GHSA Cheerleading Rules 2026-27: GHSA Cheer Rules for Competition Cheer and Game Day Cheer.
Georgia runs the most structured high school cheer season in the country: sixteen athletes, two and a half minutes, three judging panels and a score out of 108. The 2026 Guide changed how a cartwheel entry is counted, added a per athlete deduction for tuck jumps in group tumbling, and tightened the overtime rule to 10 seconds. Here is every rule a Georgia coach needs for this season, in one place.
Written for Georgia high school head coaches and athletic directors. Every number comes from the GHSA 2026-2027 Constitution, the 2026 Competitive Cheerleading Guide (revised August 13, 2026), the Game Day manual and the Spirit Manual. Where GHSA's own documents disagree, we say so and name both.
GHSA competition cheer in six lines
- 16 performers maximum, mascot included
- 2:30 routine, 5 points per 10 seconds over
- Scored out of 108, or 113 for coed
- 3 to 6 regular season meets, 4 for JV
- Region November 7, state November 13 and 14 in Macon
- Rules clinic for every coach, $200 fine per miss
Log each athlete's stunts, tumbling and jumps against the Georgia score sheet, and run your February tryouts on digital score sheets.
The short answer
GHSA cheerleading rules combine the NFHS Spirit Rules Book, which governs safety at every practice and performance, with Georgia's own competition rules. A GHSA competition team puts up to 16 performers on a 42 by 42 foot mat for a routine of 2:30 or less that must include cheer and dance, and is scored out of 108 points by three panels plus safety judges. Teams enter three to six sanctioned meets, then region or sectional on November 7, 2026 and state on November 13 and 14 in Macon. Game Day cheer is a separate coed championship in December, and every cheer coach must complete the GHSA rules clinic each season.
What are the GHSA cheer rules?
Four documents, in a clear order. The NFHS cheerleading rules are the safety floor: GHSA's constitution says every competition runs under the National Federation Spirit Rules Book and that its safety rules apply to any practice or performance. On top of that sit the GHSA Constitution (who may compete, how many times, the calendar, the fines), the Competitive Cheerleading Guide (how routines are judged and scored), and the Spirit Manual, which collects the rules most often broken in Georgia and the ones GHSA added beyond NFHS.
The practical rule for a coach: if an official cannot cite an NFHS rule, a Guide section or the Constitution for a call, the Guide says the team gets a warning, not a deduction. That makes the citations worth knowing, and it is why GHSA posts weekly rule interpretations for officials on its competitive cheer YouTube channel during the season.
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| Document | What it decides | 2026-27 edition |
|---|---|---|
| NFHS Spirit Rules Book | Which stunts, tosses, pyramids and tumbling are legal, at practice and in performance | 2026-27 edition, sold separately; the GHSA office also sells it |
| GHSA Constitution, cheerleading section | Divisions, team size, number of meets, tryout window, camps, postseason, fines | Updated August 7, 2026 |
| GHSA Competitive Cheerleading Guide | Score sheets, panels, deductions, timing, tie-breakers, region and state procedures | Revised August 13, 2026 |
| GHSA Spirit Manual | Sideline and basketball cheer conduct, uniform rules, forms needed before tryouts | Revised June 2026 |
| Game Day Competition Manual | The separate Game Day championship: format, skill limits, timing, music | 2026-2027 edition |
GHSA competition cheer rules at a glance
Each school may field one varsity competition team, plus as many non-competing spirit squads as it likes. All-girl teams compete by classification; a team with one or more males is coed, and coed is a single open division across every classification. Coed and all-girl teams may not meet in the regular season, and a team cannot switch divisions without GHSA approval.
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| Rule | 2026-27 requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Performers | 16 maximum; a mascot counts as one | The roster may be bigger. Choose your 16 per meet and log who performed. |
| Spotters | Must be among the 16 | Alternates and coaches cannot spot. Plan stunt groups so the 16 cover every spot. |
| Coaches on the floor | 3 in warm-ups and the coaches' area | Gym staff may spot in warm-ups only as one of the 3 credentialed coaches. |
| Routine length | 2:30 maximum | Timed from first motion or sound to last, or to the top of the final stunt or pyramid. |
| Overtime | 5 points per 10 seconds or portion over | A routine at 2:33 loses 5 points; 2:41 loses 10. Build to 2:25. |
| Start | Within 30 seconds of "You may begin" | Late start is a 5 point delay of meet. Routines may not start in a stunt. |
| Content | Cheer and dance required; tumbling only inside the routine | No tumbling on the entrance or exit. Cheer needs at least 3 eight-counts with an incorporation. |
| Props | Poms only | A sign, or a uniform piece used as a sign, is a disqualification. |
| Mat | 42 by 42 foot blue cheer mat, at least 1 3/8 inch thick | The floor is out of bounds. Both feet off the mat is a violation; one foot is not. |
| Music | Submitted through the ClicknClear portal, approved by the principal | Profanity, suggestive or taunting lyrics cost 10 points per act. |
| Regular season | 3 to 6 meets varsity; 4 for JV | Fewer than 3 in your declared division and the team is not eligible for region. |
| Athlete meet cap | 6 tournaments per athlete, JV and varsity combined | An athlete swinging between JV and varsity burns through the cap fast. Track it per athlete. |
Exhibitions do not exist in GHSA cheer. Any performance, even at your own invitational, counts as a competition against the six. That catches programs that "just show the routine" at a home event in September and then find they have a meet fewer left in October.
How is GHSA competition cheer scored?
GHSA competition cheer is scored out of 108 points, or 113 for coed teams, by a seven person panel: Panel A for jumps, cheer, dance and overall routine composition, Panel B for tumbling, Panel C for stunts and pyramids, plus floor safety. Most categories split into difficulty (DOD) and execution (EXE), and half points are allowed in most of them.
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| Panel | Category | Points | Panel total |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Jumps: DOD 6, EXE 8 | 14 | |
| A | Cheer / chant | 5 | |
| A | Dance | 7 | |
| A | Overall routine composition | 7 | 33 |
| B | Standing tumbling: DOD 6, EXE 8 | 14 | |
| B | Running tumbling: DOD 6, EXE 8 | 14 | 28 |
| C | Primary partner stunts: DOD 8, EXE 10 | 18 | |
| C | Secondary stunts and tosses: DOD 5, EXE 6 | 11 | |
| C | Pyramids: DOD 8, EXE 10 | 18 | 47 |
| Coed | Coed stunt difficulty | up to 5 | 5 |
43 percent is stunts
Panel C carries 47 of 108 points. Partner stunts and pyramids alone are 36, more than all of tumbling. A team with average tumbling and clean, difficult stunts outscores a tumbling team with shaky pyramids.
Execution breaks ties
The first tie-breaker is the sum of every EXE score, then cheer plus dance plus composition. Difficulty you cannot hit clean costs you twice: in the category and in the tie-break.
No appeals
The Guide is explicit: no protests, no appeals, decisions are final. Video review exists only at state, on an iPad run by two judges, and coaches cannot view it.
For coed teams the required number of coed stunts scales with the number of males on the mat, from one stunt for one or two males up to five for nine or ten. If you are building your own practice rubric from these weights, the cheerleading score sheet page compares published state and event sheets category by category.
GHSA cheer deductions, from 1 point to disqualification
A major violation needs two of three officials, the head judge and the two safety judges, to agree. A falling stunt group counts as one fall; on a pyramid, one side is one fall and both sides are two.
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| Deduction | What triggers it |
|---|---|
| 1 point per athlete | A tuck jump or tuck hop during group tumbling (new for 2026) |
| 2 points each | Jewelry, glitter, uniform, lost shoe, hair or nails (NFHS Rule 2 Section 1); inattentive spotter; a flyer without a foot on the floor at the start; tumbling onto or off the mat; starting off the mat; falls; out of bounds |
| 5 points each | NFHS Rule 2 Sections 2 to 10 stunt and tumbling safety violations; delay of meet; each overtime increment |
| 10 points per act | Sportsmanship, including music with profanity, suggestive content or taunting lyrics |
| Disqualification | Too many performers, illegal substitution, an ineligible athlete, unauthorized props or signs, or marking the routine after an injury restart |
Georgia also enforces several rules beyond plain NFHS that show up as uniform and safety calls: midriffs covered, skirts covering briefs, males in pants, no tank tops, leggings or tights are not a uniform, bows in school colors, hair above the waist and no glitter anywhere. The 2026 Safety Quick Reference Guide collects them in one sheet, and it is worth a read before the first uniform order.
GHSA competition cheer changes and clarifications for 2026
GHSA published six headline changes ahead of the 2026 Guide, then a manual update covering the score sheets. These are the ones that change what you choreograph.
Cartwheel entries are running tumbling
A cartwheel is forward movement, so anything that follows it, a cartwheel tuck or a cartwheel full, is scored as running tumbling. Cartwheels themselves moved to running tumbling DOD 1. Standing tumbling passes that start with a cartwheel no longer count as standing.
Tuck jumps in group tumbling cost points
An athlete who tuck jumps or hops while the rest of the group tumbles costs the team 1 point each. A round-off back handspring rebound is treated as an omission, not a deduction.
Out of bounds means both feet
Only both feet outside the mat, or the whole athlete off it, is out of bounds. One foot or a hand on the floor is no longer a call.
Anyone may stop for injury
An official, the coach or the host may stop a routine for an injury. Marking the routine after the restart is a disqualification.
One second over is overtime
Timing runs from the first organized motion or sound to the last, and the Guide deducts per 10 seconds or portion. The head judge may waive 3 seconds or less.
Video replay at state
An iPad at the judges' table reviews hand placement, illegal stunts or baskets, tumbling, timing and out of bounds. It is not used for difficulty, after the meet, or by coaches.
The constitution changed around it too. Regions now cover 2A through 7A, the private school sectional moved to 2A through 4A, "non-coed" became "all-girl", the summer camp window now closes July 27, and Game Day expanded and moved to Macon. The manual update also rewrote the Panel A checkboxes for cheer, dance and composition, moved the suspended roll to intermediate difficulty, and made inattentive spotter the only NFHS Rule 2 Section 2 item that costs 2 points.
GHSA cheer dates and deadlines for 2026-27
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| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| February 1 to last day of school | Tryout window: one block of 10 consecutive school days, shared by every cheer team at the school |
| Last day of school to July 27 | Camps allowed; all summer activity voluntary; dead weeks are Memorial Day week and July 4 week |
| June 1 | Sanction requests due for invitationals |
| July 27 | First practice for competition and Game Day cheer |
| August 1 | Registration deadline for invitationals |
| August 3 to August 24 | GHSA online rules clinic window for cheerleading coaches |
| August 8 | First competition |
| August 25 onward | The AD or principal files a withdrawal form for any invitational the team drops |
| October 1 | Postseason rosters and the all-girl or coed declaration due on app.ghsa.net |
| October 19 to November 9 | Rules clinic window for basketball cheer coaches |
| Saturday, November 7 | Region and sectional meets; results posted by 8:00 PM |
| November 13 and 14 | Competition cheer state championship, Macon Coliseum |
| December 10 and 11 | Game Day state championship, Macon Coliseum |
Region hosts for November 7: Vidalia High School for A and 2A, Morgan County for 3A, West Laurens for 4A, Allatoona for 5A, Houston County for 6A, and Walton for 7A and coed. At state, Friday runs 3A and 4A in the morning and 5A and 6A at 3:00 PM; Saturday runs 1A, 2A and private at 10:00 AM and 7A and coed at 3:00 PM. The competition season ends when the team is eliminated, and no practice is allowed after that.
What is GHSA game day cheer?
Game Day is a separate coed state championship that judges what a squad does on a Friday night: leading the crowd, working with the band and reacting to the game. A school may enter one varsity Game Day team, which can mix sideline and competition cheerleaders or any eligible student, and may enter up to three regular season Game Day competitions. Sanctioning is due by July 1.
7 to 24
Participants, with mascots and flag runners counted in the total. They may not stunt. The team fee covers up to 2 alternates and 3 coaches.
3 x 1:00
Qualifying round: Band Chant, Crowd Leading (starts at a buzzer, no music) and Fight Song, each scored separately.
3:00
Final round: one continuous routine of Band Chant, a Situational Response to the announcer's cue, then Fight Song. Scores do not carry over.
$180
Team fee for the Game Day state championship, December 10 and 11 in Macon. Spectators pay $20 for the day.
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| Game Day rule | 2026-27 |
|---|---|
| Tosses | None: no basket, sponge or elevator tosses |
| Inversions and dismounts | No inversions, no twisting dismounts |
| Single leg extended stunts | Liberties and liberty hitches only |
| Tumbling | No running tumbling; standing skills one at a time, back tuck the highest allowed |
| Fight Song stunts | Up to 3 consecutive eight-counts of stunts, jumps and tumbling |
| Props | Signs, poms, flags, rally towels and megaphones only |
| Overtime, qualifying | 3, 5 or 7 points at 1:04 to 1:08, 1:09 to 1:13, and 1:14 or more |
| Overtime, final | 3, 5 or 7 points at 3:06 to 3:10, 3:11 to 3:15, and 3:16 or more |
| Other deductions | 3 per illegal NFHS skill; 0.5 for both feet out of bounds; 1 for excessive celebration or an organized entrance or exit; too many participants is a DQ |
| Music | Recorded band music; streaming sources such as YouTube or an Apple Music subscription are not accepted. Bring printed license proof to check-in or count the routine verbally |
| State registration | Opened August 6, closed September 15; $25 late fee to the final cutoff of September 18; payment to Varsity Spirit due October 2 |
Game Day rewards a different athlete than competition cheer: the one with a voice, timing and crowd instinct rather than the biggest tumbling. For what the format looks like nationally and how other events score it, see our game day cheer guide.
Do GHSA cheer coaches have to take a rules clinic?
Yes, every one of them. The constitution requires all cheerleading coaches, competition and sideline, to complete a GHSA rules clinic or the school is fined, and By-Law 2.54 extends it to faculty coaches, community coaches and student-teaching interns. The fine schedule sets $200 per case, revokes the coach's GHSA pass, and gives the coach until midnight on the tenth day after the deadline to finish, without coaching in the meantime.
Rules clinic, every season
Cheerleading window August 3 to August 24, 2026; basketball cheer October 19 to November 9, 2026, on learn.ghsa.net. The Spirit Manual adds a yearly test for competition and spirit coaches.
CPR and AED
Compression-only CPR at minimum plus AED training, before team activity starts or within 30 days of it, renewed at least every two years.
Concussion training
Traumatic head injury training through CDC HEADS UP or NFHS at least every two years.
Heat and humidity policy
Each head coach signs the statewide heat policy at the start of every season. July 27 practices in Georgia make this a real rule, not a form.
Community coaches
Must complete the GHSA Coaches Education Program and work under a certified professional. A community coach cannot be the varsity head coach.
No outside competitions
A GHSA coach may not be involved in any non-sanctioned competition during the school year, and only approved coaches may assist at GHSA meets.
Fines elsewhere in the schedule are larger: $250 to $1,000 for a physical not on file or an unauthorized coach, $500 to $2,500 for illegal practice, and $200 to $1,000 for an ineligible student or an unsanctioned competition. National certification is a separate question; the cheerleading coach certification page covers the USA Cheer and USASF courses coaches add on top.
Six places the GHSA documents disagree with each other
We read the 2026-27 constitution, the Guide, the Game Day manual and the fines appendix side by side. They mostly agree. Where they do not, here is what each says and which one we would plan around. When a call is at stake, ask your region's head judge or GHSA directly.
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| Topic | One document says | Another says | Plan around |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overtime penalty | Constitution: 5 points per 15 seconds | Guide and score sheet: 5 points per 10 seconds | The Guide. It is newer and it is what judges score from. |
| Coed state date | Constitution: Saturday, November 11 | Guide and dates page: Saturday, November 14 | November 14. November 11, 2026 is a Wednesday. |
| Region advancement | Constitution: top 16 advance, top 8 from sectionals | Guide page 6-4: top 8 from each class | Confirm with your region before telling families. |
| Camp window | Constitution and Spirit Manual: until July 27 | Guide: up until August 1 | July 27, the stricter and more recent date. |
| Rules clinic deadline | Clinic schedule: cheer window to August 24 | Fines appendix: fall deadline August 15 | Finish by August 15 next year and the question never comes up. |
| Game Day classifications | Constitution: A through 7A | Game Day manual: private and 1A through 6A | Check your division on your state registration. |
How a Georgia program keeps all of this straight
None of these rules is hard on its own. What trips programs up is that they live in five documents and land on different people: the tryout window on the head coach, the withdrawal form on the AD, the six meet cap on each athlete, the clinic on every assistant. Four records cover almost all of it.
1. A tryout scored the same way by every judge
Ten consecutive school days, outside judges allowed, no outside instructors. A digital score sheet weighted like the GHSA panels gives every athlete the same scale and leaves a record the AD can pull when a parent asks.
2. A skill record per athlete, mapped to the score sheet
Panel C is 47 points. Knowing which flyers hit which extended stunts clean, and when, is how you build difficulty you can execute, and how you choose your 16 for each meet.
3. Meet counts per athlete
The six tournament cap is per athlete across JV and varsity. A roster that logs who performed at each meet answers the question before region, not after.
4. Staff requirements with dates
Rules clinic, CPR and AED, concussion training and the heat policy each run on their own clock. One staff list with expiry dates prevents a $200 fine and a benched assistant.
That is the work Cheerleaders does for a school program. Digital tryout score sheets let each judge score from a phone onto one ranked sheet with an audit log, and skill tracking logs every stunt, jump and tumbling skill per athlete with a date. The practice planner turns a July 27 start into timed blocks the whole staff can see. A single varsity squad runs on the Team plan at $29 a month; a program with JV, varsity and a Game Day team uses the Program plan at $79 a month, which adds tryouts and skill tracking for up to five teams and three coach seats. See pricing or the cheerleading app for school teams page for how a high school season runs in it.
What are the GHSA cheer rules?
GHSA cheer rules are the NFHS Spirit Rules Book plus Georgia's own additions in the GHSA Constitution, the Competitive Cheerleading Guide and the Spirit Manual. NFHS sets the safety rules for every practice and performance. GHSA sets everything about competition: 16 performers, a 2:30 routine, a score out of 108, deductions, the season calendar and the mandatory coach rules clinic.
How many cheerleaders are on a GHSA competition team?
A GHSA competition cheer team may put at most 16 performers on the mat, and a mascot counts as one of the 16. The roster itself can be larger than 16. Spotters must come from the 16 on the floor, so alternates and coaches cannot spot, and only three coaches may be in warm-ups and in the coaches' area.
How long is a GHSA competition cheer routine?
A GHSA competition routine may run 2:30 at most. Timing starts at the first organized motion or first sound of music and stops at the last motion or sound, or at the top of the final stunt or pyramid. The 2026 Guide deducts 5 points for each 10 seconds or portion over, so a routine that runs 2:33 loses 5 points.
How is GHSA competition cheer scored?
GHSA competition cheer is scored out of 108 points, or 113 for coed teams, by three panels. Panel A scores jumps, cheer, dance and overall routine composition for 33 points. Panel B scores standing and running tumbling for 28. Panel C scores partner stunts, secondary stunts and tosses, and pyramids for 47. Ties go to the higher total of execution scores.
What is GHSA game day cheer?
GHSA Game Day cheer is a separate coed state championship built around sideline skills. Teams of 7 to 24 perform three one-minute routines in qualifying: Band Chant, Crowd Leading and Fight Song. Finalists perform one three-minute routine that adds a Situational Response to an announcer's cue. There are no tosses, inversions or running tumbling, and a back tuck is the highest standing skill.
When is GHSA cheer state 2026?
The 2026 GHSA competition cheer state championship is November 13 and 14, 2026 at the Macon Coliseum, after region and sectional meets on Saturday, November 7. Friday runs 3A and 4A in the morning and 5A and 6A in the afternoon; Saturday runs 1A, 2A and private in the morning and 7A and coed in the afternoon. Game Day state is December 10 and 11, 2026, also in Macon.
Do GHSA cheer coaches have to take a rules clinic?
Yes. Every cheerleading coach, competition and sideline, faculty and community, must complete the GHSA online rules clinic each season or the school is fined. The 2026 cheer clinic window ran August 3 to August 24, and basketball cheer runs October 19 to November 9. The fine is $200 per case, and the coach cannot coach until the clinic is done.
When are GHSA cheer tryouts allowed?
GHSA cheer tryouts must happen in one window of 10 consecutive school days between February 1 and the last day of school, and every cheer team at the school shares that window. Outside instructors may not run tryouts, but outside judges are allowed. Each athlete needs a physical and the signed medical and risk forms on file before she tries out.
How many competitions can a GHSA cheer team go to?
A GHSA varsity competition team may enter up to six regular season competitions plus region or sectional and state, and must attend at least three in its declared division to qualify for the postseason. JV teams are limited to four. No single athlete may compete in more than six tournaments total, JV and varsity combined, and exhibitions count as competitions.
Can a GHSA cheerleader also cheer all star?
The GHSA cheer documents do not prohibit an athlete from also cheering all star. The restriction falls on coaches: a GHSA coach may not be involved in non-sanctioned competitions during the school year, and only approved coaches may assist at GHSA meets. Athletes should still remember that school routines follow NFHS rules, which ban some all star skills such as basket toss back flips.
Keep building the season
NFHS cheerleading rules 2026-27
The national safety rules GHSA adopts, with this season's rule changes.
Cheerleading stunts by level
Stunt names, progressions and what each skill level can build.
Cheerleading pyramids
Pyramid names, building rules and the transitions that draw deductions.
Cheerleading tryouts
How to run a tryout that holds up when a parent asks for the scores.
Cheer tryout packet
The forms, costs and scoring model to publish before a February tryout.
Cheerleading coach certification
USA Cheer and USASF courses coaches add to the GHSA requirements.
Game day, every day
Run a Georgia season from one roster
Score February tryouts on digital sheets, log every athlete's skills against the GHSA score sheet, and plan practices from July 27 to state.
Takes 30 seconds. No credit card needed.