School Cheer is a discipline of cheer that involves athletes in a scholastic setting who cheer in support of other sports, most often football and basketball. School cheerleaders’ primary role is supporting the other athletic programs through leading the crowd at games and pep rallies as well as promoting school spirit overall. School cheer teams may also participate in competitions, performing a 2 1/2 minute routine composed of tumbling, stunting, pyramids, dance, and cheer segments.

College program governance varies among their institutions, from being overseen by their activities office, sports department, to even their marketing department, depending on where they have the most support and resources. The NCAA, NAIA, and many of the community and junior college associations require the USA Cheer safety training course for someone supervising a college cheer program.

The 2025-26 USA Cheer College Cheerleading Rules are available below.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

As part of the rules process, 2025-26 is a “major changes” year. Rules proposals for the 2026-27 school year can be submitted at https://usacheer.org/college-cheer.

• D.7 – In a handstand from the ground that is released to a hand-to-hand stunt, the top person can now make up to ½ twist, similar to the pyramid rule.
• D.8 – A top person can be released from a prep level stunt to a hand-to-hand stunt (pop tart) following the same restrictions as coming from a standing position on the ground.
• D.14.e.4 – Twists are still restricted in flips from stunts, but straddles, toe touches, etc. are now allowed.
• E.2 – Due to the changes in pyramid transitions, spotting positions now require at least one spotter to be positioned with a foot behind the pyramid base and another with a foot in front of the pyramid base, both with a clear path to get to the top person on that side.
• E.2 – In pyramids with the top person in a horizontal position, a spotter must be on two of the three legal spotting positions (head, side, side of top)
• E.2 – Clarified that the descriptions “front and back” refer to the direction of the top person in the pyramid, which may change during transitions.
• F.1 – In addition to elevator tosses, flips into pyramids may also use a basket toss grip.
• F.4 – In non-flipping basket tosses, the restriction on body positions has been removed. The toss is still limited to 2 ¼ overall twists

Download the 2025-26 College Rules

Examples of E.2.d spotting positions for a top person in a horizontal position:

The spotters can be in front and back, or one can be front or back while the other is at the head side of the top person.

Spotters cannot be at the foot side of the top person and be considered legally required spotters. In the images below, there is only one spotter in a legal position, which makes this skill illegal. The spotter at the foot side would need to move to be in front or back of the pyramid, opposite the other spotter, or move to the head side of the top person. To have a legal front/back spotter setup like above, neither spotter can be standing so far toward the feet that they are beside the base. Remember, the focus of the spotters should be to be in a position where they can protect the top person’s head, neck and shoulders.