My Coaching Philosophy - Spirit Leaders

First and foremost, I want to say that education is key to successful athletes and contributing members of society. I remind my athletes and the coaches that I mentor that we do not attend high school to play sports, we attend high school to gain an education and learn about the world we live in. Those students who are able to juggle academics and athletics will be the best leaders in their community.

I feel strongly that students should take the opportunity to participate in athletics and clubs available to them while they have the chance. We only attend high school for 4 years and the lessons learned, friends made, and experiences we have during that time challenge us and define us as individuals for the rest of our lives. High School athletics put our kids in leadership roles, especially those in the Spirit Positions, i.e. cheer, dance, and mascot.

Cheerleaders and Dancers have always been expected to lead the crowd and keep them screaming and yelling for their team. As time has evolved the expectations of these students have also evolved. Presently they are expected to be ambassadors for their school. They set the example for the student body in athleticism, academics, service, and support. They must uphold themselves in a manner that other members of the student body are not expected to.

I feel that our Spirit Programs, both Cheer, and Dance, should be held to the highest of standards. Coaches should be knowledgeable in their activity and safety should be at the forefront of their minds. Whether a school hosts a program that is sideline based and spends its time supporting other sports or a school carries a highly athletic and competitive squad, their focus should be on their leadership role and safety. Each school has a unique opportunity to develop a program that best fits the needs of their school and community.

Getting Your Life Back!

Getting your life back after the season

The cheer season has come to an end.

You have collected uniforms, handed out pictures and recognized everyone’s hard work at the banquet.

Now what?

Each coach plan’s his or her season differently.  I’m going to talk about what I do for my program and what needs to happen for me to decompress and recharge for next year. If it works for you, awesome! If not, hopefully, there are some things that you can use or modify for your program.

After the banquet, I meet up with the Bookkeeper and make sure that all invoices have been paid and our account is balanced. During the year, I keep an extremely tight hold on our finances in a 6-part file folder.  There is a section for my account balance sheet, the school's balance sheet, Fundraisers and Income, purchases, spirit pack info (the kid's order forms and master checklist), and the individual account balances.  I gather up all lose accounting paperwork and put it in its place so that I can file this away for reference.

My Coaches Bag

I take a quick look through my coach’s bag for any items that need to be returned. (Click Here to see/purchase mine.)  
This can include items cheerleaders have lost, a medical kit that goes back to the trainer, or any random snacks or water bottles left over from games.  Once I have done a quick check, I put gather all cheer related items that have scattered to my desk, table, car, etc. and put them back in my coach’s bag. I take the bag and set it out of sight for TWO WEEKS!  This step is very important to my mental recharge and albeit hard is necessary. This gives me time to let the dust settle and any feelings about the year to fall into their true meaning.  
Here’s what I mean by that:

Each year is different. Some years are wonderful and some years, not so much.  At the end of the season, you can be ready to turn in your keys and call it quits, or you can be so excited that you forget that cheer is actually over.  Sometimes you are so emotional about the class that is graduating you can forget about those upcoming kids that want to be equally successful.  The other thing I need to let settle is my family life.  My husband and I both coach year around so our lives are dictated by our coaching schedule.  He coaches Girls Golf in the fall, Wrestling in the Winter and Boys Golf in the Spring.  I coach two separate seasons of Cheer, Fall and Winter, and then if his Golf team is big enough, I am his assistant Golf Coach.  This two weeks off allows us to switch sports, reconnect our lives with our six-year-old, and plan the next season and then summer. During my two weeks “Vacation” I don’t check my Coaching Email, check my box at the school, or take any cheer-related phone calls. My coaching email gets a vacation signature and If I get a phone call I send an email or text (if appropriate) letting them know when I will return. During my vacation, if I have any thoughts or notes that pop into my head I write myself a quick note to be addressed later.  This helps keep me organized and not forget some of those great ideas.

Ok, it’s been two weeks! Remember that bag you stuffed in a closet? Yeah, now it’s time to take it out and clean it up.

Start by removing everything from it. All pockets, pens, notebooks, rule books, scraps of paper… everything!

Sort it all into piles. 

Throw out the trash and scraps of paper that you don’t need (now’s not the time to be a hoarder.)

You’ll probably have a pile of pens, pencils, markers, etc.  Check to see if they still work and place them in a pocket. 

Next, you need to dissect your clipboard and binders. 

Make a pile that includes flyers, event requests, charity information, tournament brackets or any information that was specific to this season.  Put these in a file folder along with the attendance sheet, team calendar, workouts and any notes regarding that season that I want to remember to refer to.

There should be a pile of chant lists and game plans and material notes – save these to file into a master folder.  I refer to this year after year. 

Sort all cheerleader specific paperwork.  All Emergency / School paperwork should be filed and saved until the cheerleader is 20 years old.  This includes and doctor’s notes and injury or discipline reports.  The scary thing about coaching is that we are responsible for these kids and anything that happened to them while on our watch until they are 20 years old.  18 plus two years is the statute of limitations on all injuries and issues that can come up.

As scary as it sounds, it can come up.  I had a girl come to me 7 years after I coached her on a youth team that had back issues and wanted to discuss my treatment.  Because I had a copy of her doctors note and release back to cheer, I was not at fault.

Once everything is sorted out start dissecting your year to see what worked and what didn’t.

Here’s my list with notes on what to look for:

Program

Is the program where you want it?

Is there a good balance between competition and school support?

Was the administration happy with the program, and does it fit in their vision?

Where do you want the program to go? More athletic, more school spirit, more community involvement?

Budget

Spirit Pack, contents and costs.

Did we need/use everything that we purchased?

What can we do without to save money?

What should we add to make life easier?

Plan around what you need, what the kids want and what is cost-effective for your program. Know your families.

Fundraisers

What Fundraisers we successful?

Which were not?

Are there other fundraisers that we didn’t use or haven’t done in a while that can come back?

Again, understand what the needs of the program are and know your families.  This is different each year.

Team Rules

What were our biggest issues this year/season?

Is there a part of the team constitution that covers this already?

Does it need written in or re-written for clarity?

Are there rules or items that are no longer valid or school rules that need to be adjusted?

Tryouts

Were tryouts effective in choosing the best kids for the team?

Were they too strict and there were kids that missed out unnecessarily?

Were they to laid-back and there were kids that were chosen that were not a good fit for the program.

Based on where you would like your program to be going, what changes do you need to make to the tryout process?

Practices

Were practices organized and effective?

Were the practices adequate to prepare for games and events? 

Did you have to add or remove practices during the season?

Was the team meeting its goals and progressing?

Planning the whole year is key!

Schedule

How did the schedule (the part you can control) work? (practices, events, fundraisers, community service, etc.)

When planning the next year, sit down with a blank calendar, last year’s calendar, the new school calendar, and your personal calendar.  Start filling in dates and events that you know.  If you have a family vacation planned or school functions that always happen at a certain time, put those in first.  Add in school vacations, days, off, holidays, finals and graduation. If there is an event or fundraiser that coincides with a community event, add it.

Look at the best times for open gyms and tryouts, and pencil those in.

Practice

If you practice in the summer, look at your schedule and put those down.  Please remember that the kids need a break. They need to recharge and get excited too.  I have found that If I keep them away for at least a month they will be excited to return and typically work on skills on their own. Decide on a camp date and practices to prepare for camp and the welcome back festivities.

Fundraisers, Payments, and Team Meetings. 

Schedule these and get them on the calendar ASAP.  Give the parents time to plan their summer too.  If you have a plan, they will trust in the process.  Don’t wing it.  It causes stress for you and the kids can feel it and parents will be frustrated.  Let them know ahead of time what the fundraisers are, when they will run and when money is due.  Try to work it out so that fundraisers end at the same time a spirit pack payment is due. They should understand that you provide the fundraisers as a courtesy and if they choose not to participate then the money is still due. 

At your team meetings, update cheerleaders and parents on the upcoming events and any changes.  Thank them for the previous participation and events and be their cheerleader for the next ones.  If you are excited, they will be excited.  Learn how to sell it. 

Games

You should have an idea of when games are, pencil those in.  You don’t have to put the specifics in, but you can write JV Game – 4:30. Time/Location TBA. If you plan on cheering at Soccer or Volleyball once a week, then put that in.  We cheer for other sports on Tuesdays (home only). If soccer has a game, we go to that. If its Volleyball, we go to that.  If there are multiple sports playing we divide and conquer.  Sometimes there is no game so we spend that time making signs or goodie bags for the sports we don’t physically attend (Golf, Cross-Country, and Tennis).  There have even been times when we were all caught up with our own school sports that we write out encouragement cards for other school’s cheerleaders in the area.

Community Events, School Functions, and Assemblies

These are events that tend to get scheduled at the last minute.  As soon as I know these I add them and send out an updated calendar.  The communication of the changes is KEY!

Keep yourself organized and always refer to your “Year of Cheer” schedule to stay focused.  Write notes and reminders to yourself to order awards and contact certain vendors.  Google calendar can be a lifesaver!

Once you have the paperwork updated, tryout process planned, and your calendar started the rest falls into place. 

Now that your season is outlined, you can take a break (If the schedule allows), or you can get started putting the season plan into motion!

I will now begin my time off.  My bag is in the closet, them vacation email response set up, and my cheer box at the school is empty! 

See you mid-March!

-CW3

Keeping The Spirit ALL YEAR!

Tryouts in May, Camp and Practices in July & August, School, and Football Games run from September to November, Winter Tryouts in November, Basketball Games, and Competitions from December through March. Nine months is a LONG time to keep kids motivated.  Even longer if you don’t have the second tryout in November.  Keeping your athletes from getting bored is an art!  There are many, many ways to help them stay motivated and excited all year long.  Here are just a few.

No Cheering Allowed!

No Cheering Allowed

For one practice each month, have a team outing or gathering that has nothing to do with cheerleading.  Go bowling, roller skating, or have a team dinner and watch funny movies.  Have a rule that they are not to talk about cheerleading or wear anything cheerleading related.  It will be a bonding experience for them.  Play a game that is a variation on the baby/wedding shower game.  Give each girl a necklace or a pin and if anyone is caught saying the word Cheer, they lose their item.  The cheerleader with the most collected items wins.

Themed Practices

Have dress-up days.  One day we had a day where the cheerleaders had to wear the t-shirt of a different school to practice.  It could be any school, but they were not allowed to wear our school colors!  You can have superhero days, idol days, color days, etc.  The limits are endless.  Just make sure that they are safe for practice.

Team Bonding 

Have team bonding activities at least once a week at practice or instead of practice.  There are a million different bonding activities that range from mushy to sappy.  You can play games that force them to work together.  Sit in a circle and talk about things, such as; Why are you here? Why do you appreciate the person next to you? What is your favorite commercial? Etc?

Community Service & Volunteering

If they can work together off the field they will be amazing on it.  Taking time away from cheer to help others and spread kindness can really help to motivate a stagnant team.  It gives them goals to work toward that are not skill based and are very attainable.  This section is brought to you by the letter C.

Weekly Praise

Weekly Praise

Choose a stuffed animal or a trophy to give out to a cheerleader each week.  This traveling trophy can be a source of motivation.  Give it out to the best all around cheerleader from the week.  They take turns with it and on Friday when the new winner is announced they can ceremoniously hand it over.  Take a picture of each week's winner and make a collage at the end of the year.  If your mascot doesn’t lend to a good animal or trophy you could use a stuffed COW.  For Cheerleader of the Week!

Rotating Captains

Until your team votes or your captains are chosen you could have a captain for a day.  The daily choice can lead stretches, take turns calling chants, choose the dance or material to work on that day.  They could even take turns teaching the team material or bringing the team a snack.  You may like this setup so much you will keep it all year long!

Team Journal

Each week, sit down with a notebook and your team and have them contribute comments, notes, anecdotes, and stories from the week.  Have someone write them all down and then journal them.  At the end of the season put them together and give a copy to team members to remember the season.  You could also do this with a Video Journal.  You could film throughout the week and at the end, they could each take turns talking about the week.

Material Update
Take a look at your chant lists for both Football and Basketball.  Are you in need up updating them? Take some time in between seasons to review and remove any that are no longer effective, or simply not fun.  You may have some football chants that you can change up the words to and carry into basketball.  You could break your team into small groups and have them come up with one revision and one new chant. Then they all could take turns teaching their chants.

When trying to motivate your cheerleaders, make sure you stay motivated too.  Your enthusiasm for the sport carries through to your team.

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

A is for Athlete

Are Cheerleaders Athletes?

We can argue whether cheer is a sport until we are blue in the face.  There are valid arguments on either side, for and against. Unfortunately there will not be a formal decision made on the point until all cheer programs are run the same and have the same goals and purposes. 

Some schools have traditional sideline cheerleaders that simply focus on school spirit.  They go to games and do cheers and chants to keep the crowd engaged.  Some traditional squads also dance and perform at halftimes of games and assemblies.

There are schools on the other end of the spectrum that participate in conditioning programs that rival other athletic sports.  These cheerleaders jump, tumble and stunt along with the traditional cheering and dancing. Many of these cheerleaders are full-fledged athletes.  They often participate in competitions and perform against other equally athletic teams.

Across the U.S. there are many variations of these two types of teams.  Even in my state and town we have schools on either side of this model.  It all depends on the school administration, coaches and the athletes available.  There are lots of contributing factors to why a school may or may not have a more athletic program. 

In the smaller schools it may be because the most athletic students are already participating in sports and cannot commit the time or energy to doing both.  It may be that the administration would prefer a team that goes to games and assemblies to support and lead instead of having the more dangerous physical side.

Some schools do treat their cheer teams like other sports.  They offer the same privileges to their cheerleaders as other sports, and expect them to follow the same rules and guidelines with travel, grades, drugs and alcohol, etc. 

There are pros and cons to coaching both types of squad.

The PROS of coaching a less-physical traditional squad:

• There is less commitment required.  They could practice one or two times per week and only show up to games a few minutes before to participate and still be successful.
• There could be more interest/participation.  They could have more people participate because the skill-set required is not as advanced. 
• Lower costs.  The cost of running a lower-commitment team would be less, making the appeal for more participants greater.

The CONS:

• Less participation.  You might find that fewer students want to participate in this type of program because it could be seen as boring.
• Fewer Opportunities.  The participants may have fewer opportunities for scholarship and furthering their cheer careers because they may not have learned the more advanced skills that colleges are looking for.
•  No recognition.  The cheerleaders from this type of squad typically do not earn a varsity letter for their participation.  The amount of skill and participation would not condone an athletic letter.

The PROS of coaching a more physical competitive team:

• Respect within the school and more athletes could be drawn to participate.  If you have a team that is visible, and works at an athletic level it will draw more athletes to the program and will bring more attention to its physicality.  This can show the student body that they are athletes and the cheerleaders could earn more respect.
• Collegiate opportunities.  Colleges are looking for highly skilled athletes to join their programs.  They want participants that already have a specific skill set.  Cheerleaders from more physical teams have a better chance of knowing these skills.
• Athletic letters.  Because these cheerleaders participate and the same level as other sports they can earn the athletic letter and in some schools have opportunities for athlete of the month/year recognition.

The Cons:

• Higher commitment.  The amount of commitment required to be good is much higher (5-6 nights a week). Many students don’t try it because they do not want to commit that much.
• Loss of participation.  You are limited to certain types of athletes with a physical squad.  Many kids who would be good cheerleaders or leaders of their school don’t get the opportunity to participate due to the high skill level required.
• Cost.  The cost of running a competitive program can be much higher.  The travel fees and competition fees can be in the thousands per event.  Plus the costs of added coaches and trainers along with choreography and music.  This can add up quickly!

Because of the very different types of squads across the country it is too hard to qualify cheer as a sport.  Some cheerleaders are definitely participating at the sport level.  But many are not training and participating at a level that is consistent with the goals and expectations as a sport.

Let’s take a look as volleyball as an example.  It doesn’t matter if you are at a school with 60 or 6,000 students.  The goals, rules and expectations of the volleyball team are the same.  The coaches are teaching the same basic fundamentals and the volleyball matches are the same.  This is true for soccer, football, softball, track, wrestling, basketball, baseball, golf, etc. 

Because cheer can be so varied, it cannot be defined as a sport.  I know there will be a handful of cheerleaders and coaches that do not like that statement, but the facts are that not all cheerleaders are participating at an athletic level.  At my current school, my cheerleaders have worked incredibly hard to earn the right to be considered a sport (within our school).  Each year we have to sit down and define what a sport does, what privileges they get and evaluate our program.  They have to commit to working hard and keeping the traditions in place.

Regardless of the type of program you coach or cheer for, take pride in it.  If you with a sideline squad that is less physical, find ways to make it great.  Become a family and a support system.  Whatever the size or the physicality of your squad, give them goals and expectations.  Let them have successes and something to be proud of.

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

Evaluating Rules

It has been four and a half months since my last post.  I would like to say that I have a great reason for not writing.  The real reason is that I was overwhelmed at the cheer season starting and a little bit lazy.  The 30-day challenge made it easy to write because it had a focus and a goal for each day.  Unbelievably even after 17 years of coaching, I still learn something new every day that I am coaching.

My topic for today is Rules.  When setting your team rules, make sure that you are setting rules that you intend on enforcing.  Recently I placed in a position where I had to enforce a team rule that involved removing a cheerleader from my team.  I tell my cheerleaders and parents that the rules are there for a reason.  We have developed the team rules to protect the students, maintain the integrity of the program and keep everyone on the right track.  My team rules can be summed up as common sense.  I expect them to try their best, to work hard, to show up, stay out of trouble and maintain good a standing as students in their classes. 

The issue was a cheerleader got in an altercation with a student from another school.  The cheerleader was one that has a good home life, works hard at practice, is a good student and has lots of potential as a cheerleader.  Unfortunately, she made a poor choice and as a coach, I had to do the right thing and remove her.  It was hard on both of us.  I understand that students can make mistakes and I believe in my heart that she will learn this lesson and come tryout again with a better grasp on her emotions and what is important in her life.

Enforcing the rule made me look at myself as a coach and evaluate (again) what we are really teaching.  Yes, our main focus is to teach our athletes how to be cheerleaders.  Motions, Jumps, Cheers, Stunts, Tumbling, Leadership, etc.  However, the other part is teaching them how to be contributing members of society.  The rules that I set each year are rules that are good to follow throughout life.  Try your best, work hard, show up, stay out of trouble and maintain a good standing as a student, employee, leader, etc.  High school is about so much more than the education.  We learn how to interact with our peers and our teachers who later evolve into co-workers and bosses. 

I will be keeping the rules as they stand.  I think that it was an important lesson for the cheerleader and the rest of her team to learn.  She was a major part of the team and they had to come together to rework routines and formations with one less cheerleader.  They worked hard and went to the game the following day and did great.  If one did not know there were supposed to be 16 on the field instead of 15, you would not know that there was ever an issue.  For that I am proud of them. 

I mentioned that I had to re-evaluate myself as a coach, again.  I say this because each day I take a step back and look at what we did and ask myself if I was effective, what I could do better, and how to handle each day in the future.  The parents and cheerleaders may not appreciate it now, but someday when the kids are grown and they remember the lesson learned, good or bad.  They will understand.

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

www.readysetyoubet.blogspot.com

Xerox

This is going to seem a little out of the way, but stay with me…

When I hear the word Xerox, I think of copy machines or copies.  When I apply the word copy to the cheerleading world, I think of the original “Bring it On” movie.  For those of you who have not seen it, the quick and dirty version of the story is this:  The new captain of the Toro’s cheer team is presented with information that the previous captain was stealing cheer routines from another school, the Clovers.  The previous Toro’s captain would video tape the routines and teach them to her team, they would then go on to win national championships with those “stolen” routines.  In the movie, the new captain of the clovers decides that she is going to make sure that her team makes it to nationals.  Chaos ensues, the Toro’s have to come up with their own routine, and “SPOILER ALERT” the Clovers win the national championship.  Because of the hard work that the Toro’s put in to make sure they had an original team they are happy with their performance… 

This brings me to the question, is it all right to copy, or imitate routines that you see online or from other schools?

My short answer is Yes it is ok, but with limitations.

If you go so far as to perform the routine EXACTLY like the original, down to the music, NOT OK.  This is the same as copying your neighbor’s answers on a test. 

If you watch a routine and see a stunt, dance move, transition, or cheer and adapt it to fit what you are doing, this would be fine.  There is very little in the cheer world that has not been done.  If we look at our chant list there are many chants and cheers that have been passed down from generation to generation.  They had to start somewhere.  Especially when you hear parents say, “we did that one when I was in school.”  Chances are the parents that are saying this didn’t come from the same area.  In football, how many times have you seen, or heard, of plays and offences set up from multiple schools?  Right now, the Pistol Offense is big in the college world from Coach Ault at Nevada.  He developed an offense that is now being used by Oregon, UCLA, Alabama, and even some NFL teams are picking it up, just to mention a few.  Is Coach Ault upset that so many teams are using it?  Probably not, they don’t have his team, his coaches, or knowledge of the plays.  Teams watch the film and adapt it to what they need.

The same goes for the cheer world.  In fact, if you attend a cheer camp in the summer that is run by any of the major companies you are learning the same material that is being taught to 100,000 cheerleaders across the nation.  Chances are you are taking the dances and cheers and adapting them to what works for your team.  If you aren’t its ok too, that was the point of those routines.  If you go online and snag a great dance off Youtube, there really isn’t anyway to tell if it was “original” or learned at camp.  Many of the same issues come up with stunting.  When someone comes up with a creative load or transition and performs it at nationals many of the teams go home and work on duplicating that stunt.  Often times the cheer companies also duplicate those stunts to teach to the masses.  It’s just the reality of sports.  Again, for you football fans, how many teams in history have run the “statue of liberty” play?

As a coach, I am asked why I post videos of my team performing at games and assemblies.  The concern is that other teams will take the ideas and perform them in competitions against us.  My response is always this.  “Feel free to copy our choreography.  If you choose to perform it against us, you better know it better than we do.”  My routines have the advantage of my teaching and my vision.  If someone wants to watch it online and try to teach it, they may not know the tricks and techniques that I used.  Because of that, it wont get taught exactly the same, thus adapting it for what they need. 

It has been said that imitation is a form of flattery.

Absolutely!  If you see something you like, make it work for you.  Don’t be upset when you see your material being performed by someone else.  It means it was good enough that they took the time to repeat something great!

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

Underestimating Athletes

As a coach I tend to be stern and set high expectations for my athletes.  I push them hard and expect them to give 100%.  My teams will tell you the same thing, but at the end of the season, they look back and are shocked at how much they accomplished.  When I meet with other schools there are mixed emotions from parents and coaches.  The coaches compliment me on my teams skills, attitude, and abilities.  They love how great they look and want to know how to get there.  Parents tend to say that I am mean and I expect too much from the kids.  

My question is this.  How hard do you push?  When are the expectations too high?  I let my teams answer that.  We start working on the first day and push for improvement each day.  When we reach a wall and find something they struggle with, I put it back on them.  They decided if they want to continue working the skill or step back a level.  There can be many reasons for the struggle.  Usually they were not quite ready to advance from the previous skill and simply need to step back and build confidence or technique.  Sometimes they are just having an off day. 

What many coaches do is start small and work too fast.  They try to push through to the bigger skills without building a good foundation.  Then when the team struggles with the advanced skills they are not sure where to go when the team is frustrated and defeated.  They underestimate the work that needs done at all levels.  Once the team starts to struggle, the assumption is that they don’t have the ability to perform the skill.  If they take a few steps back and start again to build up the strength and confidence the team will pick up and move past where they are stuck.

Is it too much to ask your athletes to give 100% at practice?  Is two hours a day too much time to be spent on working towards goal?  The answers here depend on what you want to accomplish in a season.  If your team focus is not to advance its skills, but to focus on school spirit and leadership, they yes it might be too much to ask of your team to put in 10-12 hours a week.  Those goals need to be set from the beginning and the vision needs to be conveyed to the team and parents so that they know what to expect and how much time is involved.

My highest expectations for my team are simply this - I want them to work hard and work everyday.  I want them to keep learning and not accept defeat.  When something gets hard, find out how to make it work.  I will advance my team as far as they are willing to go.  Once they start to see the potential of what they can do, the team tends to take the lead and want to be better.  I am there to teach and offer support.  When they get lazy, I’m there to motivate, when they are excited, I’m there to keep it going, I am what they need me to be because I know that they can be their own motivation if they see something they want.  That what we really are trying to teach.  Self-motivation and work ethic.  When you see something you want, you go after it and put in the work to make it happen. 

For those parents that feel that I am “mean,” don’t underestimate the strength of your little darling… they are not as fragile as you may think. 

To the coaches that have a dream, follow it.  Through discipline and communication, your team will reach the bar that you set.  Make it high and raise it often!  You will soon learn that the kids will hit and exceed your expectations, if you let them.

CHEERS!

*\o/*

CW3

Making the Team

Being a cheerleader is a privilege.  Not everyone gets to do it.  If you think you are up to the challenge and have what it takes here are a few tips that will help you make the team.

Know The Details

Talk to the coach and read the paperwork and know where and when to be at practices and tryouts.  If there are clothing requirements, follow them.  Make sure that your hair is up and out of your face.  Bring water and a snack.  Sometimes practices can last 3-4 hours.  If you have a hard time remembering things, bring a notepad to write down notes.

Talk to some of the cheerleaders that have already been on the team.  Ask them what practices are like and what to expect from the coach and at games.  See if they will practice with you and help you in any areas that they see you need to work on.  They will know what the coach is looking for and how hard you need to work to make it.

Get In Shape

I cannot stress this enough.  Coaches want athletes not couch potatoes.  Weight doesn’t matter as much as being able to do the material, however, if you cant see your toes, you probably wont be able to touch them.  Start working out now.  Work out at least 30 minutes per day 5-6 days per week.  Alternate between aerobic exercises and strength training.

I will also post a workout so that you can have a road map of what to do.

Stretching

Cheerleaders are flexible. Period.  You need to be able to do the splits, or come close.  Everyday after your workout stretch out every muscle.  In just a few weeks you will be well on your way to gumpy!

Know The Basics

You can go online and find all of the cheerleading motions and jumps that you will need for tryouts.  It will really impress the coaches if you take the initiative and know these before they have to teach them to you.  How great will you look when the coach calls out a High V and you already know what it is and how to do it!  Brownie points!  I have posted a blog already about Jumps and here is a link to some cheerleading motions. 

http://nca.varsity.com/pdfs/Motions.pdf

Gymnastics

If you have time enroll in some tumbling classes at a local gym.  Let them know you are working on cheer tumbling.  Some schools require tumbling at tryouts, some do not.  For the teams that don’t, it certainly wont hurt you to have a back handspring!

Ask Questions

Don’t be afraid to say I don’t know, I don’t understand, or can you show me.  This shows the coaches that you are willing to learn and make an effort to give your best.  Make good use of the Internet and Youtube.  There are tons of great ideas to be found.  Just don’t walk into tryouts acting like a know-it-all.  Each school may be different in how they teach material.

The Big Day

Here are a few things to remember the day of your tryout.

·         Get plenty of sleep the night before.

·         Be confident. If you've practiced and worked hard up to this point, then you should be ready. Believe in yourself.

·         Keep your hair away from your face.

·         Don't wear jewelry. Don't chew gum.

·         Don't wear a lot of makeup.

·         Wear your school colors or follow the clothing requirements.

·         Take slow, deep breaths to calm and relax yourself.

·         Drink plenty of water.

·         Have a good attitude. Help others. Don't play around with your friends or talk too much.

·         Smile. Smile. Smile.

·         Be peppy and energetic. Show your enthusiasm.

·         Use facial expressions.

·         Look up. Never look down or at the floor. Make eye contact with the judges.

·         Make your motions sharp and snappy.

·         Don't sing your cheers. Use a loud, clear voice. Be careful not to rush them. Take your time.

·         Point your toes.

·         Land with your feet together.

·         If you make a mistake, go on. Don't stop and stress over it. Use the opportunity to show you can recover from a mistake.

·         Have fun and let it show.

GOOD LUCK!

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CW3

Inspiring Athletes

Dealing with the youth of today can be challenging.  We are in the midst of the NOW generation.  They want instant gratification and if there is nothing in it for them, they wont do it.  Finding a way to keep them motivated is tough.  You have to get into their mindset and think about how they see it.  We can no longer coach them to simply love the sport.  First you must hook them in.

I coach at a school that is dominated by what was once the minority.  These kids are family oriented and many of them are going to be the first ones in their family to graduate high school, let alone go to college.  Putting in 10-15 hours a week for sports is hard because that is time that they could be working to help their families or helping to watch the siblings.  Some of the parents understand the value of school and extra curricular activities, but many do not.  Unfortunately, this dynamic also means that we get very little parent involvement.  At any given basketball game, of the 30 cheerleaders I may have 5 parents in the stands.  Sad for the students they don’t seem to get the support from home that they may need.

When I am recruiting for my program I push the value of hard work, family, friends, travel and the opportunity to help out their fellow students.  Each student is treated the same, but coached differently.  The expectations are always the same and the discipline is the same, but the motivation for each student is VERY different.

Some kids thrive on positive reinforcement.  They need to know that what they are doing is right.  Even the smallest accomplishments must be praised.   So students need tough love.  Yes, tell them when they are doing something right, but make sure you push them each day to get better and work on their skills.  Then there are the students that are fine with being mediocre.  They are happy with simply making the team.  These are the hardest.  They require the most effort to find what makes them work hard and want to improve.  Sometimes it is bribery, sometimes it doesn’t come out until they are in front of a crowd and either look good or bad and get the feedback from their peers.

I use many avenues to inspire.  Bringing in trophies from years past and showing videos push some.  Showing videos of teams that are competiting at the national level and comparing what we do to the national teams can help too.  Some teams need to play games to motivate them to work hard.  Bonding games that allow them to get to know each other help because it shows them how to motivate each other. 

The best thing you can do when trying to inspire your athletes is share your love and enthusiasm for the sport.  Listen to them and find out why they tried out in the first place.  Make them feel at home and accomplished and soon they will learn to love it and keep working hard.

Cheers!

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CW3