Cheerleading?

Question

i am in middle school, and i was thinking about highschool. i want to do cheerleading or dance squad. how can i start getting a headstartnow, without joining a team or anything (my parents dont know) stretching techniques, etc. i want to become super athletic and super flexible. Help? i am not a prep or popular though??

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. i would suggest enrolling in a gymnastics class...if your parents are not aware of this now would be a good time to let them know. you really need professional spotters to teach you the proper technique. Please do not attempt these on your own as you could permanantly hurt yourself...or worse.

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. You can see pictures of this on cheerleading.about.com.

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 work on these first on the floor....stretching yourself just a little bit more everyday until you have proper form. Then work on taking it to the air. When you have your prep and jump perfected, put 1 pound weights on each ankle and jump with them on from that point on. When it comes time for tryouts, take the weights off...you'll jump higher than ever because you have become used to jumping with more weight! Again, look at cheerleading.about.com for hints and tips.

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! make the judges feel like cheering with you by engaging them every time you get a chance.

On tryout day, eat a good breakfast...with complex carbs. Go to the tryouts with your hair up off of your face and in a ponytail, little or no makeup and no jewelry. Let them know that you are a serious contender and not there for a beauty contest!


hope that helps!

Answer 2

1st of all it doesn't matter your stereotype for you to be a cheerleader or dancer

Get together with someone who is a dancer or cheerleader -- dance will be harder for you to do because you need to have experience, but cheerleading you can learn.

Practice motions, jumps, technique -- this is why it's best to have someone work with you who knows what they are doing.

Don't worry about stunts unless your high school requires it for try-outs.

Make sure that you stretch daily, stand in front of a mirror and practice jumps and motions. Motions need to be sharp (your arms should hurt when you're done)

This site should help you with anything else you need to know:
http://cheerleading.about.com/

I believe that it also has pictures of jumps, stunts, and technique.

Good Luck

Answer 3

You dont need to be a prep or popular. You can always take clases at your local gymnastics/cheer gym? Tumbling classes will help your tumbling and stretch your splits, pike, and butterfly everyday. There might even be a cheer prep class available somewhere in your area!

Answer 4

Well for high school you will probably need to know partner stunts.

So find a guy who cheerleads and ask him to stunt with you.

Answer 5

gof or cheer for dance team= lame

work on your flexibility try doing splits, backbends, cartwheels, and handstands...

if would be really good for you to attend a tumbling class, a back handspring would look really good for you

practice cheers in your mirror and stay tight!!

good luck!

Answer 6

I'd like ask another cheerleader or ex-cheerleader in your school or like a friend of a cheerleader or gym coach