The coach sits across from Craig Hallmark, scoresheet gripped tight. The math doesn’t add up in her mind—or maybe it does, and that’s the problem. Her team worked for months. They hit clean. And the placement still stings.
Craig leans in. Not defensive. Just present.
“Walk me through what you’re seeing,” he says.
She does. He listens. Really listens. Then he picks up the rubric and starts breaking it down—not to prove her wrong, but to help her see what the judges saw. Line by line. Skill by skill. His voice stays steady. Calm. By the end, she’s nodding. She might not love the score, but now she understands where it comes from.
“He has this calm confidence that he’s able to relay information to coaches within score review,” says Melissa Hay, Director of Scoring for The Allstar Cheer Championships. “He makes your opinion feel heard.”
That’s Craig. Three decades in cheerleading, and he’s still showing up for the hard conversations. Still explaining the same concepts to different people in different rooms at different competitions. Over and over, because he believes people deserve to understand the systems that affect them and their athletes.
He didn’t set out to become the person everyone calls when scoring doesn’t make sense. But here he is—former gym owner, judge, coach, choreographer— and now Scoring Director for the Open Championship Series building the infrastructure that thousands of programs rely on every season.
And if you ask the people who know him best, they’ll tell you: the systems he builds are extensions of who he’s always been.
Craig Hallmark: At a Glance
Role: Scoring Director, Open Championship Series
Location: Oklahoma
Experience: 30+ years in competitive cheerleading
Background: Coach, gym owner (Oklahoma Twisters), judge, choreographer
Also Founded: J&C Cheer Camps, 5678 Solutions
Known For: Transparency in scoring systems, judge education, creating the first formal score review process
The First One In
Craig was the first male cheerleader at Blanchard High School.
Let that sit for a minute. Small town Oklahoma. Late 1990s. Walking into a space where you don’t fit the mold takes guts. But Craig didn’t just walk in, he showed up and then he stayed. He competed. And he loved it. That brought him on to cheer in college, where he became a mascot, and kept competing in all-star cheer.
“As the first male cheerleader at Blanchard High School, connection and inclusion were not always guaranteed,” says Levi Harrel-Hallmark, Craig’s husband. “That experience continues to shape how he shows up today.”
That thread runs through everything. Creating spaces where people truly belong. Making sure the kid from the small gym gets the same fair shot as the program everyone knows. Building systems that don’t exclude based on size or politics or who you know.
He wasn’t thinking about that in high school, obviously. He was busy falling in love with the sport. But those early experiences—being the outlier, proving his place, earning respect—formed the foundation for how he leads now.
The Drive That Changed Everything
Early 2000s. Craig owned and coached at Oklahoma Twisters, was judging regularly, and yet – getting more frustrated by the week.
Scoring issues kept happening. Same problems, different competitions. “Phone calls and emails weren’t enough,” Craig says simply. So Craig did what Craig does: he drove to Dallas and asked for a meeting with NCA leadership.
In person. Face to face.
That meeting introduced the first formal score review process for coaches—what Justin Carrier jokingly called a “Hallmark Card.” A way for coaches to challenge scores professionally, with structure and accountability.
It may sound small. It wasn’t.
It established a core principle that, because of Craig, many see as a right in cheer today: transparency matters. People deserve answers. And systems should serve people, not confuse them.
From there, Craig became one of the early voices pushing for formalized judge certification. Before USASF’s safety program, judges were mostly picked through word of mouth. No real training. No consistency. Craig wanted better—for judges, for coaches, for athletes, and the industry overall.
“Craig has been part of the early years of the all-star industry and understands the complexity in developing a consistent scoring system,” Hay says. “One strong trait that he has is listening to everyone. In developing OCS, he listened to the judges as well as the coaches. From there he used that information in making his decisions—being responsive, not reactive.”
Responsive, not reactive. That’s something that makes him different.
What Judging Taught Him
“Being a judge completely changed how I view routines and the industry,” Craig says. “I loved coaching and choreographing when I owned Oklahoma Twisters, but sitting on the panel gave me a whole new perspective.”
He started noticing the tiny technical details coaches miss. He listened to veteran judges break down routines. He saw how differently trained judges could interpret the same skills.
And he realized: the system was broken.
Not because judges were bad. Because training was inconsistent, standards were unclear, and coaches had no real pathway to understanding what they were being scored on.
So when the four founders of Open Championship Series approached him in 2019, Craig saw an opportunity.
“I had known all four Open owners for over 20 years,” he says. “They trusted me to lead.”
He’d just sold his gym. His other businesses were growing. He finally had bandwidth to build something different.
So he did.
The Human Behind the Rubric
Here’s what people don’t always see: Craig is funny. Like, genuinely funny. He’s thoughtful. He’s a good friend—the kind who suggests opportunities to people even when there’s nothing in it for him.
“On a personal level, Craig is the most honest and loyal friend,” says Brooke Wojcik, who’s known him for 20 years. “Even as one-time competitors against each other, his sportsmanship never wavered. Now, having both moved into different roles in the industry, he has suggested opportunities to me in which he knew I could thrive.”
Kyle Gadke of Spirit FX has known Craig outside of cheer for over a decade. “Aside from ‘Scoring Director Craig,’ outside of cheer he is an amazing human being who sees good in people, is kind, and wants to advance this sport and scoring to its fullest potential.”
That kindness shows up in the work. In how he trains judges. In how he sits in score review. In how he designs systems that make scoring accessible to everyone, not just the programs with resources.
Jennifer “Big Red” Cooper experienced it firsthand: “When I spoke with Craig, I felt like I was talking to a teammate. I could feel his matched effort and passion to make a difference that only a great teammate could understand. He makes your opinion feel heard.”
Levi sees it daily. “Craig builds systems, but he never loses sight of the people for whom those systems are built. The work he does in cheerleading is deeply personal because it is rooted in lived experience and genuine care.”
And that care extends beyond scoring. With 5678 Solutions, Craig provides custom signs, branding, and promotional items for teams and programs at fair and competitive rates. Through J&C Camps, with Jeff LeForce, Craig has spent nearly three decades helping young athletes fall in love with cheerleading—creating environments where kids feel welcomed and supported, the way he wishes he’d always felt.
“He is intentional about creating environments where athletes, coaches, and teams feel welcomed, supported, and at home,” Levi says. “The relationships he and Jeff have built across Oklahoma are not transactional—they form a strong and meaningful network of community rooted in trust and care.”
The Pressure of Getting It Right
“There is immense pressure of keeping everyone happy and doing the right thing,” Gadke says. “I think I speak for everyone in a scoring position that we sleep best at night not when someone is happy from a decision, but when the decision made was right. The easy decision and the right decision do not always align.”
Craig knows that tension intimately.
He sees families who’ve spent thousands on training and travel. Athletes who’ve worked for months. Coaches who’ve poured everything into their programs. And when a score feels wrong—even if it’s technically correct—trust shatters.
That’s why he makes rubrics accessible. Why he trains judges rigorously. Why he personally explains decisions in score review, over and over, even when it’s exhausting.
“It’s important for coaches to understand that scores reflect the skills presented, not personal bias. Judges are human, and mistakes happen. But the score review process exists to correct them professionally and maintain fairness.”
Kayla Wygal of Deep South Spirit saw Craig’s responsiveness play out directly: “A United customer had a hard time understanding raw score vs. max percentage on the Level 1 sheet. By Craig making the OCS Level 1 sheet have the toss requirement and then making everything out of 100, that math is so much easier for coaches, parents, and athletes to understand.”
Small change. Big impact. That’s how Craig works.
How Does Craig Hallmark Define Success in Scoring?
“Success is seeing the industry recognize and celebrate improvements to our scoresheets, understanding the reasoning behind changes, and trusting that adjustments were made in good faith,” Craig says. “Most decisions start in small-group discussions, then go through a larger feedback process. Being able to explain decisions rationally and transparently is what success looks like for me.”
He’s not chasing recognition. He’s chasing comprehension. Trust. A shared belief that the system serves athletes, not politics.
“What keeps me motivated is knowing that our organization can influence the industry positively. By being a disruptor and inclusive to all event producers and cheer gyms, regardless of size, we’ve forced the industry to pause and reconsider its direction.”
Levi captures the philosophy behind everything Craig builds: “What I hope readers understand is that Craig never loses sight of his why. The systems he builds are acts of care. The feedback he invites is a form of respect. The human behind the systems is someone who believes that structure can be compassionate, that excellence can be inclusive, and that leadership is ultimately about protecting and uplifting the people who love this sport as much as he does.”
Looking Forward
Craig’s vision for the next decade is practical: more education, more consistency, more transparency across organizations.
- Consistent scoring systems across all event producers so routines don’t need to change week to week
- Better education for coaches on rubrics, rules, and glossary terms
- Comprehensive judge training through conferences and certification programs
- Transparent processes where every program—big or small—has equal access to understanding scores
- Trust rebuilt between coaches and judges through clear communication
- Continued diversification of conferences and training for all
“Conferences, both in-person and online, are helping spread knowledge widely and ensure the next generation has the correct understanding of scoring and judging,” Craig says.
One misconception still frustrates him: “I wish coaches and parents understood that 99% of judges are trying to get it right. Judges aren’t ‘out to get’ any team. Scoring is a science, and their reputations are on the line. Mistakes happen, but they’re just that—mistakes.”
The Legacy
Craig Hallmark won’t ever be the loudest voice in cheerleading. He’s not chasing social media followings or viral moments.
But his influence is everywhere:
- In the rubrics coaches study
- The review processes they access
- The training judges receive
- The standards shaping competitions nationwide.
He’s the guy who drove to Dallas when phone calls didn’t work. Who listens to frustrated coaches even when they’re angry. Who rebuilds systems not for credit, but because people deserve better.
Wojcik says it simply: “He uses his extensive knowledge and experience to continually make our sport better for everyone, big or small.”
That’s the man behind the numbers. Building fairness into every scoresheet. Creating access for every program. Making the complicated understandable, one conversation at a time.
Not because it’s flashy. Because it’s right.
And because he still loves cheerleading the way he did as the first male cheerleader at Blanchard High School—with his whole heart.
Be sure to follow Cheer Daily on all social platforms and visit cheerdaily.com to keep up with all of our incredible features on the Ten Who Are Making A Difference within our industry this season!
Follow Along —
Cheer Daily: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | X | YouTube
