Difference Between All-Star, Rec, School, Performance Rec, College, And Pro Cheer

This post is all about the different types of cheerleading.

Quick answer:

All-star: high level, rigorous cheerleading that doesn’t cheer for sports teams and focuses only on competing.

Performance rec/recreation: less rigorous cheerleading that doesn’t cheer for sports teams and only competes.

Rec/recreation cheer: athletes cheer for sports teams, competing is optional.

School cheerleading: focuses on cheerleading for school sports teams. Competitions are optional.

College cheerleading: for advanced athletes, focusing on cheering at collegiate sports events and occasional competitions.

Professional cheerleading: dance-based cheerleading that performs at professional sports events.

For those new to the cheer world, terms like all-star, performance rec, and recreational cheerleading can cause a lot of confusion!

But don’t worry, because today, I’m sharing everything you need to know about the differences between these types of cheerleading, what defines each one, and how to choose which one is right for you.

Different Types of Cheerleading

All-Star

I’m starting off with the term you’ve probably heard the most: all-star cheer.

Simply put, all-star cheer is any cheerleading team that does not cheer for a sports team.

Think of it more like a competitive dance team, but for cheerleaders!

All-star cheerleading focuses on preparing for and competing at cheer competitions rather than performing at games.

These types of cheerleaders don't use poms-poms or their voices. It’s all about the choreography, stunts, and tumbling!

Another main attribute of all-star cheer is the length of the season.

Since this type of cheer doesn’t involve cheering for sports teams, their season isn’t determined by any sports seasons.

All-star cheer is a year-round sport!

Here’s an example of what all-star cheer looks like:

Is all-star cheer for you?

All-star cheer may be for you if you’re looking for a rigorous, time-consuming extracurricular activity.

If you have prior experience in dance, cheer, or gymnastics, you may be suited for all-star cheerleading, since all-star teams will require tryouts.

If you don’t like sports or like the idea of being the main event better than being on the sidelines, you might like all-star!

Recreational or “Rec” Cheer

There are two main types of rec cheer: performance rec and traditional rec.

Traditional rec cheerleaders cheer for local rec or youth sports teams.

They can also compete in rec cheer competitions when sports aren’t in session.

Performance rec is similar to traditional rec except that performance rec cheer teams don’t cheer for sports teams at all.

Similar to all-star, this type of cheer focuses exclusively on training for and participating in cheerleading competitions.

It differs from all-star cheer in that it’s less vigorous and better suited for beginning cheerleaders since you usually don’t have to try out.

Here's an example of rec cheer:

Is rec cheer for you?

If you’re a beginner athlete, rec cheer may be a good place to start your cheerleading career.

If you’re an experienced athlete but looking for something more casual and less rigorous than all-star cheer, this type of cheer may be a good fit for you.

School Cheerleading

This type of cheerleading is what most people think of when someone mentions cheer!

This one is pretty self-explanatory.

School cheer teams cheer for their schools’ sports teams, whether that be elementary, middle, or high school.

Usually, school cheer teams will be divided into JV (junior varsity) and varsity. Varsity, of course, is the higher level of the two.

Here’s what school cheerleading looks like:

Is school cheer for you?

If you love sports and have a lot of school pride, you might like being a school cheerleader!

School cheer teams may require tryouts, but not all do.

This makes them easier to join for beginners, but a background in dance or gymnastics is helpful if you’ve never cheered before!

If you’re not sure whether you want to cheer for games or just compete in cheer competitions, school cheerleading is a great option for you because they often times do both!

College Cheer

College cheerleaders, as you would expect, cheer for sports teams associated with a college or university and are typically students at that university.

College cheer has elements of traditional cheer like vocal chants, stunts, tumbling, dance, and choreography.

Besides cheering for college sports, they also compete in cheer competitions and perform at school events like pep rallies and parades.

Here’s an example of college cheerleading:

Is college cheer for me?

If you’re in college and already an experienced cheerleader, you may be suited for college cheer!

You’ll need to have polished skills in cheerleading, but if not, a background in dance and/or gymnastics is very helpful.

College cheer teams always require tryouts and tend to be made up of more advanced cheerleaders with at least several years of experience.

Pro Cheer

Professional cheerleading is especially interesting because it looks the least like traditional cheerleading out of all the types of cheer!

Pro cheerleaders usually have a background in dance rather than gymnastics, tumbling, and stunts like other forms of cheerleaders.

This type of cheer focuses a lot more on dance choreography, costumes, and entertainment value than most other types of cheer.

Here’s an example to help you see what I mean:

Is pro cheer for me?

It’s extremely competitive to make a professional cheerleading team!

The few that make it onto a pro cheer team are usually already professional or pre-professional dancers or gymnasts.

They might also already have extensive all-star or college cheer and dance experience.

Outro & Closing Thoughts

Today, I explained the different types of cheerleading: all-star, traditional rec, performance rec, school, college, and pro.

I talked about what defines each one, showed you what they each look like, and gave some tips to help you decide which one might be the best fit for you.

Thanks for reading “Types of Cheerleading EXPLAINED | Differences Between All-Star, Recreation, Performance Rec, College, And Pro Cheer.”

For handmade digital art prints, icon packs, wallpapers, & more designed by me, be sure to stop by my digital boutique: Designed By Nikki Lo.

Connect with me!

5 Types of Cheerleading EXPLAINED (Which Is Right For You?)