There are a lot of cheerleading competitions, and keeping track of them can be hard. Are you wondering anything about The Summit? We have good news for you! We explain everything you need to know in this article.
The Summit is the main and final cheerleading competition of the season for level 1-6 Junior and Senior teams. The competition is open for both U.S and international teams and is a highly competitive event. Only teams who earned bids throughout the season are able to compete, making it an exclusive, “best of the best” competition. While it’s not an official title, The Summit is often referred to as the World championship for younger level 1-6 teams.
The competition, organized by Varsity, is held every year in early May. It takes place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida. The event is typically spread out over 4 days, with a preliminary round, then semi-finals, and lastly finals.
There is also a competition called The D2 Summit, which is different from The Summit. Read about the difference between the two competitions in this article.
The Summit competition history
The Summit is a relatively new cheerleading competition and was founded in 2013. Thousands of teams compete every year and the event has become the biggest, most prestigious competition for many teams around the world.
The intention was to create a major, end-of-the-season competition for teams that don’t get to compete at The Cheerleading Worlds. International divisions were added in 2018, opening the competition for level 1-5 teams around the world.
In 2020, it was announced that Youth divisions are no longer able to compete at The Summit. You can read more about it here: No Youth Divisions At The Summit + New “Regional Summit”
Who gets to compete at The Summit?
Only teams who have earned a bid get to compete at The Summit. Teams can receive bids at different cheerleading competitions throughout the season, at both local and national events. Bids are typically given out to some of the winning and highest-scoring teams.
The Summit offers divisions for Junior and Senior teams. As mentioned earlier, Youth divisions were also part of the competition until the 2020-2021 season.
The divisions and levels (as of the 2022-2023 season) are listed below. To see the full list of divisions, we recommend the competition’s official website.
Note: Some divisions may also be split in A/B depending on how many teams are registered to compete.
U.S divisions:
The following divisions are open to U.S. teams only.
Level 1
- Small Junior
- Medium Junior
- Small Senior
- Medium Senior
Level 2
- Small Junior
- Medium Junior
- Small Senior
- Medium Senior
Level 3
- Small Junior
- Medium Junior
- Small Senior
- Medium Senior
- Small Senior Coed
- Medium Senior Coed
Level 4
- Small Junior
- Medium Junior
- Small Senior
- Medium Senior
- Small Senior Coed
- Medium Senior Coed
- Senior Open
- Senior Open Coed
Level 4.2
- Small Senior
- Medium Senior
- Small Senior Coed
- Medium Senior Coed
Level 5
- Small Junior
- Medium Junior
- Large Junior
- Small Junior Coed
- Large Junior Coed
- Small Senior
- Large Senior
- Small Senior Coed
- Medium Senior Coed
- Large Senior Coed
- Senior Open
- Senior Open Coed
Level 6
- Small Junior
- Large Junior
- Small Junior Coed
- Large Junior Coed
International divisions:
The following divisions are open to both U.S. and international teams. Learn more about the change of division names (U17, U19) here: IASF Announces Changes To Worlds 2021 & New Division Names
Level 1
- U16 (formerly Junior)
- U18 (formerly Senior)
Level 2
- U16 (formerly Junior)
- U18 (formerly Senior)
Level 3
- U16 (formerly Junior)
- U18 (formerly Senior)
- U18 (formerly Senior) Coed
Level 4
- U16 (formerly Junior)
- U16 (formerly Junior) Coed
- U18 (formerly Senior)
- U18 (formerly Senior) Coed
- International Open
- International Open Coed
Past competition results
To see results from past Summit competitions, we recommend this list on CheerTheory.com
Future dates
Here are the current future dates for The Summit:
- May 2-5, 2024
Do you want to learn more about other cheerleading competitions? See some of our other articles:
Want to learn more about other cheerleading competitions? See some of our other competition guides:
Disclaimer: this is not official information from Varsity. Visit their website for official competition info.