Cheerleading is a sport that is practised all throughout the world, with increasing popularity within the United Kingdom.Patrick Barkham, "Why cheerleading is booming in Britain's schools", The Guardian, 6 October 2010. Cheerleading has over 89,000 athletes within the United Kingdom, with just over 900 teams in England alone, with the newfound success and passion of UK based teams on the international stage helping to change perceptions within the region. Teams from the United Kingdom have gained international recognition, with the Olympic Channel producing a 10-minute short documentary following Unity Allstars' team Ruby to highlight the increase momentum of competitive cheerleading within the United Kingdom.
Cheerleading is conducted through all-star clubs as well as university and school teams.
As a sport, cheerleading is offered as a PE extracurricular in a number of UK based schools, with it being estimated that 37% of schools now offer a cheerleading program as an extracurricular physical education choice, leading to UK participation within World Schools Cheerleading Championships and National Scholastic Cheerleading championships being offered.
A number of universities also offer cheerleading as an option within the United Kingdom, with 70 universities offering it as an extracurricular option in 2018, with a further 23 offering competitive cheerleading. Cheerleading is a recognised sport under the International University Sports Federation, however, the sport remains unrecognised by the British Universities and Colleges Sport association.
The main way that cheerleading as a sport is provided in the UK is through all-star competitive clubs, with clubs located throughout England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Governing bodies SportCheer UK (SCUK) acts as the governing body for cheerleading within the United Kingdom, being recognised as such by the International Cheer Union, the international governing body for cheerleading. SCUK is composed of governing body members from England (SportCheer England), Northern Ireland (SportCheer Northern Ireland), Isle of Mann (Sport Cheer Isle of Mann), Scotland (SportCheer Scotland) and Wales (SportCheer Wales). SCUK provides an age grid and safety rules for both cheer and performance cheer/dance (aligned with IASF), helping to align the sport under a single standard across the United Kingdom.
As part of their governing body role, the governing body members help organise representative teams from their respective countries to compete at the ICU World Championships, held in Florida. In 2023, SCUK was represented by national teams from England, Scotland and Wales, winning a total of 7 medals.
On a more broad scale, SportCheer England and SportCheer Scotland are both members of the umbrella organisation of the European Cheer Union, a recognised regional branch of the International Cheer Union.
Competition divisions Within the United Kingdom, SportCheer UK and its members model their structure off divisions and age groupings after the IASF guidelines.
As in the United States, competitions are grouped into divisions that are based on a combination of the team's age category, difficulty level and size. Certain categories are also further separated into "all-girl" (females only) and "co-ed" (mixture of genders) groups. For large events with high numbers of teams registered in one division, organisations also can then further split the divisions based on the team's size or the gym/studio's size to form a manageable number of teams within a division. For example, a team may compete in divisions such as "extra small youth level 1", or "senior co-ed level 5".
The age category of the team also restricts the level that the team may be entered into for safety reasons, with younger age category teams not being allowed to enter higher levels for safety. There are also "sub-categories" within the junior and senior age divisions that do not allow teams with younger age category eligible athletes to enter the higher levels.
All-star age groups are based on the competitors' ages at 31 August 2023, with that age being applicable for the entire season. The exception to this rule is the IASF international divisions, where the eligible age of an athlete is determined by their age during 2024 i.e. is a 12 year old athlete is participating in an IASF division with a minimum age of 14, they are legal if they turn 14 during 2024, or an athlete who turns 13 on 2 January 2024 is eligible for a division where the maximum age is 12 as they would be 12 for at least 1 day during 2024.
Event producers have the option of offering all of the divisions, or only a selection, with speciality divisions varying from EP to EP.
Currently overlap in the age categories enables an athlete to compete in multiple teams who are entered in different age categories. For example, an 11 year old could compete on teams that are entered in the youth, junior and senior age categories.
Newly introduced in 2023-2024 for senior divisions with a minimum age of 16 years or below was a rule stating the age spread of team members may not exceed 10 years. For example, a senior level 1 team where the youngest athlete was 13 is no longer allowed any athletes on the team who are aged of 23 years old. This however only allowed to SCUK divisions and does not include the IASF divisions. +Cheer Age GridDivisionAgesGenderNumber on TeamLevel RestrictionTiny Novice3 - 6Female/Male5 - 301Tiny Prep3 - 6Female/Male5 - 301Tiny3 - 6Female/Male5 - 321Mini Novice5 - 8Female/Male5 - 301Mini Prep5 - 8Female/Male5 - 301, 2.1Mini5 - 8Female/Male5 - 321, 2Youth Novice6 - 12Female/Male5 - 301Youth Prep7 - 11Female/Male5 - 301, 2.1Youth7 - 11Female/Male5 - 321, 2, 38 - 11Female/Male5 - 3249 - 11Female/Male5 - 325Junior Prep8 - 14Female/Male5 - 301, 2.1Junior8 - 14Female/Male5 - 321, 2, 3, 49 - 14Female/Male5 - 385, 6Senior Prep11 + min. 1 athlete being 15 years or olderFemale/Male5 - 301, 2.1Senior11 + min. 1 athlete being 15 years or olderFemale/Male5 - 321, 2, 4.2Female/Male5 - 385No males5 - 323, 4Senior Coed11 + min. 1 athlete being 15 years or older1+ males5 - 323, 4Open17+Female/Male5 - 321, 2No Males5 - 323, 4Open Coed17+1+ males5 - 323, 4IASF U127 - 12 (2011 - 2016)Female/Male5 - 301, 2, 3, 41+ males5 - 305IASF U1612 - 16 (2007 - 2012)Female/Male10 - 241, 2, 3No males4IASF U16 Coed12 - 16 (2007 - 2012)1+ males10 - 244IASF U1814 - 18 (2005 - 2010)Female/Male10 - 241, 2No males3, 4, 5, 6IASF U18 Coed14 - 18 (2005 - 2010)1+ males10 - 243, 4, 5, IASF Open16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)No males10 - 243, 4, 5, 617+ (Born in 2007 or earlier)No males7IASF Open Coed16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)1+ males10 - 243, 41 - 4 males5, 617+ (Born in 2007 or earlier)1 - 4 males716+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)5 - 16 males10 - 245, 617+ (Born in 2007 or earlier)5 - 16 males10 - 247IASF Open Non-Tumbling16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)Female/Male10 - 303NT, 4NT16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)No Males10 - 305NT, 6NT17+ (Born in 2007 or earlier)No Males10 - 307NTIASF Open Non-Tumbling Coed16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)1 - 20 males10 - 305 NT, 6NT17+ (Born in 2007 or earlier)1 - 20 males10 - 307NTIASF Global Club16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)No Males10 - 246IASF Global Club Coed16+ (Born in 2008 or earlier)1 - 16 10 - 246MastersAt least 75% of athletes aged 25+ Minimum age of 17Female/Male5 - 381, 2Cheer Abilities Youth8 - 12Female/MaleUnlimited2Cheer Abilities Junior12 - 16Female/MaleUnlimited2Cheer Abilities Senior12+ Min. 1 athlete 17+Female/MaleUnlimited2Adaptive Abilities Youth8 - 12Female/Male5 - 301, 2, 3 (Beginner, Novice, Median)Adaptive Abilities Junior12 - 16Female/Male5 - 301, 2, 3, 4 (Beginner, Novice, Median, Advanced)Adaptive Abilities Senior All Girl12+ Min 1 athlete 17+No Males5 - 301, 2, 3, 4 (Beginner, Novice, Median, Advanced)Adaptive Abilities Senior Coed12+ Min 1 athlete 17+1+ Males5 - 301, 2, 3, 4 (Beginner, Novice, Median, Advanced)University All Girl17+ 90% registered uni student 10% allowed past students alumni if graduated within last 4 yearsNo Males5 - 381, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7University Coed17+ 90% registered uni student 10% allowed past students alumni if graduated within last 4 years1+ Males5 - 38University Non-Tumbling17+ 90% registered uni student 10% allowed past students alumni if graduated within last 4 yearsFemale/Male5 - 382NT, 3NT, 4NT, 5NT, 6NT, 7NT SCUK also provides guidelines for combining or splitting these divisions in the best interest of providing a competitive environment, requiring that where possible, there should be at least 3 teams in any given division and level. Under these guidelines, teams of different levels are not allowed to be combined into one division, and teams of different ages may not be combined into one division.
Novice cheer divisions are prohibited to be combined or further split. Likewise, All Star Prep divisions are prohibited from being combined, however, prep divisions may be split by size per the All Star Elite split guidelines.
Within All Star Elite Cheer, the following division combinations are permitted in the event of there only being a single team registered in either division, with event producers then being required to follow the mandatory split guidelines and no other combinations of all start elite divisions being permitted:
Senior Coed Level 3 and Senior Level 3 Senior Coed Level 4 and Senior Level 4 Open Coed Level 3 and Open Level 3 Open Coed Level 4 and Open Level 4 Open and corresponding University divisions (e.g. University Level 1 and Open level 1)
When splitting divisions, divisions may be split by size, coed/all girlor by additional optional splits. These must be made in a specific order, depending on the division. If the first mandatory split option cannot be made without leaving a single team in a division, but the second can be made without doing so, the event producer may make the second split first at their discretion.
When splitting a team by size, they following team size designations apply:
Levels 1 - 4, 4.2, All Star Prep: X-Small - 5 - 14 athletes Small - 15 - 22 athletes Medium - 23 - 32 athletes Youth Level 5, Junior Levels 5 - 6: X-Small - 5 - 14 athletes Small - 5 - 22 athletes Medium - 23 - 32 athletes Large - 33 - 38 athletes
All star dance falls under the governance of cheerleading as a cheerleading discipline per the International Cheer Union. As such, SCUK also outlines the rules and divisions for this discipline.
Within all SCUK divisions, the styles of pom, jazz, hip hop, lyrical/contemporary and traditional pom/cheer dance are offered. Prop and high kick may also be offered by individual event producers, with high kick being allowed to be offered at any age group as a speciality item. +Performance Cheer/Dance Age GridDivisionAgesGenderNumber on TeamTeam Size Split (where applicable)Tiny6 and underFemale/Male4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersMini9 and underFemale/Male4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersYouth12 and underFemale/Male4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersJunior15 and underNo Males4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersJunior Coed15 and under1+ Males4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersSenior11+ Minimum one dancer 16+No Males4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersSenior Coed11+ Minimum one dancer 16+1+ Males4 or moreSmall - 4 - 14 dancers Large - 15+ dancersInternational U1612 – 16 years oldFemale/Male6 - 30 dancersElite - 6 - 15 dancers Premier - 16 - 30 dancersInternational Open16 years and older (Born 2008 or earlier)No Males6 - 30 dancersElite - 6 - 15 dancers Premier - 16 - 30 dancersInternational Open Coed16 years and older (Born 2008 or earlier)1+ Males6 - 30 dancersElite - 6 - 15 dancers Premier - 16 - 30 dancersInternational Open All Male16 years and older (Born 2008 or earlier)No Females6 - 30 dancersElite - 6 - 15 dancers