There are a LOT of new programs opening this year (more on that later in the week). Today I’m here to speak directly to those owners and really – anyone who lacks confidence in their knowledge of all star cheer. I am, by no means, an expert in all star…but I’ve done it for 10 years now and I was a fairly small program until about 2 years ago. Rec was my strongpoint and the largest program in my gym (it still is), but all star was something that just hasn’t really picked up in my small town until recently. I also know when I started I had someone I could ask all my questions to so I didn’t feel like a big dummy. You may not have that, and learning this sport is REALLY HARD. So, I’m going to give you a bit of 101 education today so you feel spun up! Yes, it’s a blog, so my opinion will be slightly integrated here. Bare with me as I try to give you the facts…but also know I’m a pretty opinionated person 🤣

USASF – This is the United States All Star Federation. This is the governing body right now for all star cheer. This is a non-profit organization that offers memberships to gyms and athletes. Through your membership, you can obtain athlete insurance, background checks and training. The USASF writes the rules for our sport that you’ll find at most events. Until recently, they were also the only organization to define age grids (meaning Tiny, Mini, Youth, Junior and Senior.) 

A membership to the USASF is not required. YOU are the gym owner and can determine if this is the right fit for you. Pros – the background checks are required at some events and the training is helpful to assign to your coaches. It does cost extra, so be aware of the pricing. The insurance is affordable and they do offer athlete scholarships as well. Cons – It’s $50 per athlete, but if you attend USASF sanctioned events, you’ll be required to have this membership. (Check with your event producer to see if they are “USASF sanctioned.”) 

Note: At the time of this blog, The Open had just released their own age grid for qualifying events. Rules have not been released. See their links below for details regarding The Open events.

Me: We have been USASF members and required membership from our athletes in the past – but not every year. My gym maintains a membership so military families moving into the area can easily find us, and I can have my staff background checked pretty easily (there are other organizations that will also do this a little cheaper and more thoroughly though.) An athlete’s membership goes with them, make sure you’re not including it in your fees. If you choose to do a membership for them to attend certain events, it’s something the parents need to pay for and register for on their own. Registration can be a complicated process. They have videos and tutorials, but my highly educated parents still had to set up appointments with me to walk them through it.

Varsity – This is a large company in cheer who hosts a large number of events such as NCA, Cheersport and Battle at the Capitol. (Sorry West Coasters…I’m sure they do more out there I’m not thinking about also.) Varsity also sells cheer uniforms, practicewear, shoes, etc. Here’s where it’s a little strange though. Varsity creates the scoresheet used by the majority of the industry for everyone but Worlds teams (like I said…strange and complicated). Varsity events are USASF sanctioned, so you’ll need athlete and coach memberships to attend.

Me: Varsity hosts Summit and US Finals, which used to be the biggest end of season events for non-Worlds teams. (USASF hosts The Cheerleading Worlds.) We attended Varsity events in the past when we were vying for bids to Summit. Now, Summit is held both regionally and nationally. I don’t really know why, because my gym doesn’t compete Varsity anymore really. I know that’s hard on the coasts where there are less options.

IEP – This stands for Independent Event Producers. We’re pretty much talking any events not owned by Varsity. (Varsity’s events all have different names, so you’ll have to go to the registration to find out who owns it. Many years ago, they bought a lot of the IEPs and I still have to look occasionally to see who owns what.) IEPs seem to be more widely attended here in the Midwest, the south and southeast – though they’re growing in popularity every year. I always hear PNW gyms begging for more IEPs to come their way! Some IEPs are sanctioned and some are not, so you’ll need to ask the company to find out if you’ll need USASF memberships to attend. Most IEPs use the USASF rules and Varsity or The Open scoresheets though a few do not, so just do your homework prior to attending. They are not required to do anything and some have adopted modified versions of the age grids and their own deduction systems. I learned my lesson last year to not assume.

Me: I prefer IEPs personally. I have a decent amount of choices here in Missouri. I have been to amazing ones and terrible ones, so I have learned to do my homework, ask around and reach out to the event producer with my questions before confirming new events on my schedule. I’ve even went to events without teams just to check them out. (I was at Wicked this year and popped over during intermission to check out NV Grand Nationals in KC to see if we wanted to attend next year…I’m weird like that.) Registration with IEPs can be through a variety of platforms, so it can take a little longer, so just account your admin time for that.

There are a lot of end-of-year events as well. Don’t feel obligated to attend one. I wrote about that a few weeks ago here. My gym sometimes just ends with a fun competition. If you do though, here are a few popular ones and who they’re hosted by.

The Cheerleading Worlds – This is for level 6 teams and International levels 5-7 teams. Don’t confuse this with All Star Worlds. They’re different. This is hosted in Orlando in May each year by the USASF.

Summit – There are regional Summits around the country as well as D1 Summit and D2 Summit both hosted in Orlando in May. The Youth Summit is also available for younger teams. You need a bid to attend Summit and can compete for those at Varsity events.

Ahh yes. D1 is when you have more than 125 prep and elite athletes in your gym. D2 is when you have less. There are no police coming to your gym to count how many athletes are on the floor, but this number is determined by the number of athletes registered in your gym’s USASF profiles. There are further clarifications for multi-gym locations you can find in the USASF rules.

U.S. Finals – This is a regional event now owned and hosted by Varsity. Bids are a bit easier to receive than Summit and can be found at Varsity events.

All Star Worlds – A group of IEPs got together and started this last year. It’s an end-of-season event in Orlando in April/May. Bids can be received at participating IEPs or you can pay a little more and attend the battle round without a bid. (Note: At the time of this blog, they use the same Facebook page as The Open.)

The Open – This is hosted by the same group of IEPs as All Star Worlds, but The Open is a 2-day event that is hosted regionally in April each year. You can attend both The Open and All Star Worlds.

The One – Another group of IEPs banded together for this event. They offer it regionally at five different locations throughout the U.S. When we competed there a few years ago, they had a slightly different scoresheet than the other events we attended. That may not be the case anymore, but I urge you to always just double check what that scoresheet is going to look like so you can modify your routine accordingly.

There are more end of season events as well. In fact, I heard about some on the beach, and I promise I’ll be looking into those soon too!  

Below are some links to the things I talked about above that you may find helpful! As you may have noticed, I also linked all the event websites so you can check them out.

For those who are reading this, I just want to note a few more things:

  1. Don’t print those rules and put them in a binder until competition season. Things tend to change over the summer and you don’t want to run into issues because you had an old grid or rules sheet.
  2. As with any highly competitive sport, there may be some politics involved. I’ve never been all that interested in that side of the sport. So, my opinions above are strictly my own and not that of Next Gen or any other owners at Next Gen. In fact, you may totally disagree with my opinions and I respect that too. All programs should be run 100% how you believe to be the best for you and your program. I’m more concerned about you running an amazing business that helps kids get confident and love cheer than anything else.
  3. Cheer changes. Constantly. This blog might be out of date in a year, but my goal here was to spin you up on a few things I think most new owners are just afraid to ask. Don’t ever be afraid. Just because there are people who have done this for 20 years doesn’t mean anyone should look down on a new owner. As those 20-year owners retire, I promise they want to see the sport continue to grow and thrive, so you have more support out there than you realize! Never hesitate to ask the questions.

If you found this helpful, stay tuned. Next Gen has some pretty amazing opportunities around the corner for new gym owners!

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