Coming from a squad that was mediocre (at best) the last few years, at a school that doesn't appreciate cheerleaders, I have learned that the only way to get respect is to perform like you're All Stars. Your stunts have to be top notch, your motions perfect, your dances amazing, your tumbling (if your squad is into that kind of thing) fantastic, your makeup and hair flawless. You have to do something to set you apart from the stereotype of "Go Team Go". Doing something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tRohbZItqk&feature=endscreen&NR=1 makes you stand out. It is something that people will remember, that they will talk about next year and the year after that, and will end up of youtube. If you can get people thinking "Wow, those girls are great. I want to be one of them" then you can get the best of the best on the squad.
At my high school cheerleading wasn't cool. Cheerleaders weren't popular. Girls basketball players were, and I honestly don't know why because the girls on the basketball team looked rather manly. My squad didn't have the "perfect blonde cheerleader" look though either. One girl was tall and skinny with frizzy hair. One girl was short and chunky. A couple of our girls were pretty, but they had huge butts and thighs. I'm a blonde, blue eyes, but I'm a size 8-10. Not skinny enough to be Barbie. We had one perfect Barbie cheerleader, but she never wanted to do anything but look good in the uniform. We were just like normal people, and my school didn't like it. They wanted us to be perfect, tiny cheerleaders that performed like All Stars. And my school will always have that mind set. They have seen too many cheer movies that portray cheerleaders as having perfect bodies, hair, and make up. We weren't like that. We wanted to be ourselves and get recognized as being athletes. The cheerleader stereotype kept us from that.
If you want to be respected as an athlete you need to act like one. Work hard at practice and spread the word around school about how hard it was (it will make people realize you do something that makes you sweat). Take your squad for a run around town. It will turn heads to see 20 or so pretty girls running around town. Maybe share a video of practice with your friends so they can see how a practice goes. Post your cheer schedule on the cheer Facebook or Twitter, other people will stumble upon it and see how often you practice and for how long. Football players are respected because they are said to have really hard practices, spend all summer outside in the sun conditioning, and it is dangerous. If people understand cheerleading is like that then it can get the recognition that it deserves.
The squad is only as good as its weakest link. If your squad has girls that don't want to be there, don't show up for practice, only are cheerleaders because of the uniform but they have been on the squad for a long time or they are really good, you need to realize that they are bringing the squad down. You don't need them. When it comes time for tryouts coaches need to remember that it isn't just what you see at tryouts that you need to take into consideration. You need to remember all of the awful things they did last season. Were they disrespectful? Did they blow off practices and games? Were they late? Did they cause a lot of drama? Did they ever try? Were they always getting in trouble? If they were, then you don't need them. Replace them with someone who wants to be there, who will try their hardest, and will represent your school well. The cheerleaders ability is directly related to the coach. If there is one bad cheerleader then it reflects badly on the coach. If the coach looks badly the school can replace them. It happens, just look at Purdue's football coach.
Because no body liked cheerleading at my school, it was really hard to get people to tryout. I feel like my school is the only place that happens though. But if not, I have a few ideas on how to get people to tryout. Some short videos to post on Facebook, your school's website, or school's news broadcast.
At my high school cheerleading wasn't cool. Cheerleaders weren't popular. Girls basketball players were, and I honestly don't know why because the girls on the basketball team looked rather manly. My squad didn't have the "perfect blonde cheerleader" look though either. One girl was tall and skinny with frizzy hair. One girl was short and chunky. A couple of our girls were pretty, but they had huge butts and thighs. I'm a blonde, blue eyes, but I'm a size 8-10. Not skinny enough to be Barbie. We had one perfect Barbie cheerleader, but she never wanted to do anything but look good in the uniform. We were just like normal people, and my school didn't like it. They wanted us to be perfect, tiny cheerleaders that performed like All Stars. And my school will always have that mind set. They have seen too many cheer movies that portray cheerleaders as having perfect bodies, hair, and make up. We weren't like that. We wanted to be ourselves and get recognized as being athletes. The cheerleader stereotype kept us from that.
If you want to be respected as an athlete you need to act like one. Work hard at practice and spread the word around school about how hard it was (it will make people realize you do something that makes you sweat). Take your squad for a run around town. It will turn heads to see 20 or so pretty girls running around town. Maybe share a video of practice with your friends so they can see how a practice goes. Post your cheer schedule on the cheer Facebook or Twitter, other people will stumble upon it and see how often you practice and for how long. Football players are respected because they are said to have really hard practices, spend all summer outside in the sun conditioning, and it is dangerous. If people understand cheerleading is like that then it can get the recognition that it deserves.
The squad is only as good as its weakest link. If your squad has girls that don't want to be there, don't show up for practice, only are cheerleaders because of the uniform but they have been on the squad for a long time or they are really good, you need to realize that they are bringing the squad down. You don't need them. When it comes time for tryouts coaches need to remember that it isn't just what you see at tryouts that you need to take into consideration. You need to remember all of the awful things they did last season. Were they disrespectful? Did they blow off practices and games? Were they late? Did they cause a lot of drama? Did they ever try? Were they always getting in trouble? If they were, then you don't need them. Replace them with someone who wants to be there, who will try their hardest, and will represent your school well. The cheerleaders ability is directly related to the coach. If there is one bad cheerleader then it reflects badly on the coach. If the coach looks badly the school can replace them. It happens, just look at Purdue's football coach.
Because no body liked cheerleading at my school, it was really hard to get people to tryout. I feel like my school is the only place that happens though. But if not, I have a few ideas on how to get people to tryout. Some short videos to post on Facebook, your school's website, or school's news broadcast.
- Can you do this? *picture of lifting weights* Think you can do this? *video of a partner stunt*. Tryout for cheerleading (insert tryout information here)
- Can you do this? *picture of someone doing gymnastics* Think you can do this? *video of a tumbling pass*. Tryout for cheerleading (insert tryout information here)
- Can you do this? *video of dancing* Think you can do this? *Video of a cheer dance*. Tryout for cheerleading (insert tryout information here)
- Have you done this? *video of a cheer competition or a high school squad* Then tryout for cheerleading (insert tryout information here)
Ask for student assembly. Split the area into 4 sections labeled (or as for a hands up for each situation): I have cheered and it is a sport, I have cheered and it is not a sport, I have not cheered and it is a sport, I have not cheered and it is not a sport. This will give you an idea of how to make your plea for new people on your squad. If most of the people have never cheered and don't think it is a sport, then you need to show them videos of hard cheer practices, difficult stunts, or a competition. If a lot of people have never cheered but think it is a sport you need to ask them why they have never cheered and show them that they can cheer despite their preconceived notions. If they use the excuse that they are too big to cheer you can show them an episode of "Cheerleaders" to prove to them that bigger girls can cheer too. If they haven't cheered because they think that they need to do a lot of tumbling explain to them that not all cheerleaders need to tumble and that there is more than just tumbling in cheerleading. If they think that male cheerleaders are gay then explain to them that there are a lot that aren't. It is a great way to meet girls, you get to touch girls in inappropriate ways and it is ok. If a lot have cheered before and think that it a sport, you just have to ask them to tryout. If someone has cheered before and still think that cheerleading isn't a sport, they are a lost cause. You can ask them to tryout but getting them to change their mind after they have already been cheerleaders is unlikely. Show the videos mentioned above. Show the tryout information at the end of the presentation.
No comments:
Post a Comment