IESA Headlines

2020 IESA Cheerleading Championships Set For Saturday, January 25

BLOOMINGTON – Nearly 2,000 cheerleaders will showcase their talents at the 19th annual Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Cheerleading Championships which will be held on Saturday, January 25 in the Exhibit Hall of the Peoria Civic Center. A sizable number of schools from throughout the state will be in attendance. There will be 93 performances from 81 different schools on Saturday. There are two event categories of competition in IESA cheerleading. One is Routine (with three divisions based on squad size) and the other is Cheer (with two divisions based on squad size). In the Routine category, the Small Team division is for school squads with 5-12 cheerleaders, the Medium Team division is for school squads with 13-16 members, and the Large Team division is for squads with 17-25 members. In the Cheer category, the Small Team division is for school squads with no more than 12 members and the Large Team division is for school squads with 13-25 cheerleaders. There are some schools that participate in both of the divisions--Routine and Cheer.

The 2020 Championships get under way at 9:00 a.m. in the Exhibit Hall. Tickets to the Championships will be on sale at the Peoria Civic Center. Admission is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and students K-8. Preschoolers are admitted free. Admission gates open at 8:00 a.m.

This year's schedule of events will be:

Note: The awards ceremonies will follow the final performance in each session. Times listed for the award ceremonies are approximate.

There are 11 Small Team cheer squads scheduled to compete, along with 14 Large Team cheer squads. In Routine, there are 31 Small Team squads scheduled to compete, 18 Medium Team squads, and 19 Large Team squads.

Following is a breakdown of what is involved in each category:

Cheer – The squad performs without music for a time period from 1:30-2:00 minutes in length. The performance may include stunts, tumbling and jumps. A school may enter either the small team or large team division.

Routine – The squad performs a routine with music for a time period from 1:30-3:00 minutes in length. The normal full routine includes a music portion and a cheerleading/sideline portion to the performance. The music portion of the routine cannot exceed 2 minutes. A school may enter the small team, medium team or large team division in the event.

Please refer to the on-line schedule for most up-to-date times. All times are tentative and subject to change.

The order of competition in each event and judging criteria is on the Cheerleading Page of the IESA Web site. Go to www.iesa.org for complete information regarding the 2020 IESA Cheerleading Championships. Click on the underlined "Cheer" in the box at the top of the page. Once on the Cheerleading home page, you can click on the underlined "Final Session Order of Competition" to view the performance schedule for all squads by event. Results of the competition will be posted Saturday evening.

For more information, please contact the Cheer Administrator, Leslie Alappattu at 309-829-0114 or leslie@iesa.org.