For Coaches
The USASF level progression
Levels are the backbone of all-star cheer. Each level legalizes a specific band of tumbling, stunt and toss skills, and every skill in a routine must be legal for the level the team competes at. Get placement and legality right and the scoresheet opens up; get them wrong and you’re choreographing straight into a safety deduction. Here’s how the progression works, level by level, and what makes a skill legal or illegal.
Read the current rules — this is orientation, not the rulebook
The boundaries below are the widely-recognized hallmarks of each level, meant to orient a coach to the progression. The binding, exact list of legal and illegal skills lives in the current USASF rules and the level-appropriate documents, which are revised every season. Always verify against the published documents linked from the all-star scoring page.
How levels work
A level measures skill difficulty, not age. A whole team is built at one level, and every athlete competes the skills that are legal for it. An athlete needs consistent command of a level’s skills — not a one-time best attempt — to be placed there safely. Because routines are choreographed to a level’s exact legality rules, rosters generally hold for the season, with skill growth paying off at the next tryout cycle.
Hallmark skills, level by level
Level 1 — foundational
Tumbling: forward/backward rolls, cartwheels, round-offs, and front/back walkovers — no handsprings. Building: stunts to prep (shoulder) height. The entry level where new athletes develop body control and technique.
Level 2
Tumbling: back handsprings arrive (standing and running series). Building: two-leg extended stunts and prep-level single-leg stunts. The first big jump in both tumbling and stunt difficulty.
Level 3
Tumbling: round-off back-handspring tucks and aerials. Building: extended single-leg stunts and release moves. The level where routines start to feel “elite” to a new spectator.
Level 4
Tumbling: standing tucks and running layouts. Building: more dynamic releases and twisting dismounts. A common ceiling for strong competitive teams.
Level 4.2
A defined step between Level 4 and Level 5 — Level 4 building rules paired with limited Level 2 tumbling in the split version, or a stepping stone toward certain Level 5 skills. Has its own rules document; sometimes called “Level 5 Prep” informally.
Level 5
Tumbling: full-twisting layouts. Building: elite release moves and full-up transitions. The top of the domestic Levels 1–5 pathway, whose postseason is The Summit.
Level 6
The first “Worlds level.” High-difficulty transitions, twisting skills and elite basket tosses at the top end of the sport. Eligible for The Cheerleading Worlds.
Level 7
The highest level, competed in International Open divisions, permitting the sport’s maximum-difficulty skills. A small fraction of all teams.
What makes a skill legal or illegal
Legality is a safety system, not an arbitrary one. Each level draws a line around the skills athletes at that stage can perform and spot safely. A skill is “illegal” when it sits above that line — or when a legal skill is performed with a prohibited connection, bracing, or entry. The rules govern not just the skill itself but how it’s built, braced and dismounted.
- A skill above the level’s ceiling is illegal — attempting it draws a safety/legality deduction, not extra difficulty.
- Connection and bracing rules govern how flyers may be linked in pyramids and how stunts may be supported at each level.
- Entries, transitions and dismounts each have their own legality — a legal top skill can be reached by an illegal path.
- Building rules differ between all-girl and coed divisions, reflecting different basing configurations.
- The legality/safety judge enforces these live; a flag becomes a deduction applied after the raw score.
Competing “up” is a losing trade
Because an illegal skill earns a large deduction instead of extra credit — see how much in the deductions guide — sneaking a higher-level skill into a lower-level routine costs more than it could ever earn. Good gyms place conservatively and verify every element against the level-appropriate document before choreography.
Not sure a skill is legal? Submit it
USASF provides a coach tool for pre-event legality review — coaches can submit video of a skill and get it checked before competing it. When a transition or connection is borderline, verifying it in advance is far cheaper than a deduction on the mat.
How the age grid overlays on levels
Level answers “how hard,” and the age grid answers “who’s eligible.” The two combine into a full division like Youth 2 or Senior 4. Age eligibility is set by birth year on the USASF age grid — reissued each season — not by grade or age on tryout day. A team’s level is chosen for the skills; its age division is fixed by the athletes on the roster.
Go deeper on divisions and eligibility in the age grid, explained and cheer levels 1–7, explained. For where these skills come from, see tumbling progressions.
Common questions
Are cheer levels based on age?
No. Levels measure skill difficulty only. Age divisions are a separate overlay set by the USASF age grid, and the two combine into divisions like Youth 2 or Senior 4.
Can a team perform a skill from a higher level?
No — a skill above the team’s level is illegal and draws a safety/legality deduction rather than earning extra difficulty. Every element in a routine must be legal for the level the team competes at.
What is Level 4.2?
A defined step between Level 4 and Level 5 with its own rules document — Level 4 building paired with limited Level 2 tumbling in the split version, created as a stepping stone toward certain Level 5 skills. It’s sometimes informally called “Level 5 Prep.”
Why are building rules different for coed and all-girl teams?
The two use different basing configurations, so USASF writes level-appropriate building rules for each. A skill or connection legal in one division’s configuration isn’t automatically legal in the other — always check the rules for your division.
Where do I find the official, current legality rules?
In the USASF rules and the level-appropriate documents, updated each season. The all-star scoring documents page links the current rulebook, age grid and the level-appropriate PDFs used at Varsity events.
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