What Is Summit in Cheerleading?

Quick answer: "Summit" means The Summit Championship, an end-of-season All Star championship run by Varsity Spirit at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. It was created in 2013 to give teams below the Worlds level their own major championship, and it now covers Levels 1 to 5 plus some Level 6 divisions. Like Worlds, teams can only enter by earning a bid.

What the Term Refers To

The Cheerleading Worlds is mainly for Level 6 and 7 teams, so for most All Star teams it isn't a realistic goal. Varsity launched The Summit in 2013 to give teams at the lower levels a comparable end-of-season championship. For 2026 it ran from 30 April to 3 May and included divisions from Level 1 to Level 5, Level 4.2, Junior Level 6 and international divisions.

There is also a separate D2 Summit for smaller "Division II" programs (those with 125 or fewer competitive cheer athletes), and a Dance Summit for All Star dance teams. A program has to declare whether it is aiming for The Summit or the D2 Summit.

How Teams Get There

Teams earn a Summit bid at designated Varsity qualifying events during the season. Different bid types decide where a team starts: in recent seasons, wild card bids have started in a preliminary round, while at-large, partial-paid and paid bids go straight to the semi-finals - with paid and partial-paid bids also covering some of the team's costs.

Where Summit Fits in a Season

The Summit sits at the very end of the season, shortly after Worlds, following a series of qualifying events - see What Is a Qualifier? for how that earlier stage works.

Details Change Each Season

Divisions, bid types, rounds and eligibility are set by Varsity and change every season. Check the current Summit information guide before relying on any specific detail.

Related Terms

See Worlds and Nationals for other major end-of-season events, and Bid for how teams typically qualify.