Editing Cheerleading (section)

===All-star or club cheerleading===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2016}}

"All-star" or club cheerleading differs from school or sideline cheerleading because all-star teams focus solely on performing a competition routine and not on leading cheers for other sports teams. All-star cheerleaders are members of a privately owned gym or club which they typically pay dues or tuition to, similar to a gymnastics gym.

During the early 1980s, cheerleading squads not associated with a school or sports league, whose main objective was competition, began to emerge. The first organization to call themselves all-stars were the Q94 Rockers from [[Richmond, Virginia]], founded in 1982.<ref name="ACFeb2007">{{Cite journal | last = Smith | first = Jennifer Renèe | title = The All-Star Chronicles | journal = American Cheerleader | volume = 13 | issue = 1 | pages = 40–42 |date=February 2007 }}</ref>  All-star teams competing prior to 1987 were placed into the same divisions as teams that represented schools and sports leagues. In 1986, the [[National Cheerleaders Association]] (NCA) addressed this situation by creating a separate division for teams lacking a sponsoring school or athletic association, calling it the All-Star Division and debuting it at their 1987 competitions. As the popularity of this type of team grew, more and more of them were formed, attending competitions sponsored by many different organizations and companies, each using its own set of rules, regulations, and divisions. This situation became a concern to coaches and gym owners, as the inconsistencies caused coaches to keep their routines in a constant state of flux, detracting from time that could be better utilized for developing skills and providing personal attention to their athletes. More importantly, because the various companies were constantly vying for a competitive edge, safety standards had become more and more lax. In some cases, unqualified coaches and inexperienced squads were attempting dangerous stunts as a result of these expanded sets of rules.<ref name="varsity2004">{{cite web | title = The Cheerleading Worlds Administered by the USASF | publisher = Varsity Brands, Inc. | url =http://www.varsity.com/index.asp?article=1514 | access-date = 2007-09-20 | url-status = dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090203090219/http://www.varsity.com/index.asp?article=1514 | archive-date = 2009-02-03 }}</ref>

[[The United States All Star Federation]] (USASF) was formed in 2003 by the competition companies to act as the national governing body for all star cheerleading and to create a standard set of rules and judging criteria to be followed by all competitions sanctioned by the Federation. Eager to grow the sport and create more opportunities for high-level teams, The USASF hosted the first [[Cheerleading Worlds]] on April 24, 2004.<ref name="varsity2004"/> At the same time, cheerleading coaches from all over the country organized themselves for the same rule making purpose, calling themselves the National All Star Cheerleading Coaches Congress (NACCC). In 2005, the NACCC was absorbed by the USASF to become their rule making body.<ref name="ACFeb2007"/> In late 2006, the [[U.S. All Star Federation|USASF]] facilitated the creation of the International All-Star Federation (IASF), which now governs club cheerleading worldwide.

[[File:JamFEST_Cheer_and_Dance_2009.jpg|right|thumb|Competitive cheer - Paramount Cheerleaders doing a scale]]

All-star cheerleading, as sanctioned by the USASF, involves a squad of 5–36 females and males. All-star cheerleaders are placed into divisions, which are grouped based upon age, size of the team, gender of participants, and ability level. The age groups vary from under 4 years of age to 18 years and over. The squad prepares year-round for many different competition appearances, but they actually perform only for up to {{frac|2|1|2}} minutes during their team's routine. The numbers of competitions a team participates in varies from team to team, but generally, most teams tend to participate in six to ten competitions a year. These competitions include locals or regionals, which normally take place in school gymnasiums or local venues, nationals, hosted in large venues all around the U.S., and the Cheerleading Worlds, which takes place at [[Walt Disney World]] in [[Orlando, Florida]]. During a competition routine, a squad performs carefully choreographed stunting, tumbling, jumping, and dancing to their own custom music. Teams create their routines to an eight-count system and apply that to the music so that the team members execute the elements with precise timing and synchronization.

All-star cheerleaders compete at competitions hosted by private event production companies, the foremost of these being Varsity Spirit. Varsity Spirit is the parent company for many subsidiaries including The National Cheerleader's Association, The Universal Cheerleader's Association, AmeriCheer, Allstar Challenge, and JamFest, among others. Each separate company or subsidiary typically hosts their own local and national level competitions. This means that many gyms within the same area could be state and national champions for the same year and never have competed against each other. Currently, there is no system in place that awards only one state or national title.

Judges at a competition watch closely for illegal skills from the group or any individual member. Here, an illegal skill is something that is not allowed in that division due to difficulty or safety restrictions. They look out for deductions, or things that go wrong, such as a dropped stunt or a tumbler who does not stick a landing. More generally, judges look at the difficulty and execution of jumps, stunts and tumbling, synchronization, creativity, the sharpness of the motions, showmanship, and overall routine execution.

If a level 6 or 7 team places high enough at selected [[U.S. All Star Federation|USASF/IASF]] sanctioned national competitions, they could earn a place at the [[U.S. All Star Federation|Cheerleading Worlds]] and compete against teams from all over the world, as well as receive money for placing.<ref name="nw20007"/> For elite level cheerleaders, The Cheerleading Worlds is the highest level of competition to which they can aspire, and winning a world championship title is an incredible honor.