test preparation

Testing is the most important event of the year. In order to have the best team possible, cheerleaders must be chosen wisely. The simplest events have a group standing ovation and individual vaults, standing ovations, and sidelines. Each coach has the opportunity to choose what the tests consist of and in what order to do them. Before tryouts begin, she must gather information to give to potential cheerleaders and their parents. This information must include 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 provide the information to potential cheerleaders, there should be a meeting scheduled with the parents. During this meeting, it is very important to convey the main points to the girls and their parents. You need to make sure parents understand cheerleading costs, attendance requirements, and what you will expect from parents throughout the year. Having a list of these main points in writing helps a lot. You can write them on a whiteboard in the room or even print a piece of paper with the points and distribute it. It can be difficult to keep the parents’ attention if all the girls are present. Try having a parent-only meeting or give the girls a task like making posters if you can keep the meeting short enough.

test process

For stunts, cheering, jumping, etc., it’s a good idea for the girls to try doing everything alone and together, weather permitting. This will give the judges a chance to critique the girls individually and how well they can work with a group. It also gives them a chance to see if the girls have the ability to stand out in a group.

Floor Greetings / Sidelines

To choose a good standing ovation, it is important to keep the ovation simple, but long enough to test the resistance of the girls. 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 for floor claps. However, the girls should remember to be louder on the sidelines as they are shorter than the floor cheers.

Jumping/Tumpling

Another category is jumping/tumbling. The girls should at least be judged by 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 need some tumbling ability. An additional option would be to have three required jumps and have the third open for somersaults if that is not a requirement on its own. The cartwheel can be anything from a cartwheel to a standing cartwheel. Just make sure the judges critique the girls on the difficulty level and on their performance.

stunts

In addition to cheering, you can choose to make stunts a part of the events. There are a lot of options with this category. Starting at the Jr. High level, thigh stands, lead-ups, and shoulder sit-ups are good stunts to start with. High school stunts depend on what level the school is at. They can range from two to five person stunts. The difficulty of the stunts depends on the coach’s decision.

academic

Another factor by which girls can be judged is their academic level. Some coaches require a minimum GPA just for testing. Since most athletic policies already have eligibility requirements, once a girl makes the team, it is very important to keep her grades up. To learn more about testing girls, send a form to teachers and ask them to test girls on things like their ability to complete homework or work with a group. Sometimes this can be the deciding factor for some girls.

Creativity

Some coaches want to measure the creativity of the girls. A number of activities can show this. One is to make posters. Give the girls some simple things: markers and construction paper. You can give each of the girls a school mascot from the surrounding teams and ask them to make a poster for that team. Just make sure the signs are appropriate (eg, No: Kill ____). You can also have the girls create their own cheer to perform at the tests. While this shows the level of creativity, it’s hard to judge as the judges have never seen the standing ovation before and don’t know what to expect. It is also very time consuming.

end suggestion

As stated above, the order of things done in testing is up to the trainer and what he thinks will work best. Along with what the girls do, appearance is an important factor in tests. It makes things so much easier for the girls to wear the same colors. Have them wear solid colored shorts and t-shirts (school colors are best) with white socks and tennis shoes.

Remember to remind the girls that cheerleading is fun! If they don’t look like they’re having fun, they won’t get a good score. The smile is an important factor, as well as eye contact. A cheerleader can’t hear as well if she’s looking at the ground.

If you’ve never done testing before, it can be a bit overwhelming. Do not panic! There are many resources online that have different ideas and advice. There are also different evaluation forms and even complete packets of information that you can modify at your school and distribute to parents. Make sure the girls know this and remember that the most important thing is Have fun! GOOD LUCK!!