NCASB Cheerleading Rules


Revised Spring 2005
                           
Rule 1 General Information       
Rule 2  Purchasing of Awards
Rule 3  Pep Rally        
Rule 4  Cheerleading Clinic
Rule 5  Team Competition   
Rule 6  Judging
Rule 7  Collecting and Tallying
Rule 8  Awards
Rule 9 Outstanding Cheerleading Competitions

The printed NCASB Cheerleading Rules should be considered an addendum to the National Federation Spirit Book All cheerleading coaches should have a National Federation Spirit Book in hand.

Rule l General Information Section 1
Article 1. One person from the host school shall be responsible for a temporary schedule of events, programs and all pertinent information. This information should be sent to the Director of Cheerleading for approval of the rules and regulations of cheerleading competition by December 1, to determine if they follow the rules as set up by the guidelines. The host school persons shall be referred to as the Host Coach.

Article 2. All meals will be eaten on the campus of the host school. All cheerleaders and coaches will be housed on the campus of the host school. If the situation presents itself, off-campus housing arrangements will be made by the host school. Reservations can be the responsibility of each participating school or the host school. The following information shall be sent to each member school:
(A) A list of motels/hotels with rates shall be sent by Dec. 1.
(B)  A list of nearby eating facilities and approximate prices.
(C)  A map of the motels/hotels in relationship to the host school.

Article 3. Transportation to and from the events is the responsibility of the participating schools. The host school may provide assistance when deemed necessary.

Article 4. A Cheerleading Director shall be appointed by the President of the NCASB at the tournament in January, unless otherwise changed by Constitution/Bylaws.
(A)   A games committee will consist of the Cheerleading Director, Host cheerleader coach, and next year's host cheerleader coach. They will make interpretations, judgments, and enforce rule. Teams will be penalized or disqualified for rules violations.
(B)     Two members of games committee will be at warm-up practice to check up on legality of moves and equipment.
(C)     Proper attire shall consist of uniforms worn in competition.

Teams shall be checked for all jewelry, hair length, and nail length and for other violations of the rules, no later than 30 minutes prior to competition.

Article 5. At the time of registration, the host school shall provide a packet for each coach, containing the following:
(A) A copy of the schedule of all events for all the cheerleading participants in Braille and large print.
(B) A list of coaches and members of the cheer squad.
(C) A list of candidates for outstanding Cheerleader.

Article 6. The host school shall make available a photographer for official pictures of the Outstanding Cheerleader and runners-up, and the cheerleading squads. The negatives will be sent to the individual schools at no charge. Each School shall leave a self-addressed envelope with coach's name or address it in care of cheerleading coach for the negatives.
Section 1
Article 1. The host school pays for:
(A)NCASB emblem or badge
(B)Picture negatives

Article 2. NCASB pays for:
(A) All trophies and individual medals for the cheerleaders on the top four winning squads. (Note: do not date medals so they can be used another year if there is a squad with less than 10 members)
(B) Plaque for outstanding cheerleading champion and megaphone pins for the top 4 outstanding cheerleaders.
(C) Engraving of the title of the award on trophies and plaque.
(D) The Spirit Award
(E) Most Spirited Mascot Award.

Article  3. The school of the person who is elected Outstanding Cheerleader pays for engraving their name and school on the Outstanding Cheerleader plaque.

Article  1. Each squad may present a routine of their choice. It can be  a cheer, a 2- minute skit, or a 2- minute pompon routine.

Article 2. No judging of squads will take place at this time.

Article 3. Members of the Cheerleading and Wrestling teams may be introduced at this time if the teams wish to.

Article 4. The order of presentation by squads will be drawn out of a hat as the Pep Rally progresses. The Host school can choose their position.

Article 5. A microphone should be available for the cheerleaders and wrestlers to use when introducing member of their squads.

Section I
 Article 1. A cheerleading clinic conducted by high school or college cheerleaders, or a specialist in the field, shall be provided by the host school.

Article 2. Various types of mounts, crowd pleasers, skits and pompon routines should be included in the clinic.
Article 3. In the event that either the pep rally or the clinic is held prior to the competition, the cheerleading squads will not be allowed to perform any part of their competition cheer while the judges are present. This includes the performance by the outstanding cheerleader.

Section I General Requirement
Article 1. Team competition will be held at a time other than the pep rally.

Article 2. There shall be no division according to school size, enrollment or eligibility.

Article 3. Eligibility of cheerleaders shall comply with the same rules and regulations as governs other NCASB sponsored events. Any changes should be voted on at Swim Conference and implemented at the beginning of the next school year. All changes will be sent to all conference schools by the Cheerleading Director. Mailing to be paid by NCASB.

Article 4. A squad will consist of a maximum of ten cheerleaders.

Article 5. Squads will not be discriminated against by sex, color, handicap, creed or religious beliefs.

Crowd involvement will be allowed for the team competition but crowd involvement is not allowed in the outstanding cheer.

Competition Cheer
Article 1. Must be a cheer.

Article 2. Is selected by each participating school.

Article 3. Any special mounts, skills, etc., may be used.

Article 4. The COMPETITION CHEER competition will be limited to 3 minutes.

Teams will be given time to set for their COMPETITION CHEER. The team will be told,
You may quietly set up. When all timers, judges, etc. are ready the announcer will then ask, “State ready?” (Example; Utah ready?). They will tell the announcer “Utah ready”. The time will then begin with the command, “You may begin” and timing will stop when the last person leaves the mat. Chants, cheers, etc. can be included in the competition cheer but they will be timed in your 3 minutes. If the performance exceeds three minutes a five-point penalty deduction will be taken from the total score. If the routine is 4 minutes or more, the team will be disqualified. No penalty is assessed for a routine shorter than 3 minutes.
(A) Only the following props will be adhered: Pompons, signs on poster boards not to exceed 28 x 22, and Megaphones. Gloves, tights, panty hose, buttons, jewelry, pins, and hats are not permitted to be worn by the cheerleaders.
(B) Music is allowed and optional. The music portion of the routine can be no longer than one-half of your total presentation. If the musical portion exceeds more than one-half of your total presentation a 5-point penalty deduction will be taken from the total score.
Music tapes/ad's will be given to the host coach, labeled with state and team name and the length of time in music during the cheerleading coaches meeting prior to competition for both the team and outstanding competitions.           Music will be timed prior to practice.  If there is a discrepancy in the time that is labeled and the host schools timing of music, the state will be notified prior to or at practice before competition. During competition, the total time of routines will be timed. During tallying, music time will be subtracted from the total routine time to assess any penalty. The music tapes turned in at the coaches meeting will be kept and used during competition and the scheduled practice.
            Bring a spare to use at your own practice. Tapes will be returned with tally and score sheets.
The host school will provide aid a Technical Official, to help with the operation of the equipment as needed. The Official will also make a judgment if there is a problem - either mechanical or human error. In the case of mechanical error the music will be restarted.
(C) The presentation will be performed only one time.
(D) Basket Tosses will not be allowed.
(E) Specific state safety rules will be adhered to while in various states. It will be the responsibility of the host cheerleading coach to inform the Cheerleading Director of any state safety rules, which might be above and beyond Federation rules, so that the Director may inform the conference coaches prior to the conference meet.

Article 5. In accordance with NCAA rules, no mounts over two people high will be permitted.
(A) All safety rules of the National Federation will be to. It is strongly recommend that all cheerleading coaches obtain rules from the National Federation. These are available from each state Activities Association.
(B) Spotting must be done with only the cheerleaders performing in the cheer competitions. No outside spotters are allowed. This includes coaches, alternates, etc.

Judging Section 1
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Article 1. All guidelines will be followed. If not, teams will be disqualified from competition.

Article 2. Judging shall be done by outside judges. Recommended suggestion; college cheerleaders, college or high school cheerleader coaches. A panel of 5-7 judges selected from the above list is suggested. A minimum of five judges is required, with a recommendation of more. Article 3. Rating scores shall be done on a numerical scale from .5 to 5.0, with 5.0 being the highest score.

Article 4. During the scoring, the judges will be scattered throughout the bleachers. Judges are to leave the gym during the 10-minute break between the team competition and outstanding cheerleader performances.

Section 2 COMPETITION CHEER
Article 1. Execution and technique
Article 2. Rhythm
Article 3. Creativity
Article 4. Appearance
Article 5. Enthusiasm   and Spirit

Section 3 ORDER
Article 1. The order   of competition will be drawn by lot (number) for the team competition cheer and outstanding cheerleader presentation. The lot drawing will take place immediately after the Pep Rally. All coaches need to be present. The lot drawing will take place at the coaches meeting prior to competition, usually Thursday evening.

Article 2. The Director of Cheerleading will be responsible for drawing up ballots for competition.

Article 3. There will be a 10-minute break between the outstanding and COMPETITION cheers. Judges will leave the gym during this time.

Article 4. Cheerleaders, may chant or cheer as they approach and leave the mat but it will be included in 3 minutes. Chants or cheers can be included in the COMPETITION cheer but will be timed in your 3 minutes. Cheerleaders should remain quiet and poised while on deck or while setting up until given the instruction, “You may begin”.

Collecting and Tallying
Article 1. The Director of Cheerleading will meet with the cheer judges prior to competition to make any clarification about rules, ballots or scoring procedures. The director of Cheerleading shall remind judges of blindness and other handicapping conditions and their manifestations and to look at the team as a whole.

Article 2. The Director of Cheerleading will collect all ballots and designate three (3) non-coaching persons to tally all ballots.

Article 3. All ballots must show the judge's number (not name) in the upper right-hand corner of the ballot.

Article 4. The official ballot sheets will be zeroxed and tallied individually by the three persons selected to tally. One person shall be designated to compare for correct scoring of all tally sheets. The results will be placed on an official single tally sheet and presented to the Director of Cheerleading. Also, all work sheets will and must be turned in to the Director of Cheerleading.

Section 1 Trophies
Article 1. Team trophies shall be given for the first four places.

Article 2. Trophies shall be traditional NCASB design and are paid for by NCASB treasury.

Article 3. Individual Awards: (A) First, 2nd, 3rd, 4th place squad members earn medals.

Article 4. All Cheerleader awards will be presented by the host school cheerleading coach and the NCASB Cheerleader Director.

Article 5. Spirit Awards

(A) during the wrestling finals, the ballot (1 per team) for the “Spirit  Award”  will be collected and tallied by the Director of Cheerleading. The vote should be for the team showing the most enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout the entire tournament. The award will be presented at the end of the wrestling finals.

(B) NO mascots are allowed in the competition phase of the tournament. Mascots shall stay in the seating area during team and outstanding cheerleader competition. Mascots will be recognized as Spirit Leaders. During the wrestling finals, the ballot (1 per team) for the “Most Spirited Mascot” Award will be collected and tallied by the Director of Cheerleading. The vote should be for the mascot showing the most enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout the entire tournament. The award will be presented at the end of the wrestling finals.

Outstanding Cheerleader Competition

Section 1 General Requirements
Article 1. There shall be no division according to school size, enrollment or eligibility.

Article 2. Each school selects their own candidate in any manner they choose from the varsity squad.

Article 3. Outstanding cheerleaders shall follow the same time requirements as the team competition including, music may be one half of the total time of the competition, not to exceed three minutes.

Section 2 Judging
Article 1. The outstanding Cheerleader competition will PRECEED the cheer squad competition.

Article 2. The outstanding Cheerleader candidates will give a brief introductory speech that may include name, grade, school, age, and name of cheer. Pom-poms, signs, dance and music are allowed but the total routine shall not exceed three minutes.

Article 3. The same outside judges of the cheer squad competition will also judge the outstanding Cheerleader competition.

Article 4. Rating scores shall be done on a numerical scale from .5 to 5.0 as the highest score.

Article 5. The outstanding cheer is to be performed only once.

Article 6. Crowd involvement is not allowed during outstanding cheer competition.

Section 3 Criteria
Article 1. Execution
Article 2. Variety and Creativity of Movements
Article 3. Appearance and Poise
Article 4. Spirit, Enthusiasm, and Voice
Article 5. Rhythm and Dance

Section 4 Awards
Article 1. The Outstanding Cheerleader will receive a plaque that will   be theirs to keep. The engraving will be the responsibility of their school.

Article 2. There shall be three runners-up. Each will receive a small megaphone pin.

Article 3. The megaphone pins are to be ordered by the Cheerleading Director and paid for by the NCASB treasury.