Cheerleader Girls

There are many different organizations that host their own state and national competitions. Some major companies include: Universal Spirit, AmeriCheer, Cheersport, Planet Spirit, Eastern Cheer and Dance Association, and the JAM Brands. This means that many gyms within the same area could be state and national champions for the same year and never have competed against each other. Currently, there is no system in place that awards only one state or national title.
Judges at the competition watch for illegal moves from the group or any individual member. An illegal move is something that is not allowed in that division due to difficulty and safety restrictions. They look out for deductions, or things that go wrong, such as a dropped stunt. They also look for touch downs in tumbling for deductions. More generally, judges look at the difficulty and execution of jumps, stunts and tumbling, synchronization, creativity, the sharpness of the motions, showmanship, and overall routine execution.
All-star cheerleaders are placed into divisions, which are grouped based upon age, size of the team, gender of participants, and ability level. The age levels vary from under 4 year of age to 18 years and over. The divisions used by the USASF/IASF are currently Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior, Junior International, Junior Coed, Senior, Senior Coed, Special Needs, and Open International. The sport originally began with "all girl" teams and later co-ed teams began to gain popularity. That being said, the all girl squad remains the most prevalent.
If a team places high enough at selected USASF/IASF sanctioned national competitions, they could be included in the Cheerleading Worlds and compete against teams from all over the world, as well as receive money for placing. Each team receives a bid from another cheerleading company and goes in the name of that company. You must get a bid from a company in order to compete at the Cheerleading Worlds. For example, a team could get a bid from Cheersport, and they compete as a team representing that company. Cheerleading companies give out three types of bids to go to Cheerleading Worlds, Full Paid Bid, Parital Bid, or an Un-paid bid. The Cheerleading Worlds are only for teams that are level 5 and up.