The Cheerleading Worlds

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.
The event is typically held across a three-day span in April or May, featuring preliminary competitions, semi-finals and finals. 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. Around 9,000 athletes from around 40 countries compete annually, with routines being judged on difficulty, execution, creativity and overall composition. The top teams from each round advance, with the winners in each of the 22 divisions receiving championship rings.
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.
In 2023, 308 dance teams made of 4,219 athletes from 15 countries and 539 cheerleading teams made of 11,590 athletes from 18 countries participated in the Cheerleading and Dance Worlds events.
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.
Both The Cheerleading Worlds and The Dance Worlds are invite-only events, with teams required to win bids in order to qualify to compete.
Three types of bids are available: "paid" and "at-large".
Paid bids are only offered to cheerleading teams for the Cheerleading Worlds portion of the event.
For cheerleading teams, a paid bid is designed to cover all competition expenses, including lodging, transportation and registration fees to compete, up to a maximum of $650 per athlete, and for up to two coaches. Paid bids for cheer teams are only awarded to the highest scoring teams at the largest and most prestigious competitions throughout the season leading up to the Cheerleading Worlds event.
Partial-paid bids are also offered for cheerleading teams, awarding up to $325 per athlete and up to two coaches on a bid-winning team for a team's registration package, lodging, and/or transportation to Orlando to participate in the event.
Partial-paid bids are the only form of paid bid offered for dance teams for the Worlds event, also covering the cost of their registration packaging, accommodation and/or transportation to Orlando at a rate of $325 per athlete and up to two coaches, with a maximum of $5000 awarded per team.
At-large bids are the other type of bid available, working the same for both cheer and dance teams for these events. These bids are typically awarded to the teams who are eligible to compete at the Worlds events who are runners-up at bid-qualifying events, functioning as an invitation but requiring teams to pay for 100% of their own costs related to their participation at the event.
More than 120 USASF/IASF member event producers across the United States, as well as event producers within 32 international countries, have the right to host bid qualifying events for both cheer and dance teams.
For the 2023–2024 season, there are 35 bid-qualifying events within the United States at which a team can win a bid to the 2024 Dance Worlds.
In 2010, the Dance Worlds introduced a junior division, in which the bid process functioned differently. Junior teams did not win their bids at events, but rather via a review of video submissions. For US teams, any junior team was welcomed to submit a video to be reviewed, however only six teams were selected to receive at-large bids to compete in this division.
A team awarded a bid must compete at the Worlds event in the same division and team-makeup in which they performed in at the qualifying event where their bid was awarded. The only exception to this is teams competing within the limited division, which is set aside for gyms that only field one Worlds-eligible team. The number of athletes that compete on any Worlds team is not allowed to exceed the number of athletes that took the floor with the team at their bid-qualifying event.
Cheer athletes within the same club are also limited to the number of teams in which they are eligible to compete and earn paid bids, with an athlete being bound to the second team they compete with that receives a paid bid. Teams are also limited in the number of athletes who previously earned paid bids who are allowed to compete for and be awarded paid bids on a second team.
Substitutes and wild-card alternates are also limited, with the number varying by division and global location.
Crossovers of athletes are not permitted between teams from the same club, between different clubs, or between cheer and dance teams from the same or different clubs. In other words, an athlete is only allowed to represent one team in either cheer or one club in dance when competing at Worlds. Also, there is a limit on the number of athletes per team that can compete at both the Summit (an end of year competition for levels 1-5) and The Cheerleading Worlds during the same competition season. This can be complicated for gyms as many level 6 worlds athletes also cross-compete with a level 4 or 5 Summit team at their gym.
The levels and divisions that are offered have changed significantly since the first event in 2004, with the event seeing a large growth and expansion over the years.
In 2025, the event will offer divisions in levels 5, 6 and 7 for international teams competing in IASF worlds divisions, while only offering level 6 divisions in USASF worlds divisions.
USASF teams will not be eligible to compete in any IASF level 5 division but will be allowed to enter in the IASF level 6 and 7 divisions.
It is known that for the 2024 event, the age grids will shift once again, with the minimum age for IASF open divisions levels 5 and 6 increasing to a minimum of 16 years old. Teams competing at the Cheerleading Worlds from the USA must follow the USASF age grid, eligibility, substitutions and alternate guidelines, which will have a known impact on the 2024 Cheerleading Worlds event as the minimum age for open teams saw a rise to a minimum of 18 years on the USASF age grid for the 2023–2024 season.
The categories/styles that have been offered across the competition include hip hop, jazz, pom, contemporary/lyrical, kick, open and junior. USASF divisions offered the opportunity for teams with a target age of 13 to 19 years from within the United States to compete, with IASF divisions offering the opportunity for junior teams aged between 11 and 16 years old and open teams aged 15+ years old to compete.
USASF and IASF provide slightly differing descriptions of these styles, describing their expectations of routines entered within these categories:
The first USASF World Cheerleading Championship was held on April 24, 2004. This event was an invite-only competition, with only two divisions - Senior All Girl Level 5 and Senior Coed Level 5 - and only 14 teams competing. This first event was held at a backstage sound stage at Disney MGM Studios (now Disney Hollywood Studios) at Walt Disney World that held a maximum of 500 spectators. At this point in time, the winners of each category received jackets, similar to NCA and UCA, instead of the rings currently received.
The second Cheerleading Worlds event happened April 23–25, 2005.
This year, the competition expanded to include both small and large divisions within the senior all-girl level 5 and senior coed level 5 categories, for a total of four divisions teams could be eligible within.
This year saw the first international teams competing at worlds with New Zealand All Stars, however, there was not yet a split of international divisions from regular divisions.
The Cheerleading Worlds' third event occurred on April 21–24, 2006.
This year's event introduced the split of international divisions, offering international open all-girl level 5 and international open coed level 5 divisions, making a total of 6 divisions.
This also marked the first time that one gym program took home multiple titles within one year, with Cheer Athletics being the world champion across three divisions and GymTyme All Stars being the world champion across two divisions.
The Cheerleading Worlds 2007 was held on April 20 to 23, 2007 at Walt Disney World, Florida.
This year's event introduced junior divisions in cheerleading, as well as introducing the sub-event to run concurrently, the Dance Worlds.
The first Dance Worlds was held on April 21–22, 2007 at Disney's MGM Studios, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. At this event, limited categories were offered, with senior dance offered in jazz, pom and hiphop for athletes 18 years and younger, and international open dance offered for dancers 14 years and older.
Partial paid bids were offered to this event, awarded to the best teams in one or more of the worlds divisions at a worlds qualifying event. Companies offering partial paid bids offered a specific dollar amount towards a team's travel package, however USASF/IASF did not yet specify the amount of a partial paid bid.
Athletes were not allowed to cross over between cheer and dance teams from the same or other gyms, compete in more than one team, or perform in more than two categories with their team. If a team is found to have a crossover, the team was disqualified, responsible for repaying the total cost of any funds received through a paid or partial paid bid, and was ineligible for any type of bid for The Cheerleading or Dance Worlds for the following years.
This year was also marked the first year that championship rings were introduced for each athlete who was a member of a world championship-winning team.
The 2008 Worlds event was on April 26–28, 2008.
This year marked the introduction of level 6 into the cheerleading divisions, being introduced in the international open category. This year also marked the beginning of limited/unlimited splits in divisions.
The Dance Worlds divisions returned for a second year, being held at Disney's EPCOT in the World Showcase Pavilion.
The 2009 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held on April 25 to 26, 2009. The Cheerleading Worlds divisions were held across the Disney Wild World of Sport's Milkhouse arena and Disney's Hollywood Studios' Indiana Jones Theatre, while the Dance Worlds divisions were held at the World Showplace Pavilion inside Disney's EPCOT, both at Walt Disney World.
Preliminaries were held for all senior level 5 cheerleading divisions as well as all senior dance teams, with only 50% of teams progressing to the finals to compete for the championship.
Preliminaries were also held for international division cheerleading and dance teams, with a maximum of three of the highest scoring teams per country advancing to finals. International division cheerleading score sheets were adjusted to reflect the predominant international skill capabilities at the time.
IASF's Nation Cup was awarded at this event to the highest-scoring team from each country within the top 10 in international divisions, ranked by the average of all scores from all teams per country within a division.
The Dance Worlds introduced a specific amount for their partially paid bids, with bids partially paying $3500 per team for their accommodation packages at Disney's All Star Sports Resort.
Dance athletes were now limited to performing in two categories, representing the same gym/studio. Crossovers between gym/studios were not allowed, and crossovers between cheer and dance teams from the same or other gyms/studios were also not permitted. If a team was found to breach these crossover rules, they were disqualified, responsible for repayment of funds received through any paid bid, and not eligible for any type of bid to either Cheerleading or Dance Worlds the following year.
The 2010 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held between April 22 and 26, 2010 at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
Cheerleading divisions were held on April 24 and 25, 2010 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, with preliminary rounds being held within the Disney Hollywood Studios theme park for the international divisions. Dance divisions were held at EPCOT's World Showcase Pavilion from April 22 to 26, 2010. This year saw the introduction of an international junior dance division for athletes 14 years and younger, competing in the open category where they may incorporate any one style or combination of styles. All styles within the category were judges against each other, with the emphasis placed on choreography, proper technical execution, visual effect, creativity, staging and team uniformity. Semi-finals were also held for this category, with three of the highest scoring teams from each country progressing to finals. Teams within this category did not win their bids at events, rather having the opportunity to submit a video where the top 3 teams were picked to represent their country at the 2010 Dance Worlds. The 2010 Dance Worlds event also saw a split within the Senior Hip Hop division, with a co-ed division being created for teams that contained 2 or more males.
The 2010 event rules limited an athlete to performing a maximum of three times, representing the same studio/program/gym. Crossovers of participants from other studios/programs/gyms were not allowed, with crossovers between cheer and dance teams, regardless of whether it was the same or another studio, also not permitted. If a team was found to breach this rule, the team was disqualified, responsible for repaying the total cost of any funds received through a partial paid bid, and were not eligible for any type of bid for the Cheerleading or Dance Worlds the following year.
The 2011 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held between April 28 and May 2, 2011, at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. The cheerleading divisions were held on April 30 and May 1, 2011, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, while the dance divisions were held between April 28 and May 2 at EPCOT's World Showplace Pavilion.
2011 marked the removal of the junior international cheerleading divisions from eligible worlds divisions. However, the dance divisions expanded with the open hip hop category now splitting into all-girl and coed for teams containing 2 or more males.
Cheerleading preliminary rounds were held for at large bid winners in all divisions with 40 or more registered teams, with the top 50% of at large bid winners moving onto semi-finals with the partial bid and paid bid winners. In all international divisions where 11 or more US teams were entered, Worlds Trial preliminaries were held to advance only the top 10 to semi-finals.
Dance semi-finals were held for all senior divisions, international divisions and junior dance divisions on Saturday 30 April 2011. Within the senior divisions, 50% of the teams progressed from the semi-finals to the finals. For the international and junior dance divisions, a maximum of 3 of the highest-scoring teams from each country progressed from the semi-finals to the finals.
IASF awarded the Nations Cup within international divisions to the highest scoring teams from each country from the top 5 countries, with the top 5 countries determined by the average score of all teams from each country.
The 2012 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds event was held April 27 to April 29, 2012, at the Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando Florida. Cheerleading divisions were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, while dance divisions were once again held at EPCOT's World Showcase Pavilion.
This year's event included preliminary divisions for all cheerleading teams in the senior coed divisions, and teams with at large bids in the senior all-girl cheerleading divisions as well as US worlds trials for all US teams entered in international cheerleading divisions.
A preliminary round was held for U.S. based dance teams entered in the International Open Coed Hip Hop division, titled U.S. Worlds Trials. The top 10 U.S. teams in the U.S. Worlds Trials progressed to the Worlds International Open Coed Hip Hop division's semi-final round, with all teams from non U.S. countries. All dance teams in the international categories then competed in semi finals, with the three highest scoring teams from each country progressing to compete in the finals. All dance teams accepted into the junior dance category competed in a semi-finals round, with the three highest scoring teams from each country progressing to finals. All senior dance categories also had semi-finals, with a minimum of 50% of the teams from each of the senior dance divisions progressing to finals.
IASF's Nations Cup was once again awarded, however this year saw the placements based on each country's highest team in the division instead of being based on an average score of all teams for each country within the division.
This event marked a change in the way age was determined for international categories governed by the IASF, switching to the ICU "year of the competition" model in which the age of the athlete was determined based on their date of birth falling during the year of the competition. This meant that an athlete who was 13, but turned 14 before December 31, 2012, was eligible to compete at the 2012 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds in the international open categories that had a minimum age of 14.
The 2013 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held April 27 to 29, 2013 at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida. Cheerleading teams competed at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, while dance teams competed at EPCOT's World Showcase Pavilion.
Cheerleading preliminaries were held for at large bid winners within the senior all-girl divisions, all teams within the senior coed divisions and all US teams within the international divisions.
Dance semi-finals were held for the senior divisions on the Saturday and Sunday, with a minimum of 50% of the teams from each division progressing to their division final, held over the Sunday and Monday of competition. Junior teams also had a semi-final, with a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressing from semi-finals to finals.
The U.S. teams entering the International Open Coed Hip Hop were required to participate in preliminary U.S. Worlds Trials, in which the top 10 teams would progress to the Worlds International Open Coed Hip Hop division semi-finals round with all teams from non-U.S. countries. Within the international divisions, a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressed from semi-finals to finals in the international divisions.
Dance athletes were allowed to perform up to three times representing the same program, however was not allowed to represent other programs or cross over to a cheer team competing at the Cheerleading Worlds.
This year's event introduced new dance divisions, offering a coed split in the international open jazz and pom categories, as well as a male only division in the international open hip hop division.
The 2014 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held April 26–28, 2014 at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. The Cheerleading Worlds divisions were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, while the Dance Worlds divisions were held at EPCOT's World Showplace Pavilion.
Cheerleading division preliminaries were held for winners of at-large bids within the senior divisions, with senior coed divisions split into groups A and B and the top 10 from each preliminary round progressing to semi-finals. Preliminaries were also held for all US cheerleading teams within the international open divisions, with the top 10 advancing to compete in international open semi-finals. Preliminaries for the US international open teams, known as world trials, had their preliminaries held at Epcot's World Showcase pavilion.
Dance semi-finals were held for the senior divisions, with a minimum of 50% of the teams from each division progressing to their division final. Junior teams also had a semi-final, with a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressing from semi-finals to finals. The U.S. dance teams entering the International Open Coed Hip Hop were required to participate in preliminary U.S. Worlds Trials, in which the top 10 teams would progress to the Worlds International Open Coed Hip Hop division semi-finals round with all teams from non-U.S. countries. Within all international dance divisions, a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressed from semi-finals to finals in the international divisions.
At this event, an athlete was allowed to perform up to three times representing the same dance program, however was not allowed to represent other dance programs or cross over to a cheer team competing at the Cheerleading Worlds.
The 2015 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held April 25–27, 2015 at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida. The cheerleading divisions were once again held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex while the dance divisions continued to be held at EPCOT's World Showplace Pavilion.
Cheerleading preliminaries were held for at-large bid winners in the senior small and senior medium divisions for both all-girl and coed teams. The senior small cheerleading divisions had preliminary group splits, with 10 teams advancing from each group to the semi-finals. International open preliminary world trials were held for both US and Canadian cheerleading teams this year due to the number of teams being entered into international open all-girl level 5 and international open coed level 5 from Canada the previous year. No US worlds trials were held for the international open all-girl 6 cheerleading division due to there being less than 11 US teams that had entered the division in 2014, automatically advancing all US teams to semi-finals.
Dance semi-finals were held for all senior dance divisions, with a minimum of 50% of the teams from each division progressing to their division final. Junior dance teams also had a semi-final, with a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressing from semi-finals to finals. The U.S. teams entering the International Open Coed Hip Hop were required to participate in preliminary U.S. Worlds Trials, in which the top 10 teams would progress to the Worlds International Open Coed Hip Hop division semi-finals round with all teams from non-U.S. countries. Within all international divisions, a maximum of 3 of the highest scoring teams from each country progressed from semi-finals to finals in the international divisions.
New divisions were introduced in dance year, as the senior hip hop and senior coed hip hop divisions were split by team size into small and large divisions. Small teams were limited to having 4 - 14 dancers, with large teams being limited to having 15 or more dancers.
The 2016 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held April 23–25, 2016 at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
Cheerleading divisions were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. while dance divisions were held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center.
Preliminaries were held for at-large bid winners in the senior small and senior medium divisions for both all-girl and coed cheerleading teams. The senior small and senior small coed cheerleading preliminaries saw a group A and group B split due to high numbers, with 10 teams from each group advancing to semi-finals.
US world trials cheerleading preliminaries were held for all US teams entered in international open all-girl 5 and international coed level 5 divisions this year, with all US teams in other International divisions automatically advancing to semi-finals.
Canadian world trials cheerleading preliminaries were held for all Canadian teams competing in international open coed 5, with all Canadian teams from other international divisions automatically advancing to semi-finals.
Dance preliminary rounds were held for the small senior hip hop division, with all senior divisions having semi-finals and finals. Between each round, 50% of teams were cut.
Dance preliminaries were also held for all U.S. teams entering in the international open coed hip hop division, known as the U.S. World Trials. The top 10 teams from this round progressed to the semi-finals to compete against all other teams within the division. All international open divisions as well as the international junior dance division held semi-finals, in which only the top 3 scoring teams from each country progressed to the finals.
This year saw an alteration in the crossover rules, with an athlete now allowed to perform up to four times in dance divisions representing the same program. However, the rules not allowing crossovers between programs or between cheer and dance teams remained in place, with a breach of these rules leading to the consequence of disqualification, repayment of any paid bid funds and ineligibility to receive bids for the following year's event.
The 2017 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds was held from April 29 to May 1, 2017, at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida. Cheerleading divisions continued to be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex while this marked the second year that dance divisions were held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center.
Cheerleading preliminaries were held in the senior small and senior medium division for both all-girl and coed teams with at large bids in these divisions. Once again, the senior small and senior small co-ed divisions saw a group A and B split with the top 10 from each group advancing to semi finals. US worlds trial cheerleading preliminaries were held in the international open small coed 5 and international large coed 5 divisions, with Canadian worlds trial cheerleading preliminaries being held in the international open all-girl 5 category. The top 10 from each country's worlds trial advanced to the worlds international semi-finals.
Dance preliminaries were held for all U.S. teams entering in the international open hip hop and international open coed hip hop divisions. These preliminaries were named the U.S. World Trials. Preliminaries were also required for all U.S. dance teams entering the senior hip hop category. The top 10 teams from these rounds progressed to division semi-finals to compete against all other non-U.S. teams within these divisions. Semi-finals were held for all senior dance divisions, international open divisions and junior dance divisions. A minimum of 50% of the senior teams progressed from semi-finals to finals, where as only the top three teams from each countries advanced in the international open and junior dance divisions.
Athletes competing at The Dance Worlds were limited to competing in a maximum of four dance routines representing the same dance program. Athletes were not allowed to crossover between dance programs/studios/gyms or between cheerleading and dance teams/studios/gyms. If a team was found to have breached the cross over rules, they would be disqualified from both this year's event as well as disqualified from receiving a bid for the following year, as well as having to repay any funds received through any paid bid.
This was the first year that contemporary/lyrical was offered as its own defined dance division, offered in both the senior and open age divisions.
The Cheerleading and Dance Worlds 2018 took place at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, between April 28 and 30, 2018. Cheerleading divisions were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, with dance divisions being held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center.
In 2018, senior extra small all-girl level 5 and senior extra small coed level 5 divisions were now eligible for worlds, with some stipulations. These stipulations included that a program could only have one extra small team, either all-girl or coed, and that if a program received a bid in either senior extra small all-girl or senior extra small coed, the program may not compete in any other division or alternatively, the extra small division team must compete in the senior small division.
World trials were held for Canadian teams in the international open all-girl level 5 division and international open small coed level 5 and for US teams in international open small coed 5, international large coed level 5 to advance the top 10 teams to the international division semi-finals.
The 2019 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds was held 27–29 April 2019 at Walt Disney World.
This year saw the introduction of a range of new US only cheerleading divisions, including senior open level 5, senior open small coed level 5 and senior open large coed level 5 divisions. A relaxation was also made in the US only senior extra small all-girl and senior extra small coed divisions, allowing for any program regardless of number of worlds teams to field a team in this division.
New international cheerleading divisions were also introduced, bringing in non-tumbling divisions and global cheer divisions that included crowd-leading cheer alongside the cheer routine. These divisions were introduced for level 5, in both all-girl and co-ed divisions.
Dance divisions also saw a shakeup, with a split occurring between small and large teams in the senior contemporary/lyrical division, as well as a division split between elite and premier hip hop teams in open hip hop and open coed hip hop. Kick was also introduced for the first time as a dance style category.
Preliminaries were held for at-large bid winners in the senior extra small and senior small categories for both all-girl and coed teams.
The 2020 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were originally scheduled to take place April 24–27, 2020.
As part of the intended scheduled competition, USASF and IASF had adjusted division levels, with level 5 restricted becoming level 5, level 5 becoming level 6 and level 6 becoming level 7. IASF had intended to add level 5 divisions to the event as a result, including International Open All-Girl Level 5, International Open Small Coed Level 5, and International Open Large Coed Level 5. They also planned to add International Open All-Girl Non-Tumbling Level 7 and International Open Non-Tumbling Coed Level 7. The new level 5 and non-tumbling level 7 divisions were restricted to only non-U.S. based teams.
However, due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the USASF announced on April 23, 2020, that the event was cancelled.
Before announcing the cancellation, USASF had sent an email to gym owners and coaches exploring the possibility of postponing the event until the last week of June 2020, which ultimately did not go ahead.
IASF did not cancel their divisions outright for the year at the time of the USASF cancellation, instead postponing with the hope of running a September event in conjunction with the ICU World Championships. However, by May 2020, it became apparent that would not be viable, leading to IASF director, Les Stella, issuing an official notice of cancellation. At the time, they also announced they would be extending the junior division ages a year, in order for any 2020 IASF junior-aged athlete to be eligible to compete in 2021.
Controversy broke out surrounding the USASF cancellation due to the news being leaked before a public announcement. USASF sent a confidential email to gym/studio owners and coaches the night before a planned public announcement, explaining their cancellation decision, with the intent of allowing gym owners and coaches to disseminate that information among their worlds athletes and families before the public was aware. The owner of the cheer news updates site, "Cheer Updates", DJ Yeager, was a cheer coach who also received this email, publishing the news to his Cheer Updates site shortly after receiving the email, before USASF had made their public announcement. This was the first that some athletes and families had heard of the cancellation, as their programs had not yet informed them, causing wide-scale controversy and confusion in the time before USASF made their announcement.
The Cheerleading and Dance Worlds 2021 was the first year that saw an event go ahead with USASF and IASF running their worlds events separately as a result of travel restrictions associated with COVID-19.
For 2021, the level changes that had been intended to be implemented for IASF governed cheerleading divisions at the cancelled 2020 event were enacted. In October 2018, IASF announced an introduction of a level 7 division for the 2020 world championships, with level 5 restricted becoming level 5, level 5 becoming level 6 and level 6 becoming level 7. This had an impact on the divisions offered at both events held this year.
The USASF Cheerleading and Dance Worlds took place between May 6–10, 2021, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Walt Disney World, Florida. Instead of running concurrently, the Dance Worlds divisions ran first on May 6 and 7, 2021, while the Cheerleading Worlds divisions ran on May 8–10, 2021, in order to reduce crowds as a protective measure against COVID-19. Due to international travel restrictions, this event was restricted to only teams from the U.S. competing.
In recognition of the impact that COVID-19 had on teams being able to attend events to earn a worlds bid, USASF introduced applicant bids for this event only. This allowed teams that attended at least three 2020-21 USASF-sanctioned competitions, one of which must have been a 2021 worlds bid qualifying event, to apply for a bid. If approved, this was treated as an "at-large" bid, with teams paying for their own worlds registration packages and all other expenses.
Exceptions were also made to the cheer athlete bid limitations for the 2021 event only due to the uncertainty around COVID-19, with the number of athletes that previously earned a paid bid, and were eligible to compete for and be awarded a paid bid on a second team were not held to compete with the second team. The number of athletes eligible for this exception per team ranged from 1-3 depending on the size of the team/division.
Crossover rules were altered for this year as an exception to the normal rule, allowing crossover of athletes between dance and cheer teams, allowing an athlete to compete in both The Cheerleading Worlds and The Dance Worlds for the first time in the event's history. The number of times an athlete was allowed to perform was also increased, with an athlete now allowed to perform up to five times. Crossovers between dance programs remained prohibited at this event.
Preliminary rounds were held for teams in teams competing in the senior extra small all-girl level 6, senior extra small coed level 6 and senior open small coed level 6 divisions.
All dance teams competed in semi-finals in each division and category. A minimum of 50% of teams in the senior divisions advanced to finals, with the top three teams from each country in the IASF open and junior divisions advancing to finals.
With the aim of making some level of participation available for athletes around the globe, IASF announced in February 2021 that they were working to secure dates in September 2021 for the IASF Worlds Championship events for both cheerleading and dance. At that time in February, they were also considering a virtual 2021 option, as well as a hybrid format allowing for both in-person and virtual categories. However, it was announced in June 2021 that due to ongoing restrictions and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IASF Worlds would take place virtually in 2021.
Due to the ongoing impact, the announcement was made by IASF in July that they would be hosting the event virtually on October 1–2, 2021, with teams submitting videos of a "semi-final" and "finals" performance taken inside of a consecutive three-day window via the CheerMatch app, that would be scored by the judges.
Eligible cheerleading teams included all teams who had earned a bid to the cancelled 2020 Worlds event, as well as any bids earned for the 2021 event. Level 7 Cheerleading teams were not required to earn a bid to enter, with it open to all, and no substitute rule and regulations were enforced at this event. Due to the impact of COVID-19, IASF allowed U17 (Junior) and U19 (Senior) teams to have an extra year of eligibility at the upper end of their age ranges to recognise the athletes who had aged out never finishing their final year.
Eligible dance teams included both U.S. and non-U.S. dance teams that had earned a 2020 or 2021 Worlds' bid in the International, Open or Junior division, with non-U.S. junior division teams being exempt from earning a bid to participate. In recognition of COVID-19 restrictions and their impacts on countries holding qualifying competitions, a team was also allowed to apply for an at-large bid based on their 2019–2020 season history if they did not have an existing bid.
To accommodate the virtual format, upon registration, teams selected a three-day window between September 1 and September 22 in which to record and submit routines via the CheerMatch Capture App. During their three-day period, teams were allotted two capture opportunities for two different performances, in which they could choose the best capture for each, and designate one performance for "semi-finals" and the other for "finals".
Judges scored all semi-final performances in each division on October 1, with the top three teams from each country in each division advancing to the finals round, where the pre-recorded performances were judged on October 2 to determine the champions.
The 2022 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds event returned to its regular in person format, with IASF and USASF worlds being held as part of the same event. This competition was held between April 23 to 25, 2022 at Walt Disney World Resort, with cheerleading divisions returning to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and dance divisions returning to Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Centre.
Cheerleading preliminaries were held at this event for teams with at large bid in the senior extra small all-girl, senior extra small coed, senior open small coed, international open all-girl non-tumbling level 6 and international open coed non-tumbling level 6 divisions. The top 10 teams from the preliminary rounds advanced to compete in the semi-final round along with teams who held partially paid and fully paid bids. The change was made in round advancements this year that if 40 or more teams competed in a division's preliminary round or semi-final round, then 15 teams would move forward to the next round of the competition instead of the traditional 10 teams.
However, only senior small hip hop teams that held at-large bids competed in dance division preliminaries, with a minimum of 50% of these teams advancing to semi-finals with partial-paid bid teams. Semi-finals were held for all dance divisions, with 50% of teams in senior divisions and top three teams from each country in open and junior divisions advancing to finals.
At this event, three new senior cheerleading divisions were offered for programs that were represented by only one team at the Cheerleading Worlds in the extra small/small all-girl, extra small coed and small coed divisions. Teams qualified by competing in their traditional category, but had the option to transfer to the appropriate limited category when registering for worlds.
IASF announced in May 2018 that they would be applying a "full top uniform" rule from the 2021 Cheerleading Worlds event onwards for teams in the international IASF-governed divisions, however, this was pushed to 2022 as a result of the pandemic. This meant that the 2022 Cheerleading Worlds was the first event to enforce this rule. This rule stated that teams competing in any international division must compete in a full top uniform, with no crop tops, half tops or mid-riffs being allowed per the image policy. This rule change was put in place in an attempt to promote a more globally athletic image of cheer.
The previous crossover rules that prohibited an athlete from performing in divisions at both The Cheerleading Worlds, as well as The Dance Worlds, returned. Crossover rules continued that prohibited an athlete from crossing over between dance programs at The Dance Worlds. An athlete was allowed to perform up to five times representing the same dance program at the event.
The 2023 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held from April 21 to April 24, 2023, at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida. Cheerleading divisions were held at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, while dance divisions were held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Centre.
Cheerleading preliminary competition rounds were held for senior open small coed teams with at-large bids, and U.S. teams with at-large bids in the international open all-girl non-tumbling level 6 and international open coed non-tumbling level 6 divisions. The top 10 teams from each of these preliminary rounds advanced to the semi-final rounds which included teams with partially paid and fully paid bids.
The semi-final round for the international open all-girl non-tumbling level 6 and international open coed non-tumbling level 6 divisions were declared the U.S. world trials, including only paid bid U.S. teams and the top 10 U.S. at large-bid teams from the preliminary round. Trophies and gold, silver and bronze medallions were awarded to the top three U.S. teams, and U.S. teams placing fourth through 10th were awarded trophies. The top three teams U.S. teams from this semi-final advanced to the division finals, along with the top three teams from other countries from the semi-finals.
Dance preliminary competition rounds were held for teams with at-large bids in the senior small contemporary/lyrical division, with a minimum of 50% of teams advancing to the semi-finals. Semi-finals were held for all divisions, with senior divisions having 50% of teams advance to the finals and open and junior divisions advancing the top three teams from each country.
IASF introduced five new international world cheerleading divisions for teams under 18. Prior to 2023, IASF international worlds divisions had no maximum age, with athletes instead having to meet a minimum age to be eligible for teams, making these divisions the first divisions with such a maximum. Three of these divisions were level 5, which remained restricted to entry by non-U.S. teams - U18 all-girl level 5, U18 small coed level 5 and U18 large coed level 5 - and two in level 6 in non-tumbling variants - U18 all-girl non-tumbling level 6 and U18 coed non-tumbling level 6. Despite the introduction of five divisions, lack of entries meant that only four competed with no U18 large coed level 5 teams entering this division at the competition.
IASF also raised the minimum age for open and global division teams to 15 years old, announcing they would further raise the age to 16 for the 2023–2024 season and Cheerleading Worlds 2024.
Kick was introduced as a new style into the USASF senior categories, expanding it from previously only be an international open category only.
The 2024 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds were held from April 26 to April 29, 2024, at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida. Cheerleading divisions were held at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, while dance divisions were held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Centre.
Announced future dates include: