A West Coast showdown is brewing this weekend in sunny Palm Springs, CA for the 2026 Spirit Sports Grand Nationals! West Coast powerhouse teams & programs are set to take center stage, and quite a few out-of-state programs are set to join them making this an incredible lineup. This weekend is a great opportunity to make some moves on the Varsity Cheer League leaderboard as teams that take home 1st place will earn 600 points. Be sure to mark your calendar to tune in all weekend long on Varsity TV. To get you ready for all the action, here is a look at three things the Varsity TV team is excited to keep an eye on at Spirit Sports Grand Nationals. 

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2026 Spirit Sports Grand Nationals: Three Things To Keep An Eye On

Summit Teams We’re Excited to See:

Spirit Sports Grand Nationals has some action-packed divisions across the board all weekend long. We're excited to see several teams that have found great success, including multiple teams coming off a great 2024-2025 season. Many teams you'll see this weekend are reigning 2025 Summit Champions, or are teams that finished in the Top 3 of their division at The Summit. Additionally, some teams are entering a brand new division this season making it an exciting fresh start. Here's a list of some of those teams we'll be eager to watch this weekend: 

• The California All Stars J2 Crew - L2 Junior - Medium
• The California All Stars Junior Mafia - L5 Junior
• The California All Stars Illusion L4 Senior Coed - Medium
• South Coast Cheer Miss Twist - L5 Senior - Medium
• South Coast Cheer Steel - L4 - U18 Coed 
• Rival Athletics Revenge - L4 Junior - 
• SCV All Stars Senior Steel - L5 Senior - Small
• California Pride Drought - L4 Senior Coed - Medium
• California Pride Breeze - L5 Senior - Medium
• American Cheer SR RED - L4 Senior Coed - Small
• Golden Elite All Stars Golden Gunz - L3 Junior - D2 - Small - B
• Top Gun All Stars Arizona Riot - L3 - U16
• Top Gun All Stars Arizona Golden Ops - L2 Junior - Flex - Small

The East vs. West Showdown

This competition is always a big weekend for those staple West Coast programs, but the last few years have been very exciting as quite a few East Coast or Midwest programs have made the trip out to Palm Springs! Cheer Extreme Raleigh is one of those East Coast programs returning to Palm Springs to face off with West Coast powerhouse programs. Here are some matchups we can't wait to see:

L6 Senior Small:

• Cheer Extreme SSX (The 2026 MAJORS & JAMfest Cheer Super Nationals Champions) will face off with Top Gun All Stars TGOC again, and will face The California All Stars ACES for the first time this season. 
• Cheer Extreme SSX and Top Gun All Stars TGOC just recently competed against each other at The MAJORS 2026 on January 16. 

L6 Senior XSmall Coed:

• Just two weeks later, we are set to get an awesome rematch in the L6 Senior XSmall Coed division! Cheer Extreme SMOEX and The California All Stars Exodus will face each other again after just seeing each other at JAMfest Cheer Super Nationals. Cheer Extreme SMOEX took the win at JAMfest Cheer Super Nationals, and The California All Stars Exodus finished in 4th place. 

L6 U18 NT:

• It's the first matchup of the season for Cheer Extreme Raleigh Cougars, and The California All Stars Glow. The California All Stars Glow enter the season with tons of momentum after being named 2025 World Champions. However, Cougars also know the feeling as they were named World Champions in 2024. 
• These two teams faced each other last season at this event where The Califonria All Stars Glow took the win, with Cougars not far behind in second place. 

A Look At The 2025 World Champions:

This weekend brings fans a great opportunity to see some of their favorite Worlds-level teams in action! This year, five reigning World Champions are set to take the stage in Palm Springs. Be sure to mark these teams on your schedule to see them live for yourself! 

• The California All Stars Cali Coed  
• The California All Stars Rangers
• Cheer Extreme SSX
• The California All Stars Glow
• The California All Stars Black Ops