By Nick Canzoneri, NYSPHSAA Spring 2022 Intern

The 2022 NYSPHSAA Competitive Cheer State Championships presented by CheerSounds will be held once again at Gordon Field House at Rochester Institute of Technology (Section V) for the third time since 2019. Approximately 50 teams will compete on Saturday, March 5.  CheerSounds has sponsored this event since 2018 which is now in its sixth year of existence. Visions Federal Credit Union Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton is due to host this event from 2023-25.

The tournament has two divisions (Division I and Division II) each with a large school and small school category, along with a separate co-ed division.  Following a preliminary round of competition, schools with the top five scores advance to the finals later in the day.  At the conclusion of the tournament, five champions will be crowned. 

“We are excited to get back to hosting the Competitive Cheer State Championships,” said Jen Simmons, Cheer State Coordinator. “Last year during COVID cheer teams were cheated out of state competition but this year teams will be hungry to compete for a state crown. We look forward to bringing everyone back to showcase competitive cheer.”

Due to COVID-19, the Competitive Cheer State Championships had to take a one-year hiatus in 2021.  However, the 2020 state championship were conducted just before COVID impacted athletics and declared numerous winners.  For Division I, Farmingdale (large) and Hauppauge (small) were winners while Division II saw Mt. Sinai (large) and Maryvale (small) win.  Eastridge won the co-ed division.

The tournament schedule is below at RIT:

D2 Small    8:30-10:50
D1 Large    11:20-1:15
Co-ed          1:45-4:10
D1 Small     4:40-6:50
D2 Large     7:20-9:40

Awards Ceremony to Follow

For more information regarding COVID-19 protocols at RIT, please refer to this link https://nysphsaa.org/tournaments/?id=7&path=