Substitutes, Alternates, Reserves & Crossovers at Worlds
Substitutes, Alternates, Reserves & Crossovers at Worlds
Original Team Members
Original team members are athletes listed on the official roster who competed on the floor at the bid-winning event.
Substitutes
A substitute must be a regular-paid athlete from the same club on a different team who competed at the same bidearning event and meets that event’ s eligibility requirements.
The number of active athletes on the team’ s Worlds roster is capped at those who competed on the floor at the bidearning event. Clubs may use substitutes or wild card alternates( reserves) as long as the roster size does not increase and all guidelines are followed. Each team at The Cheerleading Worlds is allowed a limited number of substitutions, as outlined below:
USASF Teams Maximum Substitutes IASF Teams Maximum Substitutes Senior Extra Small / Coed 5 Open teams Season 1 countries 8 Senior Small / Coed 6 Open teams Season 2 countries 12 Senior Medium / Coed 8 Non-Tumble teams Season 1 countries 10 Senior Large / Coed 10 Non-Tumble teams Season 2 countries 15
Seasons apply only to non-U. S. teams. Refer to IASFworlds. com for season descriptions.
Wild Card Alternates
Wild card alternates are additional members of the club that did not perform on the floor at the event where the bid was received. Among the maximum number of substitutions allowed per team, a limited number may be wild card alternates:
Teams Maximum Wild Card Alternates
Senior Extra Small / Coed |
3 |
Senior Small / Coed |
4 |
Senior Medium / Coed |
5 |
Senior Large / Coed |
6 |
IASF Divisions |
5 |
Reserves
If a substitute is needed to replace an active athlete on an official roster, only a reserve athlete listed on that team’ s roster may be used. An athlete attending The Cheerleading Worlds exclusively as a reserve may appear on more than one team roster within the same club. Once a reserve athlete becomes active, they are no longer eligible to serve as a reserve on any other team. The club must notify an event official of the replacement before the team and athlete take the floor. Please allow adequate time for verification of eligibility.
Crossovers
At The Cheerleading Worlds, athletes may not crossover between teams, clubs or between cheer and dance. In other words, a performer may represent only one team in cheer or one club in dance.
The Cheerleading Worlds ® 2026 11