About USA Song

Game Day

Game day simulates a halftime show at a football game. It requires coordination of signs with letters, choreographed with a spirit and crowd-rally focus. Dancers perform with poms while managing signs — and the number of signs is itself a difficulty factor. More signs that must be picked up, displayed, put down, and replaced with others increases the complexity of the routine.

Some routines include a mascot, which adds a significant level of difficulty — the performer is in full costume with severely limited visibility and must perform using only 8-counts to time their position and movement on the floor.

Pom

Precision choreographed dance performed with pom poms. Pom routines may include tricks — front and side walkovers, aerials (left, right, front) — that showcase the athletic ability of the performers alongside their dance technique.

Tricks vs. Stunts — a critical distinction. In song, athletes perform tricks (walkovers, aerials). In cheer, athletes perform stunts (lifts, pyramids, throws, catches, backflips). These are fundamentally different skill sets. And notably — cheer does not use pom poms despite the common misconception. Poms are a song prop.

Jazz

An open class for choreographed technical dance — and one of the sport's most debated categories. While it's called “jazz,” the reality is that most competitive teams perform what is technically a lyrical routine.

This is a genuine point of contention in the sport. Jazz dance has specific elements — sharp isolations, syncopation, rhythmic precision. Lyrical dance is typically more elegant, fluid, and emotionally expressive. When the dominant style in a “jazz” category isn't actually jazz, what does that say about how the sport defines and categorizes itself?

Hip Hop

Choreographed hip hop routines that bring street-style energy and technical skill to the competitive stage. Hip hop in song emphasizes precision, creativity, and athleticism within the hip hop dance tradition.