Judge's Guide to USASF All Star Cheer Levels 1-5 All Age Divisions 2026-27

For 2026-27 the USASF Club Division score sheet moved from a 170-point to a 100-point scale. The 10 categories and the scoring philosophy (difficulty, technique, comparative judging) are the same, and most weights changed by less than 1%.

The other notable change: jumps are now a capped category, in line with IASF scoring.

In the Levels 1-5 rubric, stunt and pyramid are each split into difficulty (up to 12.0) and technique/execution (up to 12.0), and tosses (Levels 2-5), jumps and dance into difficulty (up to 3.0) and technique/execution (up to 3.0).

• Level appropriate: any skill that is first allowed at that level under the USASF Cheer Rules. A Level 3 team gets level-appropriate credit only for skills first allowed in Level 3, not for Level 1 or 2 skills.
• Skills from lower levels still count when comparing teams (as additional skills and combinations), but don't meet the level-appropriate requirements.
• Majority and most are set by team size in the rubric's quantity charts (stunt groups, toss groups, and athletes for tumbling and jumps).
• Cumulative: difficulty requirements can be met across the whole routine, not in a single section.
• A zero is given only when no skills are performed in a category.
• Hybrid levels (e.g. 4.2) follow the first number's building rules (stunts, pyramids, dismounts, tosses) and the second number's tumbling rules.

Stunt difficulty is cumulative through the routine.

All girl divisions:

Coed divisions:

Transitional skills don't count toward the single-based requirement.

Stunt group quantity chart:

When comparing teams: degree of difficulty, percentage of team participation, minimal use of bases, variety of load-ins, dismounts and transitions, and pace, additional skills and combinations (including non-level-appropriate skills).

Pyramid difficulty (cumulative through the routine):

A pyramid needs at least two structures. Consecutive transitions within a pyramid don't count as hitting a structure, and each structure must meet the USASF definition of a pyramid (two or more connected stunts).

Toss difficulty, Levels 2-5 (cumulative):

Toss group quantity chart:

When comparing toss difficulty: degree of difficulty (Levels 3-5), percentage of team participation, variety (Levels 3-5), additional tosses (including non-level-appropriate ones) and height.

Standing and running tumbling difficulty (each scored separately, cumulative through the routine):

Considered when comparing teams: degree of difficulty, percentage of team participation, use and size of groups, recycled versus unique athletes, synchronization of difficult passes, specialty combinations, variety, and additional skills.

Jump difficulty (advanced jumps: herkie, hurdler, toe touch, pike, double nine):

Team quantity chart (tumbling and jumps):

Levels 1-5 rubric ranges:

What each covers:

• Dance difficulty: visual elements, levels, formation changes, pace and intricacy, footwork and floorwork, partner work, team participation. Dance execution: perfection, sync, spacing, uniformity, arm placement, entertainment value, energy.
• Creativity/composition: innovative, visual, creative ideas across all elements, strong pace, varied formations and seamless flow.
• Formations & transitions: precise spacing and uniform timing.
• Performance: energy, entertainment value, confidence and showmanship.

A zero is given only when no skills or elements are performed in the category.

USASF Scoring System deductions (effective 8/1/2026), each per occurrence unless noted:

These values are lower than in 2025-26 (for example, athlete fall was 1.0 and building fall 3.0), in line with the move from a 170-point to a 100-point score sheet.

For an incomplete tumbling twist, the landing position of the athlete's feet decides completion.

Building bobble (0.5): almost drops but is saved. Includes:

• Lowering a stunt from extended to prep level (not a timing issue)
• A base or spotter dropping to the performance surface during a building skill
• A top person leaning or bearing weight on a base or spotter and being pushed back up
• A pyramid skill that would fall without the bracer's support
• The top person's feet (more than one) or hands touching the surface during a cradle or prone
• A drop to the surface onto the feet from a nugget, thigh stand or waist-level stunt (not timing)

Not a bobble: a drop in the top person's body position, excessive base movement when the top stays aligned and height doesn't change, a balance check, an omitted skill, or timing issues.

Building fall (1.0): drops from a building skill or transition, e.g. drops to a cradle, load-in or prone, or a single-based stunt that drops to the surface with help from a base or spotter.

Major building fall (1.5): drops to the performance surface by the top person and/or bases or spotters, e.g. several bases or spotters hit the floor, the top person lands on a base or spotter who goes down, or a single-based stunt's top person lands on the surface without help. A top person who's set down out of a skill and then trips is not a major building fall.

Athlete falls are separate: 0.25 for a hand or knee down (or an incomplete twist) in tumbling or jumps, 0.5 when multiple body parts hit (hands and knees, seat and hands). Tripping while walking in a transition isn't a fall.

So a Level 3 team performing a Level 4 skill gets the 0.5 out-of-level deduction, while a skill that's illegal at every level up to 6 is a 2.0 safety violation.

Legality is judged against the 2026-27 USASF Cheer Rules. Every skill allowed in a level is also allowed in the levels above it, and a skill not allowed in a level isn't allowed in any lower level.

Time limit

• Elite routines may not exceed 2:30. (Prep and non-tumbling: 2:00. Novice: 1:30.)
• Timing starts with the first movement, voice or note of music, whichever comes first, and ends with the last movement, voice or note of music, whichever comes last.
• Deduction: 0.5 per second over. With a 2:30 limit, deductions begin at 2:31.00.

Boundary

• Deduction: 0.5 per occurrence.
• An occurrence is both feet off the 42 ft × 54 ft performance surface and any immediately adjacent safety border.
• An athlete with at least one foot on the performing surface and/or the adjacent safety border is inbounds.

Yes. Under the USASF Athletic Performance Standards, judges may assess warnings and/or deductions when a team's overall presentation isn't appropriate. Overall presentation includes choreography, music, uniform, makeup, hair and bows.

Inappropriate choreography or music includes, for example:

• Mocking the use of a gun or promoting violence
• Hip thrusting, inappropriate touching, gestures or positioning
• Swear words, sexual connotations, drug references, explicit mention of torso body parts, or violent acts in music, words or sound effects

Replacing offending words with sound effects or other words may still be inappropriate. If appropriateness is questionable, the coach should assume it's inappropriate.

Uniform standards: nothing risqué or lingerie-like; skirts at least 1 inch below briefs; shorts with at least a 2-inch inseam; tops secured over at least one shoulder or around the neck (no tube tops). Exposed midriffs are allowed only in Senior and Senior Open (Club Elite) and U18 and International Open (International Elite), never in Prep or Novice.

Makeup: uniform, age-appropriate, neutral eye and skin colors. No face or eyelid rhinestones.