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📣 Cheerleading 101: Cheer Basics (S4.0)
Episode of August 25, 2026
Are you new to the world of cheerleading? Is your child starting their first season? Or have you been going to gyms and competitions for a few years now, but some terms still remain a mystery?
To kick off season 4, and to celebrate the 101st episode of the Kick's Cheer Podcast, Janie, Nadia, and Keaven go back to basics with a real Cheerleading 101. An episode to share with new parents, athletes, and coaches… but also with those who think they already know everything!
Here are 5 things to know to better understand cheerleading.
📣 1. Cheerleading 101: What does a routine consist of?
When a team steps onto the mat, everything we see is part of different sections that will be evaluated.
Building
The building mainly houses stunts, pyramids and baskets.
A stunt begins as soon as one athlete is lifted by another and no longer touches the ground. A pyramid, on the other hand, involves a connection between several stunts through aerial maneuvers. As for baskets, these are throws where the acrobatic element is propelled into the air.
And sometimes, a move that simply seems to be part of a transition can indeed count as a stunt in the eyes of the judges!
Tumbling and jumps
Tumbling is the gymnastic part of cheerleading. Depending on the team category, a routine may or may not include it.
Jumps, however, are included in all categories.
Overall / choreography
This section looks at the entire routine: the transitions, the spacing, the aesthetics, the energy, and how all the elements are integrated.
In school cheerleading, this portion is replaced by cheer/chant.
Deductions and legalities
Finally, judges must also monitor errors leading to inferences as well as elements that do not comply with the rules of the level presented.
🎀 2. The different categories of cheerleading
Not all cheerleading teams have the same experience.
There are mainly four categories:
Recreational
This is the true introduction to the sport. The programs are generally short and allow athletes to discover the basics of cheerleading.
Novice
Still non-competitive, the novice level allows for a deeper understanding and structuring of a routine. Some teams can participate in events without being ranked.
Preparation / Initiation
Here, one clarification is important: when using the French term "initiation", it should be understood as initiation to competition, and not initiation to cheerleading.
This is when we truly enter the competitive world.
All Star
This is the regular competitive category. In the United States, the term Elite is also used to distinguish this category from Prep.
However, placing an athlete in a category does not define their value or potential. Cheerleading remains a team sport: coaches must build a complete and balanced team, not simply assemble the best individual athletes.
🔢 3. Understanding Cheerleading Levels
Cheerleading has levels ranging from 1 to 7 .
Level 1 represents basic skills and technical requirements gradually increase up to level 7.
But be careful: category and level are two different things.
A team can, for example, be Prep U12 level 1 or All Star U16 in another level.
In addition to this, there are age categories such as U6, U8, U12, U16 , etc. The "U" stands for Under and is used to identify the age groups.
It is the combination of age, category and level that determines the division in which a team will play.
🤸 4. Roles in a cheerleading team
Being on a cheerleading squad does not mean that everyone does exactly the same thing.
Five main roles are identified:
Side Base
Back Base
Front Base
Flyers
Tumbler
But there is one essential thing to remember: an athlete's role does not define their identity.
A flyer can become a base. A base can become a back. An athlete can change roles as they grow or according to the needs of their team.
Versatility is actually a real strength in this sport.
For parents, it also means that a change of position isn't necessarily a step backward. Bodies evolve, teams change, and needs change too. The goal remains to find the place where each athlete can contribute to their team.
💙 5. Cheerleading is… addictive!
This is perhaps the easiest rule to understand.
You start with one practice a week. Then come the competitions. The trips. The friends. The weekends in the arenas. And, without really knowing how, the family calendar slowly begins to revolve around cheerleading.
For Janie, Nadia and Keaven, this reality is part of what makes the community so special: athletes become coaches, coaches remain involved for decades and even several generations evolve in the sport.
Once you enter the world of cheerleading… it’s not always easy to get out!
🎧 An episode to share with cheerleader newbies
This Cheerleading 101 is not just for people starting their very first season.
Even after a few years in the sport, there's still a lot to learn. The rules evolve, the categories change, and some details you think you know don't always work exactly as you expected.
So this is the perfect episode to send to the new parent on your team, to an athlete who is just starting out, or even to someone who still asks you, "But what exactly is cheerleading?"
Welcome to season 4 of the Kick's Cheer Podcast ! 🎙️💙
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