About The Cheer Awards

The biggest night in cheerleading. Built by the community, for the community.

Every year, thousands of athletes step onto the mat and leave everything they have behind. Coaches pour their lives into building programs. Brands push the sport forward. Events create moments that live forever. Creators tell the stories that make us feel something.

The Cheer Awards exists to spotlight those people. Not because they need a trophy to validate their work — but because the cheer community deserves a night to come together and say, "We see you. We appreciate you."

Who We Honor

Athletes

The performers who raise the bar every season.

Coaches

The leaders shaping programs and changing lives.

Programs

The gyms and teams defining excellence.

Events

The competitions and showcases that move the sport.

Brands

The companies powering athletes and gyms.

Creators

The storytellers, choreographers, and voices of the community.

Award Categories

75,000+

Votes Cast in 2025

Night That Matters

Presented By

The Cheer Awards is produced by Cheer Media in partnership with the cheer community. Our presenting sponsor, T-Mobile for Business, helps us keep this celebration free and open to everyone.

How It Works

How Winners Are Chosen

A transparent, community-driven process combining public voting and expert judging.

The Community Nominates

Fans, athletes, coaches, and parents submit nominees across 58 categories through June 30.

The Community Votes

Finalists are announced July 1 and community voting runs July 1–8. Vote once per day. We combine community votes with our expert board for a fair, balanced result.

We Celebrate Together

Winners are revealed online and at The Cheer Awards event in Orlando, FL on July 18. Trophies ship. Badges drop. The community wins.

Public Vote

50%

The cheer community has a powerful voice. Fans, athletes, coaches, and parents cast their votes. Votes can be cast once per day — come back daily to support your favorites.

Cheer Awards Board

50%

Our expert board brings deep industry knowledge and credibility. They evaluate nominees on merit, impact, and alignment with our mission.

Who's on the Board?

Cheer Media Board of Directors — Leaders from across the cheer media landscape.
Cheer Daily's 2025 Honoree Class (40 Under 40) — Rising stars recognized for their contributions.
Cheer Awards Hall of Fame — Legendary figures who shape cheerleading's future.

Voting Rules & Integrity

Daily Voting

Votes can be cast once per day. Return every day during the voting window.

No Spam Voting

We monitor for bots, duplicate accounts, and fraud. Suspicious votes are removed.

Fair Play

We reserve the right to disqualify nominees for vote manipulation, harassment, or conduct that undermines the integrity of The Cheer Awards.

2026

Timeline

Through June 30

Nominations Open

Submit your favorite programs, athletes, coaches, brands, and events across 58 categories.

July 1

Finalists Announced

The top 10 nominees in each category are revealed. Community voting opens the same day.

July 1–8

Community Voting

Public voting is open for one week. Vote once per category, per day.

July 8

Voting Closes

Public voting ends at 11:59pm ET. The board convenes for final deliberations.

July 18 — Orlando, FL

Winners Announced

Doors open at 6pm. Winners revealed live at The Cheer Awards event in Orlando, FL and online. The Cheer Awards is 18+, 21 to drink.

Get in touch

Contact us.

Press, sponsorship, partnerships, or a question — we'd love to hear from you.

hello@cheerawards.org

Instagram

@thecheerawards

Trust

Trust, privacy & security

This section is maintained by The Cheer Awards team to answer common questions about how we handle data, protect nominations, and keep the site secure. It is editable content owned by us — not an independent certification.

Data we collect

When you submit a nomination, we collect the nominee details, your reason, supporting links, optional file attachments, and your contact information (name, email, and optional phone) so we can verify the submission and follow up if needed. Visitors are subject to standard web request logs. We do not sell personal information.

How nominations are stored

Nominations are stored in our managed database. They cannot be read, edited, or deleted through the public website — only authorized backend processes operated by The Cheer Awards team can review submissions. Attachments live in a private storage bucket, not publicly listable or downloadable; short-lived signed links are used when sharing is necessary.

Authentication & access control

The submission form is open to the public so anyone can nominate. Read access to submissions is denied by default to anonymous and signed-in visitors and is enforced at the database with row-level security.

Platform & hosting

The website runs on managed cloud infrastructure with HTTPS in transit. Our database and storage are provided by a managed backend platform with row-level security enabled on user-facing tables and private storage buckets. This is a shared responsibility: the platform secures the infrastructure; The Cheer Awards team is responsible for application access rules, data handling, and the content of this section.

Subprocessors & integrations

We use Shopify to power the shop experience. Orders, payment details, and shop account information are processed by Shopify under their terms and privacy policy.

Retention, deletion & privacy requests

Nomination records and attachments are retained for the duration of the awards program and a reasonable period afterward. To access, correct, or delete personal information you submitted — or to report a security issue — contact us at hello@cheerawards.org. Please do not publicly disclose security issues until we've had a chance to address them.