In Progress...

Weekends are SUPER busy in this house!

Planning Practice

I think that maybe I have gone through enough touchy feely stuff this week.  

Lets get back to some actual material...

You may have heard the phrase “Championships are won at practice, competition is just where you pick up the trophy.” 

There is a lot to be said about a well-run practice.  Organization, time management, goals and commitment are all key to a successful practice.  Many times cheerleaders have far more on their plate than time allowed at practice.  There are many ways to accomplish what you need during practice time. Evaluate your upcoming events and incorporate those things into your weekly goals.  Prioritize and work on the things that are most important and will take the longest to accomplish first. 

I have found that creating a practice plan helps keep me on track.

I have a binder that I have copies of the practice outline in.  Each day I fill in the goals for each day.

The outline looks like this:

At the end of each practice, I use the back of the practice plan to make notes about things that happened at Practice.  Record any praise or problems, goal achievement, etc.  If we did not accomplish something on the list that needs done I will make a note to remind myself to get back to it.

Fill in the blanks for the items that need attention the next day.  If you take something out to work on a special project, make a note.  If you notice that you are not getting through certain tasks, evaluate the time, determine if you need more time or if you need to keep the team on track, and focused.

One idea for staying within your time is to get a countdown timer.  I found a nice one at the dollar store that will count down to the second.  At the start of each task set the timer, when it goes off they have 1 minute to get a drink of water and move to the next task. 

Some coaches find that writing out the plan on a large piece of paper to display at practice is helpful.  The whole team can see it and know what they are working on next.

You could also use the poster idea as a reward tool.  If you want to get out of practice early or if they want time at the end of practice, make a list of all the things that they need to accomplish before the end of practice.  If they get through the list early, they may get out early or they can have the left over time to work on something special.

Most importantly – Make Notes. 

If I don’t write something down, it doesn't happen.  Make a list, make a chart, or write goals on a calendar… What ever works for you will help you and your team successful.

Cheers!!

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CW3

Out in the Crowd

Game day

Friday night

Crisp autumn air

You've practiced

You’re ready

Commitment

Fans everywhere 

A sea of red and white

Smells of grilled hamburgers

Fresh popcorn  

Electricity 

Excitement

Nerves

Lights

The Announcer

The Team

National Anthem

Kick-off

Defense

Passion

Touchdowns

Quarter breaks

Timeouts

Halftimes

Stunts

Tumbling

Pyramids

Cheers

Dances

The Band

Winning touch down

Intensity

The final score

Celebration

Pride

Powerful

These are all things that we experience on any given Friday.  

Yet, somewhere in the mix of all these things is a little girl.  A little girl watching your every move.  She is dressed in her uniform, hair up, poms in hand.  She looks onto the field in awe and dreams that one day she will be just like you.  She practices her cheers.  Jumps around in the living room and tumbles in the back yard… 

You are her idol. 

You are her dream.

That is a lot of responsibility.  

High expectations to live up to. 

Are you ready?  

Can you handle the pressure?  

Don’t let that little girl down...

No Cheerleader Left Behind

Supporting each other in more than just stunts.

Cheerleaders are responsible for so many things around the school and community.  Many times they have issues happening in their own lives that make things harder on them.  Some kids have a ton of support at home for the activities that they want to participate in and some kids struggle with parents and priorities.  We all want our kids to grow up to be contributing members of society but there is a fine line between to strict and too lenient.  While we cannot control our squad’s home lives, we can try to make their cheer lives positive. 

In our practices we have a very strict ‘leave it at the door policy.’  Regardless of what has happened during the day, we are to come to practice ready to work and give 100%.  As a coach, it is my job to read my team and see what direction practice needs to go.  There are just some days when we need to sit down and have a team bonding chat and some days when we need to plow through our material and go home. 

The biggest thing I expect of my squads is that at the end of the day they are a family.  Families don’t always like each other and don’t always get along, but at the end of the day we have each others back.  We accomplish this by learning about each other.  We learn what makes our teammates happy and sad, we learn to read when they are excited and when they need a hug. 

Here is a wonderful poem written about cheerleaders that does a good job of expressing what cheerleading is like:

Cheerleading is a way of life, shared by a chosen few.

It is working as a unit in everything you do.

Cheerleading is rivalry, the competition makes you strong.

It is sharing secrets and tears, learning to get along.

Cheerleading is that ongoing drive to be the very best.

It is patience, perseverance, and very little rest.

Cheerleading is having poise and charm with every word you say.

It is total dedication twenty-four hours a day.

It is always being ready with encouragement or a smile,

Cheerleading is your chance to express your individual style.

Cheerleading is reaching out to comfort a sister who is sad.

It is defending each other in the good times and the bad.

Cheerleaders are always there whenever someone asks,

They treasure the present moment and let go of the past.

Cheerleading is a talent to be able to shine on cue,

It is hiding the pain and anguish that if only people knew.

Cheerleaders after all, are real people that sometimes get down,

But when they’re in the spotlight, they must never put on a frown.

Cheerleaders are actresses, always ready to go,

That is why it is important for all the world to know;

Not every girl can be a cheerleader, it takes a special kind.

Cheerleaders are full of like and a little bit out of their minds!

-Unknown

CHEERS!

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CW3

Material Makeover

Quick ways to update some of your outdated material.

Every couple of years it is a good idea to go through some of your cheers and chants and evaluate what is working and what isn't.  Sometimes we have cheers and chants on our list that we hear parents say “I know that one! We did it when I was in school!”  This is probably a good sign that your material needs some updating.

Here are a few things you can update and how:

Chants

Some schools take their chants and re-learn new moves every year.  Our school keeps chants from year to year but we take out the ones that are the least successful and add new ones from camp.

One fun way to get updated chants is to take your chant list, assign a chant to a pair of cheerleaders, and have them make up new motions or new words with the current motions.

Cheers

Go through your cheers and see if you can incorporate stunts, jumps, tumbling, signs or poms into each one.  This will give the crowd something to look at other than just the cheerleaders yelling at them. 

The cheers then selves may need words updated or specific motions that are no longer appropriate or trendy.  You can always try the mash-up idea with your cheers and chants too.

Dances

If your squad has a dance that they really like doing you can change it up by simply changing the music.  Find a new song on the radio that gets everyone up and moving.  While top hits are never a good choice for competition routines, they can be very effective when working with the crowd. 

You can also do a dance mash-up.  Mash-ups are usually when you take two songs and mix them together to make a new song.  You can do this with your dances.  Have each girl choose her favorite 8 count from any dance that your squad does and take turns making up a new dance with those favorites.

My favorite way to make up new dance moves it by using chants.  Most chants are set up on an 8-count beat.  Just take those motions and set them to counts an add music!  This works really well if you need band dances or fill in 8-counts when working on choreography.

One thing you don’t want to do is get rid of the crowd involvement cheers and chants. Those take a few seasons to catch on anyway, if you change them all the time the crowd doesn't know WHAT you want them to do!

Best of Luck!!

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CW3

L-O-V-E We Love Our JV

Supporting the developmental programs at your school and in your community to ensure the future successes of your program.

Very rarely in coaching, does a team come along with so much natural talent that as coaches we can just sit back and let them shine.  More often than not our talent comes from hard working kids that learned by being on the freshman or JV teams.  In some communities, these kids may have learned their skills on a youth team that fed into the high school program.  When kids play sports or participate in activities, they want to be on the best team or the highest team.  Some kids are lucky and get to start there, but mostly we have to start on the developmental team and work them up to being on Varsity. 

It can be discouraging for some kids to have to participate on JV.  As coaches, we need to treat the JV team with just as much respect and adoration that we do our Varsity.  These kids are the future of our program.  If we keep them motivated and excited about being a part of the ‘family’ then they will continue to work hard to make the program better.  Unfortunately, some coaches treat their JV or Freshman teams as lesser athletes and they lose them before they get to move up.

Here are a few ways you can keep them feeling good about them selves:

Team Bonding

Have the JV and Varsity teams bond together.  Have them work together on a project or assign ‘sisters.’ This will allow the varsity to remember what it was like to be on the JV team and they will help keep those kids excited.  Keeping JV on the same level emotionally with also help them with self-esteem and pride in their accomplishments.

Encouragement

Have your Varsity take time throughout the season to support the JV cheerleaders.  Have them attend games as fans to cheer on the cheerleaders.  Have them send notes and letters to keep them feeling motivated throughout the year.

Involvement

Have your JV participate in some of the events that are usually only Varsity.  School assemblies or performances, halftimes or pre-game for Varsity games are other ways to keep them involved.  They will feel accomplished for being involved in the bigger events and it will make your cheerleader as a whole stand out more to have double the amount of cheerleaders on the floor.

JV-Only Events

Allow your JV cheerleaders to participate in a few functions that are just for them.  They could attend a competition with a JV category or perform at a community event that the Varsity is not attending.  Our JV Cheerleaders got participate in a parade and school carnival last year that the varsity could not go to because of an away game.  The JV cheerleaders had a great time and the varsity was able to watch the parade from the sidelines and support them before getting on the bus.

If you are lucky enough to have a youth program in your area that feeds into your school, work with those coaches.  Let them know what is expected of the cheerleaders and what you would like to see.  You could even go as far as having them attend some of your practices.  Your cheerleaders could teach the youth some of the traditional cheers and chants from your school and even the fight song.  It will make both programs better.

The most important thing is to remember that these kids are all really the same.  School Spirit should be equal regardless of what squad you are on.  Varsity gets more benefits because they have the better skills, but they are not better people. 

Cheers,

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CW3

Kindness Matters

Have you ever been sitting in line at Starbucks waiting on your order and pull up to the window and have the cashier tell you that your coffee had been paid for by the person in front of you? 

Perhaps you came home from a long day at work to find all the leaves in your yard had been raked and bagged for you.

What about standing in line at the grocery store with only one or two items in your hands and the person in front of you offers to let you go in front of them?

These Random Acts of Kindness probably made your day and you probably have had times when you offered your kindness to others and expected nothing in return…

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Each year my squad chooses a charity or organization to support.  We typically host a fundraiser and donate the proceeds or use them to purchase items for the organization.  In the past we have supported Students Helping Students, The Animal Ark, and the Susan G. Komen Race for a cure, to name a few.

This year I feel that it is important that we choose something that we can continue throughout the season that does not involve money.  With the economy struggling, it will be nice to find a way to give back without having to pay to do so.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is the heart of the kindness movement whose aim is to help everyone create a better world by spreading awareness and increasing engagement in kind actions.  The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation inspires people to practice kindness and to pass it on to others.

This year, my cheerleaders will be participating in the RAK movement.  We will spend the whole year finding ways to spread kindness and cheer to friends, family, teachers and even strangers. 

Here are just a few ways they will accomplish this:

• Give someone a flower
• Eat lunch with someone new
• Visit a sick friend
• Offer a hug
• Give an unexpected gift
• Open a door
• Plant a tree
• Leave a thank you note
• Give a compliment
• Do a favor
• Walk a dog
• Donate your gently used items
• Make a new friend

Please join us in the effort to make the world a better place.

You can read more about the Random Acts of Kindness foundation here:

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

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CW3
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