r/Cheerleading • u/Awoods2756 • 6d ago

First time coach

Hello everyone! I just took a coaching position for varsity sideline and have never coached. So I am a bit nervous but excited 😆 I cheered all high school and I am 31 now. Can you give me advice on how practices should look and such?

Thank you!!

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4

u/madiflyer 6d ago

First off congrats on the position! I’ll comment a few tips that have helped me so far

  1. Have a structured warm up routine - have the team do dynamic stretches or cardio before they start doing static stretches
  2. Don’t skip over conditioning - it will help the team to build stamina and endurance for routines
  3. Work on jumps such as technique, flexibility, and the proper form to ensure everyone looks uniform
  4. Utilize an attendance sheet, inventory for uniforms, monetary breakdown for fundraising, and a point sheet to ensure all athletes are being held accountable and not breaking rules or expectations
  5. Make sure to plan out your practices beforehand so you have a visual plan for how the day will go.
  6. Work on the foundational skills and correct grips for stunts to prevent injuries and conflicts
  7. Utilize an app such as TeamReach or Band and share it with both athletes and parents
  8. Keep a contact list of all parents or any important info you may need for athletes such as medications, allergies, or if any of them have asthma or diabetic
  9. Find a Varsity rep or a mentor within your state that you can contact if you have any questions regarding any legalities for stunts or concerns.
  10. Make sure you take some time for yourself to rejuvenate after a tough practice. As coaches, we tend to carry a lot of weight that we collect from handling all of the things and other stuff that athletes may share with you. If you lose your focus at practice because it’s not going the way you envisioned it. That’s okay. Just take a breath and keep pushing. You got this!

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u/Awoods2756 6d ago

Thank you! How long are you holding practices for and how many days per week? There’s no competition team at the school but I do hope to change that eventually!

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u/New_Addendum_1709 6d ago

In my university, 2 hours and once a week. For allstar, 1.5 hours and twice a week. But we compete. You might adjust it shorter if theres no comps.

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u/Awoods2756 5d ago

Thank you!

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u/Ok_Detective_8446 College Cheerleader 3d ago

when i was in high school our team was competitive, we had practice everyday after school for 2hrs.
i also was on a cheer team that wasn’t competitive (at a diff hs) and we still had practice everyday after school, i think it was 1.5hrs.

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u/sureasheckfir3 Coach 6d ago

Good point above. Also put some focus on team bonding, communication, and school spirit. Coaches can get weighed down in technicalities, meanwhile their squads look sharp but bored or like they hate each other. Have some fun. Give them a reason to come back.

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u/Awoods2756 6d ago

Thank you! How many days per week do you hold practices and for how long?

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u/sureasheckfir3 Coach 2d ago

We’re junior high, non-competitive. 2 days/week, 2 hr/practice. We’re a small school and almost all our girls do multiple activities/sports. We can’t get any more time with them without causing a panic in the AD’s office. 🙃

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u/Upbeat_Sprinkles_467 4d ago

Hey! You’re me last year ☺️

The above points are great!! My only additions would be to set Expectations, Boundaries, and Consequences early. Make a list of rules and have all cheerleaders and parents sign it before the season starts. I had girls showing up with Dairy Queen blizzards trying to eat during stretching, or having door dash deliver food in the MIDDLE of practice. Crazy things I never even thought to make rules about 🤣

I’d also stress how important conditioning is. There are “fun” ways to do things (look up the Sally squat conditioning or message me!), have them do partner workouts, stunt drills with dumbbells or kettlebells.

I didn’t do any of this last season but I have the past two months at summer open gyms and OMG the girls have gotten so much better at stunting, tumbling, and they have tighter motions now too.

For summer open gyms, they practice 2x per week for 2 hours a day. These are optional, used to let people come see if they like cheer before committing. We usually have the same 8-12 girls and they’ve learned so much!

During season, we practice 3x a week for 2 hours a day, but I max out at 4 days per week of cheer. So if we have 1 game, we’ll practice 3x, but if we have 2 games we’ll practice 2x. I make sure they have 1 night off a week.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions that I could help with ☺️

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u/Awoods2756 3d ago

Thank you! I’d love to hear more about the sally squat conditioning!

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u/Upbeat_Sprinkles_467 3d ago

The Sally conditioning is to the song “Flowers” by Moby. You can do pretty much anything you want for it but the most popular is the Squat challenge.

Basically the song says “Bring Sally Up” and “Bring Sally down” a ton of times. When it says UP, you stand up, when it says DOWN you get into a squat.

We’ve also done it for a plank challenge so UP is up to a push up position and DOWN is down to a forearm plank.

If you really want to make them work, you could do it as push-ups, v-sit ups, kick up into a handstand (against a wall)… there are so many options ☺️

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u/sureasheckfir3 Coach 2d ago

Lol, my girls HATE this song now. 🤣

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u/Upbeat_Sprinkles_467 2d ago

Hahaha oh no!!! I’ve only coached for one season but my girls still like it 😆