Cheerleading Tryout Help For Coaches
Tryout Preparation
Tryouts are the most important event of the year. In order to have the best squad possible, the cheerleaders need to be chosen wisely. The simplest tryouts have a group floor cheer and solo jumps, floor cheer, and sidelines. Every coach has the opportunity to choose what tryouts consist of and what order to do them in. Before tryouts begin, you need to get information put together to give to the potential cheerleaders and their parents. Included in this information needs to be an application form, a permission form to be signed by parents, information about the upcoming season, and a copy of the evaluation forms used in tryouts.
When you give the information to the potential cheerleaders, there must be a meeting scheduled with the parents. During this meeting, it is very important to get major points across to the girls and their parents. You must make sure the parents understand the costs of cheerleading, the attendance requirements, and what you are going to expect from the parents throughout the year. Having a list of these major points written out helps a lot. You can either write these on a board in the room or even print a paper out with the points and pass it out. It may be hard to keep the attention of the parents if all of the girls are there. Try having either a parents only meeting or give the girls a task like making posters if you can keep the meeting fairly short.
Tryout Process
For stunts, cheers, jumps, etc., it's a good idea to have the girls trying out do everything alone and together, if time permits. This will give the judges a chance to critique the girls individually as well as how well they can work with a group. It also gives them an opportunity to see if the girls have the ability to stand out in a group.
Floor Cheers/Sidelines
To pick a good floor cheer, it's important to keep the cheer simple, but still long enough to check the girls' stamina. Girls can be judged on their movements, facials, memorization, how loud they can be, and their ability to work with a group. For sidelines, the judging categories are the same as floor cheers. However, the girls must remember they need to be louder in sidelines since they are shorter than floor cheers.
Jumps/Tumbling
Another category is jumps/tumbling. The girls should at least be judged on a toe touch and an optional jump. The optional could be a herkie, hurdler, pike, or double nine. Depending on the skill level of your squad, you may require a certain tumbling skill. An additional option would be to have three required jumps and have the third be open for tumbling if it isn't already a requirement on its own. Tumbling can be anything from a cartwheel to a standing back tuck. Just make sure the judges critique the girls on the difficulty level as well as their performance.
Stunts
In addition to cheers, you may choose to make stunts part of the tryouts. There are a ton of options with this category. Starting at the Jr. High level, thigh stands, preps, and shoulder sits are good beginning stunts. High school stunts depend on the level the school is at. They can vary from two-person to five-person stunts. The difficulty of the stunts depends on the coach's decision.
Academics
Another factor the girls can be judged on is their academic standing. Some coaches put a minimum GPA requirement just to tryout. Since most athletic policies already have eligibility requirements, once a girl has made the team, it is very important to keep their grades up. In order to learn more about the girls trying out, send a form to the teachers and have them assess the girls on things like their ability to finish homework or work with a group. Sometimes this can be the deciding factor for some girls.
Creativity
Some coaches want to measure the girls' creativity. A number of activities can show this. One is to make posters. Give the girls a few simple things: markers and poster board. You can give each of the girls a school mascot from surrounding teams and have them make a poster for that team. Just make sure they keep the posters appropriate (ex: No: Kill the ____). You can also have the girls create their own cheer to perform at tryouts. While this shows the level of creativity, it is hard to judge since the judges have never seen the cheer before and don't know what to expect. It also is very time consuming.
Final Suggestions
As stated before, the order of the things done in tryouts is up to the coach and what he/she believes will work best. Along with what the girls do, appearance is a big factor in tryouts. It makes things a lot easier to have the girls wearing the same colors. Have them wear solid colored (school colors are the best) shorts and t-shirts with white socks and tennis shoes.
Remember to remind the girls that cheerleading is fun! If they don't look like they are having fun, they aren't going to get a good score. Smiling is a big factor, as well as eye contact. A cheerleader can't be heard as well if they are looking at the ground.
Tryouts are the most important event of the year. In order to have the best squad possible, the cheerleaders need to be chosen wisely. The simplest tryouts have a group floor cheer and solo jumps, floor cheer, and sidelines. Every coach has the opportunity to choose what tryouts consist of and what order to do them in. Before tryouts begin, you need to get information put together to give to the potential cheerleaders and their parents. Included in this information needs to be an application form, a permission form to be signed by parents, information about the upcoming season, and a copy of the evaluation forms used in tryouts.
When you give the information to the potential cheerleaders, there must be a meeting scheduled with the parents. During this meeting, it is very important to get major points across to the girls and their parents. You must make sure the parents understand the costs of cheerleading, the attendance requirements, and what you are going to expect from the parents throughout the year. Having a list of these major points written out helps a lot. You can either write these on a board in the room or even print a paper out with the points and pass it out. It may be hard to keep the attention of the parents if all of the girls are there. Try having either a parents only meeting or give the girls a task like making posters if you can keep the meeting fairly short.
Tryout Process
For stunts, cheers, jumps, etc., it's a good idea to have the girls trying out do everything alone and together, if time permits. This will give the judges a chance to critique the girls individually as well as how well they can work with a group. It also gives them an opportunity to see if the girls have the ability to stand out in a group.
Floor Cheers/Sidelines
To pick a good floor cheer, it's important to keep the cheer simple, but still long enough to check the girls' stamina. Girls can be judged on their movements, facials, memorization, how loud they can be, and their ability to work with a group. For sidelines, the judging categories are the same as floor cheers. However, the girls must remember they need to be louder in sidelines since they are shorter than floor cheers.
Jumps/Tumbling
Another category is jumps/tumbling. The girls should at least be judged on a toe touch and an optional jump. The optional could be a herkie, hurdler, pike, or double nine. Depending on the skill level of your squad, you may require a certain tumbling skill. An additional option would be to have three required jumps and have the third be open for tumbling if it isn't already a requirement on its own. Tumbling can be anything from a cartwheel to a standing back tuck. Just make sure the judges critique the girls on the difficulty level as well as their performance.
Stunts
In addition to cheers, you may choose to make stunts part of the tryouts. There are a ton of options with this category. Starting at the Jr. High level, thigh stands, preps, and shoulder sits are good beginning stunts. High school stunts depend on the level the school is at. They can vary from two-person to five-person stunts. The difficulty of the stunts depends on the coach's decision.
Academics
Another factor the girls can be judged on is their academic standing. Some coaches put a minimum GPA requirement just to tryout. Since most athletic policies already have eligibility requirements, once a girl has made the team, it is very important to keep their grades up. In order to learn more about the girls trying out, send a form to the teachers and have them assess the girls on things like their ability to finish homework or work with a group. Sometimes this can be the deciding factor for some girls.
Creativity
Some coaches want to measure the girls' creativity. A number of activities can show this. One is to make posters. Give the girls a few simple things: markers and poster board. You can give each of the girls a school mascot from surrounding teams and have them make a poster for that team. Just make sure they keep the posters appropriate (ex: No: Kill the ____). You can also have the girls create their own cheer to perform at tryouts. While this shows the level of creativity, it is hard to judge since the judges have never seen the cheer before and don't know what to expect. It also is very time consuming.
Final Suggestions
As stated before, the order of the things done in tryouts is up to the coach and what he/she believes will work best. Along with what the girls do, appearance is a big factor in tryouts. It makes things a lot easier to have the girls wearing the same colors. Have them wear solid colored (school colors are the best) shorts and t-shirts with white socks and tennis shoes.
Remember to remind the girls that cheerleading is fun! If they don't look like they are having fun, they aren't going to get a good score. Smiling is a big factor, as well as eye contact. A cheerleader can't be heard as well if they are looking at the ground.
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