Try-out tips for the cheerleading squad?

Question

I want to try out for the school cheerleading squad, but I haven't cheered in a while so my skillz are rusty. I'm wanting to start training myself one month in advance. Any tips?

Answer 1

As a current high school 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. Girls must maintain a 2.5 or better grade point average or risk being dropped from the squad for a season. If the grade point average is not raised, she is dropped for the year.

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. We teach one cheer, one chant and a pretty complex 1 minute dance routine. The girls are given 3 days to learn this with tryouts on day 4.

Tumbling/Gymnastics to include cartwheel, roundoff, and back hand spring. Girls who can do a tuck usually get extra points. You may want to enroll in a local gym for some one on one training in this area.

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 or scorpions. To train for this, stretching is your best bet. See how far you can push yourself....don't overstretch or bounce the muscles. You will attain more flexibility with training.

Judges always look for personality and smiles as well as how well the contender keeps their movements sharp and in proper form! No sloppy arms, wrists etc. You can lose lots of points in this area.

The girls must do 3 jumps: herkie, toe touch, 1 other. You can see pics of these on cheerleader.about.com. Our girls do pilates to help strengthen the core which in turn will help maximize jumps.

Most of all, the judges are looking for girls who have the ability to work as a team and engage the crowd to cheer on their school!

Hope that helped...good luck!

Answer 2

The most important thing is a positive attitude. You may not think that the way you look is important, but it really is. You need to wear school colors and make sure your clothes fit well. Shorts not too long or too short. No spagetti straps. If your hair is long, pull it back and put a ribbon in it. No nail polish. Wear just a little lip gloss and mascara and blush... that's it! Wear small footie socks with your tennis shoes. Work on your jumps and make sure they are as high as possible. Don't concentrate on the form so much as the height. Make sure your voice projects and you are not screaming. And most importantly SMILE the entire time... have good eye contact with the judges and make them think you know exactly what you are doing. Make sure you are respectful to all adults and others that are trying out. You'll make it this time.... make sure to let me know if you do! Good luck!

Answer 3

Pracice your jumps. remember that even if they are lower it's always better to have your legs straight and your toes pointed than to have them higher. observe your arm positioning and your sharpness, watch out for broken wrists. Tumbling, if your squad requires a back hand spring for tryouts work on that, if you can't do that try and learn or at least perfect your roundoff. Practice your vocal clarity and as always don't forget to smile!