Cheerleading?

Question

What would I have to do to make Junior Varsity Cheerleading next school year?
I am already enrolled in a Tumbling class.
I can do Cartwheels but havent "mastered" them yet.
I cannot do Backhandsprings.
& im working REALLY hard.

Im just not sure what to work at.

& if you could: can you provide informative sites for cheerleading and different types of thing i should know. (ex: Jumps...idk! lol thank you)
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
I appreciate this, ALOT!

Answer 1

As a current cheer coach, I can tell you what we expect from our girls.

First and foremost we stress academics. Being a good cheerleader requires a great deal of practice, and this can sometimes hurt your grade point average. We always stress that you can't go on in life to make a living at cheerleading....you have to have an education to do that.

As for the actual requirements:

Knowledge of routines, cheers and chants: Know them backwards and forwards....well enough to begin them anywhere in the middle of the cheer. I have seen many good candidates dropped due to the inability to start a cheer at any point in the routine.

Tumbling/Gymnastics to include cartwheel, roundoff, and back hand spring. Girls who can do a tuck usually get extra points. If you don't have your back hand spring or tuck down, nail the cartwheel and roundoff...lots of spring!

Flexibility and Posture: Be able to do splits and heal stretch. In a Liberty or heal stretch position, hold your balance for 20 seconds. Extra points are given for girls who can do arabesques and scorpions. You can see examples of these at www.cheerleading.about.com

Judges always look for personality and smiles. Be sure to let yours shine through on try out day! It never hurts to add a little wink or nod when the judges look your way!

Keep your movements sharp and in proper form! No sloppy arms, wrists etc. You can lose lots of points in this area. If you have never cheered, you might want to check out cheerleading.about.com for proper movement techniques. I would also suggest that you attend a couple of games to see how the cheerleaders move.

I have also advised many girls to take a video recorder to the game and video tape the cheerleader. You can then take that home and practice at your own pace...stopping and starting when you need to.

If you are able, demonstrate as many tumbling techniques as you have. Ditto for jumps. This is where you can out-shine the competition. If you do not have this ability, be super enthusiastic in high kicking and movements! You should definitely try to learn the herkie or toe touch. They are relatively easy jumps and can be mastered with a little practice.

Dance is great, it gives you poise and rythm, but don't rely on your dancing abilities alone. Your job will be to show the judges that you can work as a team member and engage the crowd to cheer on your team. Make the judges WANT to cheer with you!

On try out day, wear your hair in a pony tail and or off of your face. Not too much make-up and no jewelry. Let them know that you are a serious contender, not there for a beauty contest. Do some deep breathing exercises just before you try out...and remember, every one else is just as nervous as you! Just do your best and it will show!

Best of wishes to you!

Answer 2

You dont need much to for junior varsity. Its great that you are already enrolled in a tumbling class (i am too). Try to perfect your cartwheels and roundoffs etc. Stretch everyday to gain more flexiblility. Tell your tumbling teacher that you want to focus alot on back handsprings and try to practice them with a safe spotter as much as possible. Maybe you or someone you know has a trampoline that you can practice on. Can you do a backbend? If not then practice those everyday on like a bed or couch then move onto the floor, this will really help you as it has helped me with my backhandspring process. Also practice handstands.
A great site to go to is www.coachwayne.com
Go to the tumbling tips. Good luck!

Answer 3

I agree, try out requirements aredifferent at every school! My school only has one squad so it's considered Varsity and our requirements were:
-3 jumps (a toe-touch and to others)
-a cheer that was tought at clinic
-a dince (also taught at clinic)
-a very simple stunt (a thigh stand)
-the splits
-a cartwheel or round off
-and any other tumbling was extra

some really good site to look at are
www.varsity.com and
www.mspineapple.com

they have a TON of good tips, drills, forums, and lots of other fun stuff! just remember that making the squad will mean a LOT of hard work and even more fun. If it's something you want go for it! you never know!

Answer 4

Good thing you are taking that tumbling class, but there's a lot you can be doing at home. You need to get perfect handstands and bridges in order to learn those handsprings even faster. Here is an example of a good handstand: http://www.gymnasticsrevolution.com/GymInteractive-Floor-Handstand.htm You also need some strength and flexibility in your shoulders. Do handstands against the wall. This will help train you not to arch your back, as that is very bad form. Get someone to hold your feet until you are sure you can do them on your own, but be sure to work on handstand push ups to get that shoulder strength. These are just handstands in which you lower yourself halfway to the floor, then push back up. To get that shoulder flexibility, which is very important because the turn over in a handspring is done in the shoulders _not_ the elbows or wrists, you need to do bridge rocks. Basically lie on your back on the floor and push up into a bridge. Your hands should be directly beneath your shoulders. You will not be able to do a back handspring until you can get your hands and arms aligned under your shoulders correctly. Walk your feet out until your legs are straight and feet are placed together like this young lady demonstrates: http://www.gymnasticsrevolution.com/GymInteractive-Floor-Bridge.htm.
Eventually you will be able to put those skills together in your back handspring, like this: http://www.gymnasticsrevolution.com/GymInteractive-Floor-BackHandspring.htm

Other things you can be working on are correct arm placement and tightness in motions, jumps, yelling from your diaphragm to get a deep loud voice, and stretching and conditioning so that you can show your coaches that you are in shape and prepared to cheer for games that go into overtime or perform a very demanding competitive routine. You can learn more about those things here: http://geocities.com/aescougarcheer/basics.htm

Answer 5

it all depends on what type of things your school is looking for in its possible cheerleaders... some schools require that you know how to tumble and some dont my school does not... but schools like Edison High School in Huntington Beach, CA do require tumbling. italso has to do with how well you follow along with the cheer and/or dance that they teach you for try outs. if you have any questions feel free to email me... i have been in cheer since i was 8 and am a 2 year Varsity member at my school and i will be a 3 year varsity member(4 year high school cheerleader) and nominee for captain... i am also helping like 2 or 3 girls at my school get prepared for tryouts in like April. so any questins feel free to ask me.

Answer 6

well u need WAY more than tumbling class n u have 2 b able to do a cartwheel. we do flips, handsprings, cartwheels, we get thrown in the air and do flips, have to do the splits, stand on one foot and hold the other straight up, and a lot more difficult ones

Answer 7

be as pretty as your avatar :) AND get to know the cheer girls