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How to Run a Cheer Tryout: A Coach's Step-by-Step Guide

To run a cheer tryout, you evaluate every athlete across core skills (jumps, tumbling, stunting, motions and sharpness, and dance), score each on a consistent 1-to-5 scale, and then use those scores to build teams and place athletes on the right level. The hard part is rarely the scoring sheet. It is organizing the whole event so the evaluation stays fair, the gym stays busy, the day runs on time, and you can defend every placement decision afterward, especially when you are moving hundreds of athletes through a single facility in one weekend. This guide walks through exactly how to conduct a cheer tryout from first planning to final offers, whether you are an all-star gym placing athletes on levels, a school squad selecting a competitive team, or a large program putting 300 athletes in front of 15 to 20 coaches.

Coaches running a competitive cheer tryout with athletes rotating through jump, tumbling, stunting, and dance stations in a gym

What Skills Should You Evaluate at a Cheer Tryout?

Evaluate five core skills at a cheer tryout: jumps, tumbling, stunting, motions and sharpness, and dance. Most coaches add a sixth, intangible category (spirit, confidence, and coachability) that adjusts an athlete's overall score up or down. These six cover everything an athlete does in a routine, and a short list keeps a large evaluation panel focused and consistent.

Here is what evaluators look for in each skill and how each is typically assessed at a tryout:

Skill	What evaluators look for	How it's assessed
Jumps	Height, pointed toes, clean form, hip placement, and a snappy set-and-pull through the motion	Athlete performs a sequence (commonly toe touch, pike, and hurdler), often two or three in a row, while evaluators watch height and form
Tumbling	Technique, level of difficulty, body control, and consistent landings on standing and running passes	Athlete shows standing tumbling (such as a back handspring series) and a running pass (such as a roundoff back handspring)
Stunting	Clean body lines, tight technique, balance, and safe transitions in their role as base, flyer, or backspot	Athletes are grouped and run a stunt sequence; evaluators grade execution and the wobble-free hit
Motions and sharpness	Clean, hit positions, tight arms, precise timing, and confident presentation	Athlete performs a short motion sequence; sharpness and snap separate top scorers
Dance	Rhythm, full-out energy, synchronization, and the ability to pick up choreography quickly	Athletes learn a short combo on site, then perform it in small groups
Intangibles	Spirit, facials, confidence, and coachability	Observed throughout; used to add or deduct points from the overall score

Sharpness is one of the clearest separators at a tryout: pointed toes, tight body positions, and confident presentation are easy to recognize and hard to fake, which is why most score sheets weight clean execution heavily over raw difficulty.

How Do You Score a Cheer Tryout?

Score each athlete from 1 to 5 on every skill, where 5 is the best, then total the scores to rank athletes objectively. A simple, shared 1-to-5 scale turns subjective impressions ("she looked good") into comparable data you can sort, defend, and revisit. Spirit and intangibles are usually handled as adjustments: add a point or two for the athletes who light up the floor and pick up choreography fast, and deduct for those who hold back.

Many programs weight categories to match the team's priorities. A competitive all-star team may weight tumbling and stunting heavily, while a sideline or game-day squad leans more on motions, sharpness, and crowd presence. Set those weights before tryouts so every coach scores against the same standard.

Two rules make the scores trustworthy at scale. First, align your evaluators on what each number means before the tryout, so a "3" back handspring and a "4" back handspring mean the same thing to every coach in the gym. With 15 to 20 evaluators grading the same athletes, this calibration is what keeps scores comparable. Second, score immediately after each rep while it is fresh, and add a short note next to the number. "Big toe touch, needs to point toes on the landing" tells you far more in a week than a bare "3."

How to Set Up Cheer Tryout Stations at Scale

Set up one station per skill and rotate small groups through them so the gym is always busy and every athlete gets identical reps. Use the floor and mats to define each station: a jump area, a tumbling strip, a stunting zone with spotters, a motions and sharpness spot, and a dance area where athletes learn and perform a short combo.

How you staff those stations depends on size. At a small tryout, one coach can grade a whole skill. At scale, with 300 athletes and 15 to 20 coaches, you do the opposite: put several evaluators at each station so a large group keeps moving, and have every coach score the same drill against the shared rubric. Some programs run it in panels, splitting evaluators across stations, while others move all coaches to one station at a time so everyone grades the same drill together, which is common for tumbling passes and the final dance. Either way, the goal is multiple independent scores per athlete, which you average for a more reliable result than any single grader could give. Keep a staffed check-in table at the entrance so you always know who has arrived and who is still expected, and keep certified spotters at the stunting and tumbling stations at all times.

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Cheer Tryout Timeline: From Planning to Finalized Teams

Plan to start two to three weeks before tryout day, then move through registration, check-in, evaluation, review, and offers. Here is the full end-to-end checklist for hosting the event:

Two to three weeks before: Planning

Lock the date, gym, and a backup date; reserve the facility and mats
Decide levels, number of teams, and roster sizes
Build (or reuse) your evaluation form with the six categories above and set category weights
Recruit and brief evaluators and spotters; align all 15 to 20 coaches on the 1-to-5 standards
Open online registration so you have a confirmed athlete count

Registration

Collect each athlete's name, age or birth year, preferred position (base, flyer, or backspot), current skills, and contact info
Assign every athlete a tryout number (numbered tags) so evaluators score by number, not by name, which keeps scoring objective even with hundreds of athletes
Send a confirmation with arrival time, location, and what to wear and bring

Tryout day: Check-in

Check athletes in against your registration list and hand out numbers
Group athletes by age or level and brief them on the station flow and safety rules

Tryout day: Evaluation

Run athletes through each station; evaluators score 1 to 5 and add notes in real time
Teach a short dance and motion combo on site so you see how quickly athletes pick it up
For multi-day tryouts, repeat key stations on day two so a single off-day doesn't sink an athlete

After the tryout: Review and decide

Combine every evaluator's scores into one ranked list, applying your category weights
Discuss bubble athletes as a staff, using notes alongside the numbers, and balance teams by position
Finalize teams and level placements

Offers: Accept, decline, and finalize

Extend offers to selected athletes with a clear accept-by deadline
Track accepts and declines, and go to your next-best athlete when a spot opens
Send respectful, timely notice to athletes who weren't selected
Confirm final rosters and communicate next steps (practice schedule, uniform fittings, fees)

Run Your Entire Cheer Tryout with Rizzler Sports

A tryout at scale is a logistics problem before it is a cheer problem. Three hundred registrations, hundreds of check-ins, a stack of evaluation sheets for every coach, then the follow-up: inviting selected athletes, tracking who accepted, and back-filling spots as athletes decline. Rizzler Sports handles all of it in one place, which saves coaches and administrators hours of work per tryout. Athletes register online, coaches score evaluations on a phone or tablet at every station, results rank automatically, and you send and track offers without a single spreadsheet or group text.

Running a larger program, a full all-star gym, a club, or a school district? We will set your tryout up end to end and show you how much staff time it saves.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a cheer tryout be?

Most cheer tryouts run 90 minutes to two hours per age or level group. Competitive programs often hold a clinic in the days before so athletes learn the dance and motions, then a separate evaluation day. Build in time for check-in before the clock starts.

How do you staff coaches at a large tryout?

At scale, do not assign one coach per skill. With 300 athletes and 15 to 20 coaches, put multiple evaluators at each station, or move all coaches through one station at a time, and have everyone score the same drill against a shared 1-to-5 rubric. Averaging several independent scores per athlete is more reliable, and far faster, than a single grader working through hundreds of athletes.

How do I keep stunting and tumbling safe at a big tryout?

Keep certified spotters at the stunting and tumbling stations for every rep, group athletes by skill level so no one attempts beyond their training, and never let athletes try new skills cold. Safety comes before any score.

What should athletes wear and bring to a tryout?

Fitted athletic wear (so coaches can see body lines), cheer shoes, hair pulled back, and water. Tell athletes to arrive early enough to check in and warm up before evaluations begin.

How do I tell an athlete they didn't make the team?

Communicate quickly, privately, and respectfully, and keep it about the roster decision rather than the athlete's worth. A short, kind message with an offer to share specific feedback goes a long way, and it protects your program's reputation for next year's tryout.

See also: How to Run a Gymnastics Tryout → · Player Evaluations in Rizzler → · How to Run a Volleyball Tryout →