The Universal Cheerleaders Association is one of the largest competitive and training organizations for the sport in America. Founded in 1974, its mission is to build the role of cheerleaders as leaders on and off the field. UCA sponsors championships at the collegiate, high school and recreational league levels.
Technical Limits
The 2010-11 UCA All Star Competition Rules and Regulations outline rules for high school cheerleading championships. Routines performed by teams at UCA-sanctioned events are limited to two and a half minutes, beginning with the first movement of a participant or the first musical sounds. Teams can use an unlimited number of songs in their routines, but songs must be registered with the performance-rights groups American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast Music Incorporated or Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, as the competitions will be aired on television.
General Safety Rules
The UCA rules spell out rules of competition for all six levels of competition, including tumbling with props, twisting transitions from stunts and proper releases from pyramids. The degree of difficulty allowed for each action increases with level of competition. The 15 general safety rules outlined by UCA oversee basic safety. For instance, a team must be supervised by its coach during all official functions and the coach must be certified by the UCA. The team must have a plan in case a participant is injured. Props are limited to flags, banners, pom-poms, megaphones and cloth-based items.
In Case Of Injury
The 2010-11 rules include new wording on how to handle injuries, beginning with who may stop a competition due to injury. Competition officials, the team's coach and the injured participant are the only people allowed to stop a routine for injury purposes. If competition officials allow the team to perform its routine again, judges may evaluate the routine only from the point at which the performer was injured.
New regulations also govern how a participant may return from injury. On-site medical personal, the participant's parent and the coach must sign off on the athlete's health, in that order. Participants who do not receive clearance from the medical staff can return to competition only if their parent signs a specific waiver. Concussions are the only instance in which a waiver does not apply.
Unforeseen Circumstances
Judges have leeway in case a team's routine is interrupted. If equipment at the facility fails, a team should stop its routine and wait for the problem to be resolved. When the routine restarts, judges may evaluate its quality only from the point at which the interruption occurred. Judges receive discretion in terms of how to consider the overall performance. Section II states: "The degree and effect of the interruption will be determined by the competition officials." If a piece of equipment provided by the team fails, the team must either continue its routine or withdraw from the competition.
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