | Both feet off the 42 by 54 foot performance surface and off the adjacent safety border. |
| Time limit violation | 1.0 | Per second over. On a 2:30 limit, the clock starts costing you at 2:31.00. |
Source: USASF Scoring System Deductions, document dated 7.1.2025, usasf.net/scoring.
The part coaches miss: one athlete putting a hand down on a standing tumbling pass costs 1.0, which is a tenth of your entire jumps category. Three of them across a routine costs more than the whole formations and transitions score. Deductions are the cheapest points on the sheet to buy back, because they cost conditioning rather than new skills.
There is no national high school cheer score sheet.
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding on the school side. State associations write their own competitive cheer rubrics, and they are not variations on one template. They differ in the number of panels, the number of officials, the scale, and even whether a routine is performed once or three times. Two real examples, from the documents each association publishes:
Georgia: three panels, six officials, 108 points
The GHSA official's score sheet splits the routine across three panels, each signed by two officials. Every category carries a degree of difficulty score, a separate execution score, or both, and half points are permitted. The category maximums below add to 108 for all girl divisions, or 113 in coed divisions where a five point coed difficulty line is added.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Panel | Category | Difficulty | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Jumps | 6 | 8 |
| A | Cheer or chant | 5 combined | |
| A | Dance | 7 combined | |
| A | Overall routine composition | not scored | 7 |
| B | Standing tumbling | 6 | 8 |
| B | Running tumbling | 6 | 8 |
| C | Primary partner stunts | 8 | 10 |
| C | Secondary stunts, tosses and coed | 5 | 6 |
| C | Pyramids | 8 | 10 |
Source: GHSA Competition Cheerleading Guide, Section 5, 2025 Officials' Scoring Instructions and Rubric, ghsa.net.
Two details on that sheet are worth stealing even if you never compete in Georgia. The first is the check box system: the sheet lists specific execution faults, and GHSA states that the boxes "define the areas for improvement for a team's execution scores. This provides coaches with information to assist them on working to improve their execution scores week-to-week." The second is how participation is defined. Difficulty credit depends on how much of the team performs a skill, and GHSA sets "majority" at 51 percent or more: on a team of 15, that is 8 athletes. A team of 16 with 8 performing falls in the less than majority range.
Michigan: three rounds, and totals near 790
Michigan runs a format almost nobody outside the state recognizes. Teams compete three separate rounds, each scored on its own sheet with its own penalty column, and the three add into one total. The published results from the 2026 MHSAA Division 1 Finals show what that produces.
Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Place | School | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rochester Hills Stoney Creek | 237.90 | 231.04 | 321.00 | 789.94 |
| 2 | Rochester | 237.00 | 230.72 | 321.80 | 789.52 |
| 3 | Rochester Adams | 236.50 | 231.66 | 321.00 | 789.16 |
| 4 | Brighton | 237.10 | 231.28 | 320.20 | 788.58 |
| 5 | Grandville | 237.90 | 231.76 | 315.90 | 785.56 |
Source: 2026 MHSAA Division 1 Competitive Cheer Finals results, mhsaa.com. Penalty points were 0.00 for every team shown.
Look at the margin. First through third finished inside 0.78 points of a total near 790, roughly one tenth of one percent, and no team in the top eight took a single penalty point. At that resolution the title is not decided by the hardest skill in the building. It is decided by whichever team stopped giving points away first.
USASF club divisions move to a 100 point sheet for Worlds 2027.
USASF has released an updated scoring rubric for USASF Club divisions at The Cheerleading Worlds 2027. It converts club division scoring from the 170 point format to a 100 point format, which USASF says is intended to align with the IASF 100 point scoring system "while maintaining the scoring priorities, category structure, and overall rubric expectations coaches are already familiar with."
It is a scale change
USASF calls it "primarily a scale conversion, not a major change in scoring philosophy." In most categories the percentage weight stays "within less than one percentage point" of the current sheet.
Jumps become capped
The one real rubric change USASF flags: jumps "will now be evaluated as a capped category," matching the direction already introduced in the IASF system.
Your old scores stop comparing
A 148 last season and a 87 next season are the same performance. Convert every historical score to a percentage now, before your season records become unreadable.
Judging itself is not a free-for-all either. Varsity All Star publishes its requirements: judges must "have no direct affiliation with any team/gym who will be attending," must "pass and be trained and educated in one or more of the United Scoring System categories," and must "attend/view all monthly judges webinars throughout the season," on top of background checks and child maltreatment recognition training. If you plan to question a score, that is the process you are questioning, so read the event producer's protest window before the day rather than after it.
Score sheets are a practice plan you already paid for.
Most programs file the judges' sheets and move on. The sheet is the only outside audit your routine gets all season, and it arrives with the faults already itemized. Four things to do with it before the next practice.
01
Convert to percentages before you compare
Different divisions and different event producers are on different scales, and USASF is about to change its own. A raw score tells you nothing across two weekends. Percentage of the maximum tells you whether you actually improved.
02
Separate technique loss from difficulty loss
They are fixed by opposite work. Losing technique points means conditioning, cleaning and repetition. Losing difficulty points means the skills are not in the routine yet, which is an athlete development problem you cannot solve by Saturday. Know which one you have.
03
Price your deductions
Add up what the falls and boundary steps actually cost, then compare that to the gap between you and the team above you. In most mid season results the deductions alone are bigger than the gap. That is the cheapest place to find points.
04
Track it against your skill records
A difficulty score is a statement about which athletes can currently throw which skills. Tracking skills by level across the roster turns next season's difficulty ceiling into something you can plan toward instead of discover at a competition.
To be clear about what we do: Cheerleaders does not judge competitions and does not issue official score sheets. Nobody outside USASF, IASF and the state associations does. What we handle is the season around the sheet: the roster, skills by level, practice plans, the competition calendar, and tryout score sheets, which are the one kind of sheet a coach genuinely does write.
Cheer competition score sheet questions.
How are cheer competitions scored?
A panel scores the routine against a written rubric, category by category, and fixed deductions come off the total. On the USASF all star sheet most categories carry two scores of equal weight, one for technique and one for difficulty. Stunts and pyramids are 40 points each out of 170, so building is 52.94 percent of the score before anyone tumbles.
How is cheerleading scored?
Two systems, depending on where you compete. All star teams are scored on the USASF or IASF sheet, totalling 135 to 170 points by division. High school teams are scored on their own state association's rubric, which can be a 108 point three panel sheet in Georgia or a three round format totalling near 790 in Michigan.
What is on a cheerleading competition score sheet?
Ten categories on the current USASF master sheet: stunt, pyramid, tosses, standing tumbling, running tumbling, jumps, dance, routine composition and creativity, performance and showmanship, and formations and transitions. The first six are scored twice, once for technique and once for difficulty, at equal value.
How many points is a cheer routine worth?
It depends on the division. The USASF master sheet totals 160 for All Star Prep and Level 1, and 170 for Level 2 through Junior 6 and Senior Level 6, where tosses are added. The IASF sheets total 140, 150 and 135. High school totals are set by each state and do not compare to any of these.
What are the deductions in cheerleading?
Fixed values per occurrence on the USASF deduction sheet dated 7.1.2025: athlete fall 1.0, major athlete fall 2.0, building bobble 2.0, building fall 3.0, major building fall 4.0, legality infraction 4.0, out of level skill 1.0, boundary 1.0, and 1.0 per second over the time limit.
Is there a national high school cheerleading score sheet?
No. Each state association writes its own, and they are structurally different rather than minor variations. Georgia uses three panels of two officials to a 108 point scale. Michigan uses three rounds with finals totals near 790. Score against your own association's guide, never a sheet you found from another state.
Who judges cheer competitions?
Credentialed judges assigned by the event producer and screened for conflicts. Varsity All Star requires no direct affiliation with any attending team or gym, training in one or more United Scoring System categories, and attendance at all monthly judges webinars through the season, plus background checks and child maltreatment recognition training.
What is the difference between a tryout and a competition score sheet?
A tryout sheet ranks individual athletes so you can pick a squad, using personal skills, and you write it yourself. A competition sheet ranks whole routines against other teams, using routine elements, and the governing body writes it. They share a name and almost no structure.
The rest of competition season.
Competition season tools
The calendar, the travel, the roster per event and who is actually cleared to compete.
Cheerleading tryout score sheet
The other score sheet: rubrics, point scales and published district sheets, side by side.
What is all star cheer
Levels, divisions, season length and how the club side differs from school cheer.
Cheer stunts by level
What is legal at each USASF level, which is where your difficulty ceiling comes from.
Software for all star programs
Multiple teams, multiple levels, one season calendar and one set of skill records.
Competition packing list
What actually has to be in the bag before you leave, in the order you will need it.
Game day, every day
Bring the whole season into one place.
Rosters, skills by level, practice plans and the competition calendar, so the score sheet is the only paperwork left.
Takes 30 seconds. No credit card needed.