The Cheerleading Worlds

The Cheerleading Worlds
Tournament information
SportCheerleading
LocationOrlando, Florida
Established2004
Teams500+
Websitehttps://thecheerleadingworlds.net
Infinity Allstars Royals from a small gym in Jacksonville, Florida, winning Gold, 2019

The Cheerleading Worlds, or Cheerleading World Championships, colloquially known as "Worlds", is an annual international championship event for competitive cheerleading held in the United States hosted by the U.S. All Star Federation in partnership with the International All Star Federation (the global organization of professionals and athletes involved in a club or All Star Cheer). Teams from around the world annual to receive a bid to go on and compete in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.[1]

The event is typically held across a three-day span in April or May, featuring preliminary competitions, semi-finals and finals.[2] Only level 5, 6 and 7 cheerleading teams with bids from regional and national competitions are eligible to participate, being offered a "paid" bid covering all expenses up to $25,000, or an "at-large" bid which does not cover any costs.[3][4][5] Around 9,000 athletes from around 40 countries compete annually,[6] with routines being judged on difficulty, execution, creativity and overall composition.[7] The top teams from each round advance, with the winners in each of the 22 divisions receiving championship rings.[4]

From 2007 onwards, The Dance Worlds began concurrently as a sub-event of The Cheerleading Worlds. Like the Cheerleading Worlds, this event is also an invite-only event hosted by the USASF in collaboration with the IASF, showcasing elite dancers from around the world in styles such as hip hop, jazz, pom, kick, contemporary and lyrical. The Dance Worlds currently attracts over 3500 teams made up of over 9000 athletes.[8]

In 2023, 308 dance teams made of 4219 athletes from 15 countries[9] and 539 cheerleading teams made of 11,590 athletes from 18 countries participated in the Cheerleading and Dance Worlds events.[10]

In 2024, 378 dance teams made of 2,912 dancers from 19 countries and 563 cheerleading teams made of 12,838 athletes from 21 countries participated in the Cheerleading and Dance Worlds events. A newly opened (2023) cheerleading gym from Queensland Australia became the first team in history to globe at Worlds in their first cheer season. (23/24). Cheerleading has been officially recognised by the Olympic foundation and continues to grow at an exponential rate.

  1. ^ Federation, U. S. All Star. "U.S. All Star Federation - Cheer & Dance | USASF". www.usasf.net. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Cheerleading Worlds 2019". Cheer Theory. April 23, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Yumpu.com. "bid-winners-acceptance-form". yumpu.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Cornette, Donna (April 6, 2015). "World and Summit Bids Explained". Heart of Cheer. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Cheerleading Worlds | Event Documents". Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  6. ^ "The Cheerleading Worlds |". thecheerleadingworlds.net. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "The Cheerleading Worlds | Scoring". Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  8. ^ USASF; IASF. "The Dance Worlds". The Dance Worlds. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  9. ^ USASF; IASF. "Dance World Participants 2023". Archived from the original on May 5, 2023.
  10. ^ "The Cheerleading Worlds |". June 20, 2023. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.