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

Countdown to Zero

The end of the beginning.

As the 2013 A to Z challenge reaches the end, we find ourselves at the beginning of the cheer season.  Most coaches are busy preparing and hosting tryouts, figuring out budgets, deciding on spirit packs, and planning the summer season.  As usual, during the blogging process I have discovered new things about my surroundings and myself.  I have made new friends, connected with new coaches and new people and still have lots to work on.  I want to take a little time and share with you some of the things that I need to work and what I have learned in the last thirty days.

Learned.

I have learned that as I get older and gain more experience, I learn to see past the BS excuses my students give me.  I know when their heart is not in it and when they are just going through the motions.  I need to not take it personally when a student leave the program, not every one is a cheerleader and not everyone works well in my style.

Work to do.

I really want to focus on hitting all those individual and team goals that we set at the beginning of the season.  I want them to feel like they are working hard and accomplishing things every day.  I want our program to continue to be a role model for other schools.

Learned.

This season is going to be an emotional one.  As the blog challenge progressed, I learned that 90% of the coaching knowledge I have, was learned at my current school.  Each year I come closer and closer to retiring as a coach and the thought of not being with my current school, students and staff saddens me.  I will be forever grateful for the lessons learned and memories made here.

Work to do. 

Focus on the individuals to make the team better.  I need to make sure that I connect with each team member each day.  They need to know that I care about them and the work they do.  Motivation to carry on the traditions set before them and leave their mark on the program.

Learned. 

I have learned that I need to spend some time on my coaching knowledge.  As we head into the new season with the new rules, I need to be better about asking for help and letting some of the control go.  (Eeeekkk!)  I need to stay on top of the trends and techniques that will make us better. 

Work to do.

Stick to the practice plan.  I usually have the entire season planned out by the first practice.  I need to stay focused on that plan so that we get everything done that needs done.  I need to help them do the best job they can do.

Learned.

I have learned that you cannot rebuild a burned bridge in a year.  Some things are beyond repair and sometimes you just have to let those people go.  I have done my part and built my bridge back up, but if they don’t want to cross it, at some point we have to realize it is their loss.

Work to do.

I need to prepare my assistant coaches and staff to lead and the team.  I will never be able to retire if I don’t train my replacement.  Let go.  Let them lead.  Let them have control.

Learned. 

I have learned that no matter the circumstances, life goes on.  We can think, plan and prepare all we want but at the end of the day, things are going to happen and we need to be able to roll with it and move on.  My program is successful because I have made it successful.  The kids come and go.  Some work hard and some don’t, but all of them have made this program successful.  As a coach, I learned from every single one of my cheerleaders and I hope they have learned from me.

Thank you for following along the past 30 days.  I hope that you too have learned something or have something that has inspired you.  I know that the comments of the readers opened my eyes many times.

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Cleaning up your program’s image - PART TWO

Yesterday, I told the story of taking on a program in need of help.  Today, I would like to tell you with a little more detail how we turned a group of misfit girls into a successful cheer team.  Please remember that this did not happen over night, and is in fact still a work in progress.  As the students grow and evolve, the program must grow and evolve along with them.  Patience is the key to coaching any sport!

The first step is to evaluate your program and determine its strengths and weaknesses.  Talk to teachers, staff, administration, students, and parents to get a feel for the image as it stands and what they would like to see.  See what needs work and what needs praised.  There will be some of both.  Attend your schools athletic coaches meetings.  Even if your state/district/school does not consider cheerleading a sport, you should start to treat them as athletes and work towards equality.  Treating your cheerleaders as athletes will help their image improve from ditzy girls jumping up and down on the sidelines to hard working teammates.

With the information from talking to the community, you will need to decide what your teams focus will be.  You could be strictly a sideline team that supports athletics and school events or you could incorporate a competition element into your program.  This focus will be important when determining your team rules and expectations.

Once you have a list of things to work toward and you know your team focus, you can begin to develop a team handbook or constitution that will govern the cheerleaders and offer a defined set of expectations.  You will want to make this easy to understand for people that may not be familiar with cheerleading terms or the athletic community.  It needs to cover all aspects of the program.  Include everything from tryouts, grades, commitment, responsibilities, uniforms, practices, discipline, banquet, fundraising, etc.

Now you can start the task of evaluating the cheers, chants and dances in your program.  Try to eliminate moves and words that could be considered provocative.  Audit your music and make sure that everything is language and image appropriate.  Simply because it is on the radio or you see it on TV doesn’t mean that it is projecting the image you want for your team.  You may also want to check your uniforms.  Make sure that the skirts are not too short and the tops cover mid-riff areas.  Dancing and cheering in short skirts is already risky, we don’t need to shrink the clothes to enhance the imagination of our crowd!

Once you have gone through your rules, your material, your wardrobe and cleared everything with your administration you need to host a parent meeting BEFORE tryouts to express the new expectations and explain to the parents and cheerleaders what you’re trying to accomplish.  If they understand the rules before trying out it will help eliminate surprises later.

During your tryouts, evaluate your potential team on more than just skills.  How did they show up to tryouts?  Check their social media; Are they projecting an image in their daily lives that will reflect well on your program?  Do they help others?  Are they taking direction well from you and your staff?   These things may sound harsh or unnecessary, but they will make an impact on your team in three months when you are tired of working together and stressed out.

It is important to share your team goals and the image you want to project.  Show them examples of other teams (preferably not in your area) that have a poor team image.  Show them examples of teams that have a good team image and include them in the brainstorming of how to accomplish the new image.  If they don’t buy into what you are trying to do and don’t want to make an effort, regardless of how good they are they will not be a good fit for your team.  You and your team will struggle with them all season long. 

I hope this puts you in the right direction for gaining control and respect for your program!

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

Quality Control

Cleaning up your program’s image - PART ONE

When I took this coaching position 8 years ago, I was the fourth coach in 3 years.  The coach that started the 2004-05 school year quit mid-winter season and the athletic director had to step in and cover until the end of the year.  When I interviewed, one of the biggest concerns of the administration was that they girls have more discipline and we start to recruit more athletic and academic students to be cheerleaders.  They wanted a better image and less drama.  Through our discussions, we decided that the best way to do that was to develop a team handbook that covered all expectations and team rules.  We had a master set of rules that the administration could stand behind when parents had an issue.  We also decide to work very hard at keeping costs low to attract more of the less fortunate athletes that would excel in cheer.

We had a few issues come up the first two years with them pushing buttons and trying out the rules.  The girls on the team that were juniors and seniors didn’t want to follow the rules because they felt that the seniors before them were allowed to run wild.  They pushed the rules every chance they got!  There were parties that involved alcohol and strippers, there was fighting, drama, issues of language and disrespect for my and the rest of the team.  I went to the football coach, who had an incredible team of respectful and hard working players.  I asked him what I needed to do to get my cheerleaders on the write page.  He told me that I needed to stick with my rules.  Understand that I couldn’t change my Juniors and Seniors.  They were going to run wild and push buttons.  If I wanted to leave them on the team, I needed to just be ready to fight with them and pick my battles.  He told me that in order to turn the program around I needed to start with my underclassmen.  Treat them like I would when the program was run they way I wanted.  Show them how great it could be and get them to buy into what we were trying to do.  I struggled a little with the underclassmen.  They still saw the seniors breaking rules and being disrespectful and all I could do was ensure that things would get better once that class graduated.





The third year things started out rough.  My seniors from the year before went out with a bang and left a bad impression on the student body and teaching staff about cheerleaders.  They spoke bad about me and what I was trying to do.  When tryouts came along we only had 10 or so tryout.  I ended up taking 8 solid cheerleaders and one potential mess (she quit shortly before camp).  That year we decided to jump in with both feet and make the program a success.  With the exception of one girl, everyone on the team was brand new and never cheered before.  We started from scratch and made that everyone had the basics.  They were young, but they had great spirit.  They worked hard and did everything they could to be involved.  They didn’t want the same image of the teams before them and we rewarded them for that.  Each Monday we brought in snacks to the team to celebrate the successes of the previous week.  They were the first group of cheerleaders to get to cheer on boxes.  (Wooden boxes designed to raise the cheerleaders up about 18 inches to see over the football players on the sidelines.)  They were the first group in many years to get to travel with the football team to away games.  The girls started earning the respect of the teachers and a few of the students. They understood what they needed to and how they needed to do it.  That year we were able to attend the state cheer competition and became the 3A state runner ups in the show cheer and partner stunt divisions.  They saw success for the first time in a long time.  The cheerleaders and the school had something to be proud of.

For my “R” Blog, I will cover Respect and how to earn it.  I will go into detail about defining squad expectations and focus.  I will also explain the importance of your parent meetings and your evaluation skills.

Cheers!

*\o/*

CW3

Working With Parents

Parents want what is best for their kids.  It is that simple.  They don’t want surprises and they need to know they’re safe.  Some parents didn’t have the opportunities that their kids are getting now.  Some had more opportunities than their kids are getting.  Some parents don’t value extracurricular activities and some know the importance of the WHOLE high school experience.  You will have some of all of these types of parents on your team.  Some want to be involved and some just want to drop off and pick up.  Whatever the case and whatever the attitude, as a coach, we have to figure out how to deal with them all.  They are not all going to be happy all the time, but if they feel informed and somewhat involved, they will be content.

Make sure the parents all know and understand what your philosophy is as a coach and what the expectations of them and their children are.  They need to know that you care about their child and how to contact you if they need to talk about their child.

Some coaches prefer their cheer parents to have little to no involvement with the teams.  No coaching, no helping out directly with the team whatsoever.  This can be good for drama issues.  You don’t have to hear the phrase “She only gets to do that because her mom is the coach!”  You don’t have the worry of coach/parent/athlete distractions.  This also means that unless you have an amazing staff of outside assistant coaches you are all on you own!

If you are not sure if you want parent involvement, start small.  Allow parents to help but in ways that don’t directly involve coaching.  Give tasks and small jobs, not coaching responsibilities.  This will allow them to be involved without the issues of coaching.  Once you start building great parent support, you can add jobs and duties to your willing parents.

Parent Boosters

This can be set up in a way that the parents take on all the fundraising and travel.  They would choose a president, set up a board and have a mission and goals.  Much like that of the school boosters.  This works best in a large team setting.  Teams that spend money on traveling to competitions and work on competitions use boosters often.  It takes much of the pressure off the coach to organize and keep track of the fundraising and travel for competitions.  Smaller teams may not need an entire booster club.

The rest of the jobs can be used in the booster setting or just choose a few for the parents to participate with.  Make sure that all final decisions are cleared by the coach before given to the team. 

Communication Chair

This person would be in charge of contacting all cheerleaders and parents, informing them of schedules, changes, and other need-to-know information.  They can call, text or email the information. Choose someone that can convey information without gossiping.

Transportation Chair

If you are in a district that doesn’t provide transportation or your group is required to find its own way to games and competitions you can have a parent that could be in charge of making the arrangements for travel.  They would be responsible for contacting the parents that will car-pool and discussing the details.  They could also be in charge of renting vans and finding drivers, if that is something your team does. 

Fundraising Chair

This person would be in charge if taking the budget and organizing enough fundraisers to pay for uniforms, travel fees, competition fees, etc.  They would be in charge of researching ideas, setting up fundraisers, locations, distributing information to the teams, and collecting money.  This person should have a good understanding of the team dynamic and what will benefit the team the most.  Choose a trustworthy person with a good grasp of accounting or has a background in accounting.

Party Chair

This person would coordinate all squad-bonding activities for the season.  Ideas would include slumber parties, holiday parties, pre-game meals, tailgate parties, and the end of year banquet.  You could also have them organize any bowling, skating, or team outings.

Snack Parent

This parent would be in charge of providing the team with nutritious snacks during the games and competitions.  They can set up the water station or bring bottled water for the team.

Publicity Chair

This parent would write and distribute press releases about the squad to the local media.  They would call upon the local media to do stories about the cheerleaders.  They would also be in charge of finding community events where the team can perform and or volunteer their time.

Competition Chair

This person gets information about all the competitions, completes the needed paperwork and keeps a copy of the music needed for routine.  They would also communication to parents about the competitions, entry fees and spectator fees.  He or she would distribute lists of the items the cheerleaders need to bring to all competitions.

Scrapbook Chair

They would collect photos from the cheerleaders during the year, memorabilia from each event ad makes a scrapbook for the end-of-the-year party.  They can make color copies for the cheerleaders as a gift or for the parents to purchase.

Videographer

The parent tapes all events and puts together a video of the last party of the year.

Photographer

The photographer takes pictures of events, practices, games, fundraisers, etc throughout the year and coordinates with the Scrapbook Chair.

Parent coordination takes some trial and error to find a groove that works for you.  Make sure your are choosing parents that buy into the philosophy and will not infringe on your coaching and what is best for the team.

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

Safety

There is nothing more important in cheerleading as the issue of safety.  With the advent of Google and Youtube, any and everyone can go online and see new tricks and skills to perform.  Unfortunately, they are not always being attempted by teams that have the skills or the knowledge to perform them safely.

As a spirit coach, our responsibility is to become familiar with the rules in our state.  In the state of Nevada, the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), Spirit Rules, governs cheerleaders.  We also have rules developed by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) and the Nevada Spirit Coaches Association (NSCA).  A Spirit Director over-sees our programs and enforces these rules.  If a violation occurs, fines and restrictions are assessed.   It was not designed to limit our activity, it was meant for the safety of our athletes.  This being said, I know that each state is different in its requirements.  The state of California, for example, follows the rules developed by the American Association of Cheer Coaches and Administrators (AACCA).  The rules used to be quite different, but in the 2012 rule changes, they have become more streamlined in their requirements.

The coaches are the front line in the safety of the athletes.  We have a few guidelines that we MUST follow to ensure the safety of our athletes and our program.

Constant Supervision

According to a study by Live Science, cheerleading was the cause for 65% of all catastrophic injuries in girls over the past 25 years. It falls on the coach to make sure that the athletes know the rules and are following them.  Protecting them from unnecessary injuries will protect both the coach and the athlete.

Set Parameters

Make sure that the team understands that there is to be NO stunting or tumbling without a qualified coach present.  While cheerleaders may understand the stunt and how to perform it, they may not understand how to teach all parts of it.  The easy way to set guidelines is to establish a qualifying system. An example would be:  Before a squad can perform stunts or skills without spotters they would need to perform it 5 times without error.  Similarly, before they can learn skill 2, they must be cleared to perform skill 1.

Stay Current

Coaches need to be aware of the current trends in cheerleading stunts and tumbling.  Because of the differences in states, what you see being performed online, or at Nationals could be illegal where your team is.  Always check with your Athletic Director about your requirements.  Some states offer rules and stunt clinics to their coaches.  Find out who is in charge of these and get in contact with them.  If there isn’t any info, do the research yourself and know both the AACCA and NFHS rules.  Keep copies of the rules with you at all practices, events and games.

Develop an Emergency Plan

Like a fire drill, an emergency plan is best when learned, practice and never used.  Just in case you do have an emergency, it is best if all members of the team know what to do.  Know who will be in charge of calling 9-1-1 and make sure that everyone knows what the address of your location is and where the emergency forms for the team are located.  It would also be a good idea to know what to do in case it is the coach that is injured.  The last important part of any emergency plan is to practice.  Have someone pretend to be injured and have the team practice what to do.  You may never have to use it, but if you do not have it in place, chaos can ensue.

Administrative Assessment

Your athletic director or athletic administrator should be asking these questions already, but if they are not you can make sure that you are prepared when they do.

1. The main purpose of our spirit program should be spirit and leadership.  Do we have a mission and purpose for our spirit squad in place and does it focus on leadership through spirit?
2. Do the squad members project an image consistent with the expiations of our school and athletic department?
3. Do the squad practices balance spirit and athleticism?  There should be equal if not more focus on developing spirit in the student body than competitions.
4. Are we allowing the squad adequate time to work on academics? Are we monitoring the academic progress and GPS’s of the spirit team? 
5. Does our program follow mandatory safety guidelines?  Are the coaches familiar with these guidelines?

Assessing Squad Ability

First, develop the stunt progressions that your team will follow.  Once they understand the progressions you need to assess their ability to perform the skills.  Listed is a checklist for coaches when allowing athletes to perform tasks.

1. Strength- Is the athlete strong enough to perform the skill safely?
2. Power- Does the athlete have enough power to perform the skill safely?
3. Flexibility- Does the athlete have the flexibility to perform the skill safely?
4. Freshness- Is the athlete tired?  Does the athlete have enough energy to perform the skill safely?
5. Understand- Does the athlete understand the skill and how to perform the skill?
6. Environment Conducive- Is the environment and the surroundings safe for performing the skill?  Examples: not raining if outside, high ceilings for extended stunts, performing on mats, etc.
7. Spotting- Does the athlete know and understand how to protect the participants if a skill fails?

 When reading this list, some coaches will feel overwhelmed at the duties placed upon them.  I promise, the safety part of coaching gets easier.  Once the safety items are in place and you practice them, they become second nature.  Stick to it and make sure your team understands the expectations and punishments if the rules are not followed.  It is better to perform lower level skills perfectly at a game than to have limited skills because team members are sitting out with injuries!

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!

*\o/*

CW3