cheer essay for tryouts

6 School Essay Writing Tips for Cheerleaders

This article is written by guest contributor Robert Morris, an online tutor, educator, and writer from NYC. Follow Rob on Google+! Cheerleaders are supposed to know their way around words. After all, you are able to take a single word and make a cool cheer around it. Your intuitive creativity is surely helpful when it comes to essay writing, but academic papers are still more challenging than the cheers you can easily think of. Stay positive; there is a solution for everything! The following guide will help you handle the process of essay writing like a champ! 1. Plan the structure of the paper. Cheerleaders, who are used to improvising, need to tame the flow of ideas a bit. It may seem like the planning process is limiting your creativity, but that is not the case. A proper plan will enable you to write an essay that grabs and holds the reader’s attention. Start with brainstorming for ideas. You can be as creative as you wish at this step. However, you should commit only to those ideas that are related to the thesis you are about to elaborate. Construct the thesis statement and create an outline that enables you to include all relevant information in a focused structure. 2. Use the right tools and apps. Daily Writing Tips will help you work continuously on your writing skills. This website is an immense source of guidelines that will turn you into a great academic writer in time. Thesaurus is another essential tool that will help you improve your style. Guess what? You can also use it for your cheerleading projects. Text 2 Mind Map will make the brainstorming and planning stages of the process much more organized. And, if you get really stuck with a particular essay, you can rely on the ultimate custom writing service, NinjaEssays, which enables you to get professional assistance by real writers and editors. 3. Show how well you understand the topic. Professors assign essays with a single purpose: to enable students to demonstrate their knowledge. This means that you cannot write a random answer to the essay question; you need to provide a believable discussion supported with strong arguments and well-researched facts. Avoid all digressions and make sure to focus on the actual instructions of your teacher. If you manage to include quotes from relevant experts, you’ll definitely earn some bonus points. Don’t forget to reference the used materials; the charges for plagiarism in academic writing are very serious. 4. Write the essay in a proper academic style. No, this doesn’t mean that you cannot be creative at all. If you try to adhere to the strict academic writing standards, you might fall into the trap of writing a dull, boring paper that doesn’t convey any fresh ideas. Although the essay is supposed to be impersonal and fairly formal, most topics still enable you to take a creative approach. You will probably need to adapt your writing style to the topic and type of essay you are writing. Make sure you understand the requirements for persuasive, expository, descriptive, and narrative writing before you start working on the particular assignments. 5. Stay away from plagiarism! As a cheerleader, you know how important uniqueness is. All schools take plagiarism very seriously, so make sure to avoid this academic sin. There are several plagiarism search engines (such as Plagtracker for example), which will help you make sure that your content is in no danger of being marked as plagiarism. 6. Keep it simple. Regardless of the complexity of the assignment, you can never go wrong if you keep the discussion simple, but focused and informative. Imagine that the reader doesn’t have any foundation of knowledge on the topic you are covering. Write enough background information that will enable everyone to understand where your arguments are coming from. With this strategy, you can rest assured that you’ll write a successful paper.

Cheer Shoe Review: The Iconic Nike

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• Speaking as a coach, I don't mind questions at all, but make sure you use other resources as well. Do not ask questions that have been answered on the flyer or in any other communications, that's a red flag for a coach. 
• Ask previous cheerleaders your questions before reaching out to the coach.
• If you have more than one question, ask them at once, but clearly separate them for easy reading (numbering is best.) If you send one or two emails each day as you think of your questions it will not give a good first impression!
• Tryout outfit. This is an important one. A lot of coaches have specific rules on what you need to wear for tryouts. Below is a list of what would be required of you as one of my prospective cheerleaders.
• A plain white t-shirt (no logos or decals)
• Shorts that are solid school colors (no spandex)
• Athletic shoes (preferably cheer or white athletic shoes)
• No jewelry or watches
• No distracting painted/extra-long nails or overly done makeup
• Hair up and out of face
• Bow (as long as it is plain solid school colors and not a previous team bow)
• Tryout material. It's also important to know what material will you need to know for the tryouts. If a back tuck is required to make your team and you're a cartwheel kind of gal, well, you might want to skip tryouts this year and take some private lessons first.
• Will there be a judges panel or will the coaches be evaluating and choosing the team? More and more coaches are choosing to hand-pick their teams. There are a few reasons for this, but a main reason is that coaches are usually more willing to keep an athlete that needs help with skills, but has a wonderful attitude rather than a joy-kill athlete with attitude that has nearly perfect skills. 

Take the time to work on your skills. In fact, see if your school or any local gyms offer a  skills clinics prior to tryouts for some extra help. 

Stiff/sharp motions, clean jumps and tumbling with good technique (pointed toes, arm placement, etc.), and dance skills will certainly be the most helpful to your score. However, some commonly overlooked skills have nothing to do with the height of your jumps or the strength of your tumbling. For example, smiling,  facials , and voice volume and control can take you a long way. They can show your fun personality and your entertainment factor. Cheerleaders are entertainers, don't forget that when you're trying to impress the judges. They want to see you having fun and if they do, it will show on your scoresheet. Unfortunately, if you don't entertain them, that will show on your scoresheet as well. Practice your smiles and facials in front of a mirror as well as your motions.

Believe it or not, the judges are rooting for you. I've been a judge and I've been the cheerleader on the other end. Chances are, your judge was once in your situation and they feel for you. They love to see you do well and they hurt for you when you don't. 

I guess what I'm saying is, don't make them into monsters in your mind. They've been in your shoes and they want to see you succeed. So, take a deep breath, relax, and give them your best!

"But what happens if I completely mess up a skill during tryouts?!" As I said, your judges are human and they want to see you nail every skill. If you make a mistake, simple say, "I apologize, may I try that again?" I've never heard of a judge saying no, so take that chance to get it right. (Just don't ask to redo every skill if it's clearly just lack of ability - they will see right through it!)

Final thoughts. 

Honestly, I could write for hours on how to prepare for tryouts, but this is a blog post and nobody wants to read a blog post that long. So, I will list a few more things to consider as you prepare for tryouts.

• Get plenty of sleep each night. 
• As a society we do not get enough sleep. Allow your body to rest and repair itself.
• Drink water!
• Make it a goal to drink one ounce of water per pound of body weight. So, if you weigh 120 lbs, you should drink 120 oz of water (10 12 oz glasses.)
• Eat well. 
• Do not try to skip a meal to make your abs look better. Those abs need fuel! Eat nutritious food and a balanced diet to get the most out of your workouts.
• Condition your body.
• Focus on building whole body strength.
• Our partners at RitFit have some great conditioning tools such as resistance bands, jump boxes for vertical height, dumbbells for strength training, and rollers for muscle tension and added flexibility. Use this link for 10% off your first order !
• Practice, practice, practice!
• Mirrors and videos are your friends! You can "feel" like you're nailing a motion, but a little self-reflection might show you otherwise. Judge yourself as if you're judging someone else.
• Don't try a new skill.
• Tryouts are not the right time to debut a new skill. Often the judges are looking more at how you execute a skill rather than how difficult it is. Don't get me wrong, they look at both, but if you have a beautiful back handspring, but you just "learned" your tuck (and you fall to your knees 50% of the time) stick to the back handspring and nail it (unless the tuck is required and you have to go for it.)

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Cheer Tryout Tips To Make Your School’s Squad

• August 8, 2018
• / Cheer Tips
• / By Willis Yehl
• / 48 COMMENTS

Cheer tryouts are exhilarating. Even for seasoned cheerleaders, it’s an exciting and stressful experience. If you’re new to cheer or wondering whether or not you should tryout this year, absorb the information in this article before talking yourself out of what could be a life changing opportunity.

Any cheerleader will tell you that some of her best years were the ones she spent with her cheer squad. The friends you make, the confidence you build and the discipline you develop will all shape you into a well-rounded person. Whether you go on to a leader or a pivotal team player, you will take your cheer experiences with you through the rest of your life!

Table of Contents

Should I tryout for cheerleading?

When are cheer tryouts in high school, what to wear to cheer tryouts, tools to prepare for cheer tryouts, junior high, high school, what to expect at cheer tryouts.

Too often girls on the fence of joining cheer get stuck in this simple paradox of not feeling confident, athletic and/or flexible enough to do cheer. However, the best way to get good at cheer, is to cheer! If you know you want to do something, there’s no sense in putting it off.

Utilize sites like this and YouTube to get familiar with beginner cheer moves and tips and follow these basic cheer principles to safely and successfully start your cheer journey.

Remember, trying out this year (even if you don’t make the team) will get you that much more ready for future tryouts!

From grade school on up, cheerleading tryouts can vary greatly from the summer before the initial start of fall sports (football cheer) to as early as January. Each school district will have its own process in terms of mandatory meetings, clinics, camps and tryout dates and times. In order to ensure you’re eligibility to tryout for your local squad, reach out to your local school district or cheer director for all necessary dates and times to ensure you have plenty of time to prepare!

What to bring to cheerleading tryouts

If you don’t want to show up in cheer apparel, you’ll want to bring a backpack or gym bag to carry your essentials as well as appropriate cheer wear. You will definitely want a water or other refreshing drink to stay hydrated and keep your throat clear and ready to cheer.

For cheer tryouts, it’s best to wear form fitting shorts and tees/tanks and a sports bra to give you the best range of motion and flexibility. You will also want to be wearing cheer specific shoes to give yourself the best traction for your performance.

Carefully read over all provided information or check with the organizers to ensure adherence with all color requirements (ex: black shorts, white shirt, white cheer shoes, hair in ponytail, etc.)

While you don’t need to be a flexible yoga master, it does help to be flexible when it comes to cheerleading. If you can’t do the splits yet, you should use something like this door strap to help stretch out your legs.

And you’re going to be doing a lot of tumbling. A LOT. Landing on your ankle the wrong way, or twisting it a little, can take you out of the running for your squad. Build the strength in your ankles and wrist with this nifty tool . It will help make them stronger and less susceptible to injury.

Cheerleading tryout tips

At all levels, there are steps you can take to prepare for a successful tryout. When you only get one shot, you can never be too prepared. Depending on the level of competition, you will likely want to start preparing your mind and body months in advance. The more confident you are in your strength, flexibility and routine, the better you will perform. Always make sure to stretch before a tryout, hydrate to keep your body and throat ready to cheer and relax to come off happy and confident.

At this level, unless you know you are in a competitive cheer group, it’s best to focus on easy cheerleading motions , performing each movement cleanly and executing confident and exuberant cheers.

Remember to always smile and that the judges don’t know your routine, so if you mess up, they likely won’t notice if you just keep going!

It’s time to take your preparation and commitment up a notch! If you are serious about cheer, you’ll want to start stretching, exercising and eating right months before a tryout (if not full-time). You also need to nail your routines. Always smile through missteps, but put in the advance work to easily memorize cheer routines to avoid costly mistakes.

Another tip is to take notes. What separates the great from the good isn’t physical attributes, it’s the extra work they put in to studying the art of cheer. Treating cheer like a class is the best way to perfect your movements, your spirit and each individual performance.

Work on your spirit entrance. Coming into your tryout confidently with spirit will avoid a dreaded awkward entrance and help you hit the ground running for your tryout. Make an amazing first impression and don’t stop impressing by practicing your cheer tryout entrance.

Solidify your performance by perfecting your cheering. What to focus on to perfect your cheering:

• Be loud – Don’t focus on singing. In the noise and energy of an event, it’s your responsibility to not only be heard but to add to the energy.
• Be positive – Big smiles and great spirit is what coaches are looking for when putting together a cheer team (in some cases, more so than technique and skills). Bring a big smile and a lot of positive energy to your tryout to win over the judges.
• Show your personality – Through your cheers and mannerisms, you want to make the judges feel, how the judges want their fans to feel.

– For college tryouts, it’s all about nuance. All college cheerleaders will likely have a similar physical and technical skill set, so it comes down to the little details that separate the girls that do or don’t make the cut. This doesn’t mean it’s not important to take the basic steps to prepare yourself as best as possible. Start stretching, exercising, eating healthy and memorizing the routine(s) months in advance.

Other steps you can take include:

• Introduce yourself to the cheer staff before your tryout. The more exposure a coach can have to you, the more opportunity you have to convey your personality and talents. Look to network with members of the squad, coaching staff and athletic department. 
• Ask questions. You can never be too prepared or too informed. Going out of your way to ask questions about the squad, school, coaches and tryout particulars, can give you an edge.
• Pay attention to the team’s game day  “look” (hairstyle, makeup, accessories, etc.). Limit any barrier possible to your judges seeing you on their squad. If that means watching game film or asking questions to find out their teams game day look, that’s exactly what you should do to show that you’re the perfect fit for the squad. 
• Set yourself up for success by overly preparing the night before so that you can come in relaxed and confident. Have your outfit and everything you’re going to take with you to the tryout ready the day before. Make sure you have the time down and have reliable transportation to the tryout location. Get plenty of sleep and be sure to eat and drink soothing foods and beverages that won’t upset your vocal cords. 
• Let your personality shine. Whether you have an interview or you can express yourself in your intro and performance, these little details are going to set you apart from the rest.

All cheer tryouts are different, so gathering all of the necessary information early will help eliminate any barriers to a great performance.

The typical cheer tryout will be held in the evening when coaches and judges are available. To avoid any potential weather issues, most tryouts are held indoors at a school gymnasium, but others may occur on a track or field. Getting to know the surface with which you’ll be trying out on will inform you where you should be practicing your routine.

Tryouts are judged typically by the cheer coach. Other judges can include team captains, assistant coaches, athletic directors and others involved in the cheer program.

Tryouts can take a few hours and parents are not always aloud to attend, so it’s best to be prepared to be dropped off and picked up within a 1-3 hour time window.

You may be taken to a separate room to audition or you may be performing in front of all aspiring cheerleaders.

Tryouts can be intimidating, but utilizing this information and taking the right steps to prepare for cheer tryouts will give you everything you need to successfully make the cheer squad with no experience.

About the Author Willis Yehl

Willis is the founder and inventor of Stunt Stand. When he was a collegiate cheerleader, he noticed that some of his teammates were practicing with unsafe methods. Since then, he has been passionately working to help the cheer industry by creating products that help athletes train effectively and safely.

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8 Lessons I Learned From My Daughter's Cheerleading Tryouts

Author, speaker, and blogger at karikampakis.com

Well, we made it. We survived our first big tryout week. Honestly, it was better than I expected. Even if my daughter hadn't made the 7th grade cheer squad, I'd still say that.

I was nervous going in, mostly because of the crazy cheer momma stories I'd heard about people freaking out over their child's competition and pulling sneaky moves. I didn't want to be like that, of course, nor did I want to fall into the category of being so obsessed with the outcome that I spent the week being strung-out, stressed, and overly invested in conversations about which girls have an inverted toe-touch, and who can do a back tuck.

After all, every girl who tries out for cheerleading is somebody's daughter. Their parents love them like I love my child. And while I certainly hoped and prayed my daughter would make it, I didn't want to wish misfortune on anyone or secretly delight in fantasies of girls messing up so she would look better.

So I prayed to keep my head and heart in the right place. I prayed for my daughter and the other girls. Most of all, I looked hard for the life lessons I needed to learn.

Because win or lose, I knew there were insights I was supposed to gain from this experience to help me grow as a parent and a person.

Here are eight lessons that stood out. While this list will evolve with time (especially as we have tryouts with different results), I hope it's helpful to anyone who wants to find meaning in tryout week and see it as so much more than a means to an end.

Lesson #8: A mother's attitude affects her daughter's attitude. To be our daughters' emotional support, we have to set a calm, positive tone.

When Ella began working with a cheer coach last May, she was lukewarm about the sport. She enjoyed the practices, but she wasn't sure this was her "thing."

After a few months, however, her heart changed. She began getting a special glow after practice and jumping in the car to say, "I really want to be a cheerleader!" It thrilled me to see her so passionate about something... yet this also raised the stakes. If cheer didn't work out, she'd be heartbroken.

As tryouts approached, the stress hit her. A lot of strong athletes had signed up, and naturally that made her nervous. While I felt nervous for her, I took the advice moms had given me about not letting it show. Instead of feeding her fears, I told her how excited I was that her day to shine was almost here. I reminded her of how hard she'd been working, and that she was ready to show her stuff!

Soon after this, Ella made a paper chain to "count down" to tryouts. It was like the chains my girls make for the Christmas countdown, only these slips had daily exercises on them. The smaller the chain got, the more excited she became. It surprised me to see her anticipation grow from a tiny seed I'd planted. While she still got nervous tryout week, she remained excited. She understood it as a goal to look forward to, not dread.

It's hard for moms not to get emotional, and to walk that fine line of building your child up without underestimating the skills required to make a team in this day and age. But with your daughter's emotions running high, and her body tired from practicing, she needs a rock. The steadier you are, the more she benefits.

Lesson #7: Tryout week is a great opportunity to love on your child and her friends.

One highlight of my daughter's week was getting the rock star treatment. With friends and aunts dropping off candy, family members posting encouraging notes in her room, and her choice of breakfast and dinner each day, it became a week she'll always remember. Even siblings were given strict orders to be extra-nice and affirming.

Breaking the routine to give Ella and any friends she had over special perks and extra attention was fun. Tryout week can be so overwhelming that it's important to surround them with love and positive energy.

Lesson #6: Watching your child transform is one of the best parenting experiences.

After the first clinic, the girls are scared. With nervous laughter they show you a dance that looks so fast and complicated you're silently thinking, "Oh dear heavens, will they ever get that?!!!!" while plastering a smile on your face that you hope conveys total confidence.

But over the week, the girls evolve. A mini-miracle takes place as they struggle, grow, break through, and fly. When things finally click, it's awesome. Those once unsure girls are now confident and spirited. They're adding smiles and having fun. As they swing their bodies and ponytails around, you realize how they're growing up in the best way.

They're learning to believe in themselves and seeing how hard work pays off.

By Friday, you have a new child. You're in awe of what's happened. And while you really want them to make the cut, you're already so proud. In your eyes, they've won. They've faced their fears, entered a scary unknown, and emerged stronger on the other side. The lifelong benefit isn't whether they make it, but the confidence they've gained by pushing their body to new limits and the courage they'll develop by performing in front of judges.

Tryouts are a chance to practice being brave. They teach our kids to take risks, even when they're nervous and scared. Our world celebrates results, but what really deserves celebration is the transformation of each child. These girls walk into clinic the first day as one version of themselves -- and walk out the last day a new version. To witness that as a parent is pretty amazing.

Lesson #5: No outcome will bring 100 percent happiness.

Even if your child makes it, she'll have friends who don't. As you scan the newly posted list, your heart will be torn. You'll rejoice for the names on there, yet mourn those missing.

And next year, it could be your child's name missing. There are no guarantees. Since everyone's in this boat, you have a heart for any girl who may be crying in her mother's arms at home.

Moms whose daughters have not made cheerleader tell me that it's better to reach out than to do nothing. I suggest saying a prayer for wisdom before texting or calling to make sure your words ring with love, not pity. Another idea is to drop off a special treat that night, or maybe a cup of Starbucks hot chocolate the next morning. Write an encouraging note that highlights the girl's talents and strengths.

Most of all, remind your daughter to keep including these friends, because their biggest fear is missing out on fun times and being left behind.

Lesson #4: It's comical how many adults project their tryout experiences on kids.

Good or bad, we all remember our first tryouts, right? It's locked into our memory for life.

But please, when you're talking to a starry-eyed kid going out for a team, don't share your sad story. Don't focus on "that time I didn't make the cut" and tell the child up-front how she'll be OK if she doesn't make it either, because it all works out.

I laugh as I write this because I project my experiences all the time. But what my daughter's tryout experience taught me is how discouraging this can be, because so many adults do it. And when your daughter looks at you with sudden confusion and self-doubt, wondering if all these gloomy predictions will come true, you find yourself saying, "Don't listen to them! Their story isn't your story! Tryouts are a sore subject for people. You're amazing and doing awesome, so keep believing in yourself!"

My advice is to encourage these kids, pray for them, and fuel their excitement. If they don't make the team, share your sad story, but until then, assume the best. Otherwise they feel defeated before they've even begun.

Lesson #3: A coach has a huge impact on your child's confidence. Particularly during tryout week, the coach's words carry more weight than yours.

The older my daughters get, the more I realize how I'm not enough to be their only female influence. They need additional women in their life to build them up -- mentors they respect and want to learn from.

In the months before tryouts, Ella worked with two awesome ladies on cheer and gymnastics. They know their game and can give honest feedback with encouragement. During tryout week, she quoted them. She remembered tips she'd heard along the way. I could applaud my child all day, but the applause that spoke loudest during that crunch time came from the experts.

A girl with a dream needs someone who "gets" that dream to help her accomplish her goals. Since my gig as a high school cheerleader hardly qualified me for cheer standards today -- and because my encouragement is often met with the words, "You're my mom, you have to say nice things!" -- I was grateful to have coaches and other women Ella looks up to speaking the truth with love, confidence, and conviction.

Lesson #2: When your child beats herself up -- and she will -- remind her of how far she's come. Remember that a breakdown is perfectly normal.

Ella's breakdowns happened before clinic started, over her back-handspring. I felt helpless trying to offer support. I tried to emphasize how far she'd come since starting this journey, but the words didn't sink in until I was downloading iPad videos one night and came across one of her.

It was from her first cheer session nine months earlier, and realizing the progress since then was remarkable. The video -- which captured low jumps, loose motions, and a timid voice -- was her point of origin. It served as proof of her growth.

Since comparison to others makes us beat ourselves up, offer your daughter another measuring stick. Tell her to compare where she is now to where she started . Emphasize the progress, and if you have a video to prove it, by all means show it.

Lesson #1: Root your confidence in God's plan.

The reason parents freak out over things like tryouts is that we want our kids to have a place. Making a team gives them an instant tribe, and sometimes recognition among peers. While I certainly get this and know how deeply adolescents crave a sense of belonging, we often keep too narrow a view of the options.

We believe that if Plan A doesn't work out, there is no Plan B.

But there's always a Plan B. And a Plan C, a Plan D, and so on. Having faith means knowing that the God who created the universe has known since the beginning of time whether our child will make the team. And believe it or not, He cares. He understands the impact on her heart. As much as we love our child, God loves her more. His plan for her is full of wonderful surprises.

So as you drop your daughter off at tryouts, your stomach churning, your eyes watering, and your heart hammering, remember it's in His hands. Say a prayer of thanksgiving as she disappears behind the school doors and be GRATEFUL that she's healthy and able and can try out for a team. Because truly, that is a privilege.

And if you're worried, remember how you once worried that this daughter might never get her cartwheel. Now here she is, flipping all over the place. How silly of you to doubt her cartwheeling future! If only you'd known! Your worries then are like your worries now, and one day you'll look back at this woman losing her cool in the middle school parking lot and laugh at the memory of her.

Whatever happens, it's all good. In every scenario there are lessons to be learned and opportunities to grow. This is true for the girls trying out, of course, but just as importantly, it's true for the mothers who love them dearly and with all their heart and soul.

This post originally appeared on karikampakis.com . Find Kari on Facebook or check out her new book for teen & tween girls, 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know , released by Thomas Nelson.

Follow Kari Kubiszyn Kampakis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/KariKampakis

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How to Get Ready for Cheerleading Tryouts

Last Updated: February 27, 2024

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 97 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 145,362 times. Learn more...

Are you counting down the days until cheerleading tryouts? Thinking about the big day can be pretty nerve-wracking, but you have nothing to worry about—we've got you covered with plenty of advice on how to put your best foot forward when you take center stage on tryout day.

Practice every day.

Memorize the dance and cheer .

Take time to stretch .

Work out at least every other day.

Talk yourself into realistic success.

Nail your tumbling.

Steel yourself mentally.

Eat very healthy foods .

Give yourself a self-confidence boost.

Bring your check-up form with you.

Smile, be friendly, and try your hardest.

Community Q&A

• Make sure to hit your motions! You don't want to look like a loose mess. If you squeeze your fists then your motions will be tighter. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 0
• Give it your all. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 0
• Stretch before you go. If time is given to stretch, stretch twice. This makes you feel looser and more confident! Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 1

Tips from our Readers

• If you don't make the team, be friendly to the people who did. Chances are you can try out again next year and if you have friends on the team that can influence their decision.
• Ask a more experienced cheerleader to help you with what you need to know. They can also tell you about what to expect at cheer tryouts.

• Be sure to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration. Thanks Helpful 162 Not Helpful 6
• If you do make the squad, do not be mean to the other people who did not. This will be bad for your reputation if you are mean to the others and eventually will come back on you in a bad way. Cheerleading is like anything else in life; you get back what you put in, so put in good things only. Thanks Helpful 154 Not Helpful 7
• Don't do anything that can hurt you in any way, shape, or form by pushing your limits. Take care of your body and know your limitations. Thanks Helpful 140 Not Helpful 9
• Don't be upset if you don't make the team. There is always next year to try again. Thanks Helpful 135 Not Helpful 20

Things You'll Need

• (Optional) Tumbling experience
• Flexibility

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Cheer Camps and Cheer Clinics

Student-athletes interested in competing in college can learn valuable skills and gain college coach exposure by attending cheer camps. We lay out the difference between camps and clinics and other FAQs to help you narrow down your options. Then use our event finder to find cheer clinics or cheerleading camps near you.

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Introducing The National School Spirit Championships!

2024 regional competition dates & locations now available, 2024 uca college spirit camps.

About Universal Cheerleaders Association

Universal Cheerleaders Association was founded in 1974 by Jeff Webb to provide the best educational training for cheerleaders with the goal of incorporating high-level skills with traditional crowd leading. It was Jeff’s vision that would transform cheerleading into the dynamic, athletic combination of high energy entertainment and school leadership that is loved by so many.

Today, UCA is the largest cheerleading camp company in the world, offering the widest array of dates and locations of any camp company. We also celebrate cheerleader’s incredible hard work and athleticism through the glory of competition at over 50 regional events across the country and our Championships at the Walt Disney World Resort® every year.

UCA has instilled leadership skills and personal confidence in more than 4.5 million athletes on and off the field while continuing to be the industry’s leader for more than forty-five years.

Because of UCA

“Because of UCA, I am who I am today.” Join us at a camp, competition or special event and let the UCA Staff make  magical memories  with YOU!

Highest Scoring Level 6 & 7 Routines From UCA All Star Nationals

It was another incredible weekend of All Star cheer at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL as teams took the stage at the 2024 UCA All Star National Championship. As the season quickly winds down, teams are making every moment count. It was another magical weekend in front of the castle as teams put on a show with their routines that seem to get more impressive each time they take the stage. Teams also had the opportunity to earn up to 600 points to The League by Varsity All Star presented by Corkcicle. Each win presents another opportunity to add points to The Leaderboard. As another awesome weekend of cheer comes to a close, here's a look at the Top 5 highest scoring Level 6 & Level 7 routines from the 2024 UCA All Star National Championship.

Meet your 2024 Triple Crown Champions!

This weekend was a special one as a select group of teams earned the honor of becoming a Triple Crown Champion! In order to be named a Triple Crown Champion, all star cheer teams must win first place in their division at three different national competitions including CHEERSPORT Nationals, the NCA All-Star National Championship, and the UCA All Star Championship. The following teams showcased skill, poise, competitiveness, and determination as they continued to hit their routines to pick up first place wins at some of the most competitive competitions. Here is a look at the five teams who are your 2024 Triple Crown Champions.

Reflecting on Excellence: Level 5 Teams at UCA All Star

With the 2024 UCA All Star National Championship on the rise, let's take a look back at the winning Level 5 teams from last year! Each routine from these teams was a jaw dropping performance, a testament to the work they put in day in and day out!

Insider Info: 2024 UCA All Star National Championship

The Universal Cheerleaders Association All Star National Championship will bring athletes and cheer teams of all ages and skill levels to Orlando, Florida, again in 2024, and you won’t want to miss a minute of the action!

UCA High School Nationals 2024 Schedule On Day 3

The 2024 UCA High School Nationals will feature the top high school teams from across the country as the 2023-2024 high school cheer season comes to an end. More than 1,000 cheer squads from across the U.S. will partake in a four-day championship competition at one of the most prestigious events in the cheerleading space.

UCA National High School Championships 2024 Winners: Here Are The Champions

The UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships (NHSCC) returned to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. to provide an exciting conclusion to the cheer season. This year's event featured more than 1,000 teams from across the country who left everything on the stage this weekend.

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Guest Essay

Mass Tech Layoffs? Just Another Day in the Corporate Blender.

By Ashley Goodall

Mr. Goodall, who previously worked as an executive at Deloitte and at Cisco Systems, is the author of the forthcoming book “The Problem With Change.”

Silicon Valley, home of so many technological and workplace innovations, is rolling out another one: the unnecessary layoff.

After shedding over 260,000 jobs last year, the greatest carnage since the dot-com meltdown more than two decades ago, the major tech companies show little sign of letting up in 2024 despite being mostly profitable, in some cases handsomely so. In their words, the tech companies are letting people go to further the continuing process of aligning their structure to their key priorities , or “transformation” or becoming “ future ready .” Behind these generalities, however, some tech companies are using what has hitherto been an extreme measure in order to engineer a short-term bump in market sentiment.

Investors are indeed thrilled . Meta’s shares are up over 170 percent amid its downsizing talk. And where stock prices go, chief executives will generally follow, which means it is not likely to be long before the unnecessary layoff makes its appearance at another publicly traded company near you.

These layoffs are part of a tide of disruption that is continually churning the work days in corporations everywhere. If you’ve spent any amount of time working at a company of pretty much any size, you’ll be familiar with what I call the resulting “life in the blender”: the unrelenting uncertainty and the upheaval that have become constant features of business life today. A new leader comes in, promptly begins a reorganization and upends the reporting relationships you’re familiar with. Or a consultant suggests a new strategy, which takes up everyone’s time and attention for months until it’s back to business as usual, only with a new mission statement and slideware. Or, everyone’s favorite: A merger is announced and leads to all of these and more.

Now, no business prospers by standing still, and there is no improvement without change. Course corrections, re-orgs and strategic pivots are all necessary from time to time. Technological changes continue to demand the restructuring of major industries. But over the last quarter-century or so, the idea of disruption has also metastasized into a sort of cult, the credo of which holds that everything is to be disrupted, all the time, and that if you’re not changing everything, you’re losing.

You can take courses in disruption at the business schools of Stanford, Cornell, Columbia and Harvard. You can read, on the cover of a leading business magazine, about how to “Build a Leadership Team for Transformation: Your Organization’s Future Depends on It.” And if it is the catechism of chaos you’re after, you can buy the inspirational posters and chant the slogans: Fail fast; disrupt or be disrupted; move fast and break things. Part of this, of course, is a product of the hubris of the Silicon Valley technologists. But part, too, is the belief that the fundamental task of a leader is to instigate change. It is hard to remember a time when there was any other idea about how to manage a company.

Moreover, because a majority of corporate executives — together with the consultants and bankers who advise them, the activist investors who spur them on and the financial analysts who evaluate their efforts — have been raised according to this change credo, the constant churn becomes a sort of flywheel. A leader instigates some change, because that’s what a leader does. The advisers and investors and analysts respond positively, because they’ve been taught that change is always good. There’s a quick uptick in reputation or stock price or both, the executives — paid, remember, mostly in stock — feel they have been appropriately rewarded for maximizing shareholder value, and then everyone moves on to the next change.

But it’s hardly clear that this is having the desired result. Studies of merger and acquisition activity have pegged the rate at which they destroy — rather than increase — shareholder value at something between 60 and 90 percent; a Stanford business school professor, Jeffrey Pfeffer, has argued that layoffs seldom result in lower costs, increased productivity or a remedy for the underlying problems in a business; and few of us who have lived through re-orgs remember them as the occasion for a sudden blossoming of productivity and creativity.

Seen through the eyes of the people on the front lines, the reason for this gap between intent and outcome comes into tighter focus. After all, when the people around you are being “transitioned out,” or when you find yourself suddenly working for a new boss who has yet to be convinced of your competence, it’s a stretch to persuade yourself that all this change and disruption is leading to much improvement at all.

“It’s exhausting,” one person I spoke to about change at work told me. “It’s soul-sucking,” said another. One person told me that after the combination of two departments, his people were like deer in the headlights, unsure of what they should be working on. Another had 19 managers in 10 years. Another told me that perpetual change drained the energy from work: “You say the right things in the meetings, but you don’t necessarily do what needs to be done to make it happen.” Another learned to watch the managers and be alert when they stopped dropping by or communicating: “It is like before a tsunami, when the water goes. You don’t see the water, and then the tsunami comes — all of a sudden, it comes, hard. When everything is calm, I worry.”

Of the dozens of people I spoke to, every single one had some sort of change-gone-bad story to share. And these sorts of reactions are about more than simple frustration or discontent. They are rooted in the psychological response we humans experience when our sense of stability is shattered and our future feels uncertain, and indeed the scientific literature has much light to shed on exactly why life in the blender is so hard on us. Experimenters have found, for example, that our stress is greatest when uncertainty , not discomfort, is at its peak — and uncertainty is the calling card of change at work. Then there is the question of agency: a well-known series of experiments conducted by Steven Maier and Martin Seligman in the 1960s discovered that when we sense we are not in control of a situation we give up trying to make things better — this is “learned helplessness” setting in.

Other researchers have described our fundamental need, as a species, for belonging , and the importance of our social groupings — which helps to explain why we don’t like it when our teams are disassembled, reshuffled and reassembled. And others still have shown that we have — perhaps unsurprisingly! — a deep-seated need for things to make sense in our environment, a need that is so often thwarted by the generic C.E.O. statements and exaggerated cheer-speak with which most change initiatives are communicated.

But while the essential response of the human animal to uncertainty and disruption is hard-wired, the degree of change we introduce into our workplaces isn’t. It’s often a choice. We’ve reached this point because the business world seems to have decided that change is an unalloyed good, and so there is no amount of it that is too much, and no cost of it that is too great.

Were more leaders to be guided by the science of change, or by the stories that people on the front lines share, they would quickly discover that it is stability that is the foundation of improvement. Only once we begin to honor people’s psychological needs at work, by thinking twice before launching into the next shiny change initiative and by paying more heed to the rituals and relationships that allow all of us to point our efforts in a useful direction, can we begin to do justice to the idea that a company must be, first, a platform for human contribution if it is to be anything else at all.

Ashley Goodall, who previously worked as an executive at Deloitte and at Cisco Systems, is the author of the forthcoming book “The Problem With Change.”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Trump selling Bibles may be desperation – but that shouldn’t cheer anyone up

Despite mockery, Trump has sold trading cards, sneakers, cologne and perfume – and manages to get the last laugh

Donald Trump is a Bible salesman now

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and, of course, Donald John Trump. The former US president, as we all know, and as he has repeatedly told us, is God’s gift to humanity. He’s basically Jesus … if Jesus were a blond sexual predator from Queens.

As if there were ever any doubt that Trump – who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 25 women and is facing 34 criminal charges for paying hush money to an adult film star – is a pious man, he is now hawking Bibles. Earlier this week, the presumptive Republican nominee made headlines for endorsing a patriotic version of the Bible. “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again,” Trump said as he announced his latest scheme. You can get your hands on the book – the only version endorsed by Trump – for just $59.99 through a website, GodBlessTheUSABible.com.

Where are all the proceeds going? Good question. An FAQ on the site clarifies that Trump is not selling the Bible directly but states that “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC”. CIC Ventures is a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure. In short: it looks like he is getting royalties from the arrangement.

Trump’s superpower is the fact he has absolutely no shame whatsoever; the cash-strapped candidate will do whatever it takes to make a buck. He’s capitalized on his legal troubles by selling merchandise with his mugshot on it , for example. A couple of years ago, he was peddling digital trading cards depicting him dressed up as a superhero. (“Only $99 each!”) Earlier this year, he launched his own sneaker brand , selling Never Surrender High-Tops for $399. While shopping for the shoes, you could also pick up Trump-branded Victory47 cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. Then, of course, there’s Truth Social: the Twitter clone Trump launched in 2022 .

All of these recent business ventures have inspired much mockery. Despite the copious jokes, however, Trump has always somehow managed to get the last laugh. His digital trading card selection sold out in less than a day, netting $4.5m in sales . His sneakers also sold out hours after launch. As for loss-making Truth Social? That went public on Tuesday and quickly achieved a valuation of almost $8bn .

Selling Bibles, of course, is rather different from selling sneakers or trading cards. Might this be a bridge too far for Trump’s followers?

There has certainly been some criticism of the venture from conservatives. Commentator Charlie Sykes, for example, slammed him for “commodifying the Bible during Holy Week”. However, others on the right are singing the Trump Bible’s praises. “From a Christian perspective, this is one of the the greatest spiritual moments in US history,” Tulsa preacher Jackson Lahmeyer told Real America’s Voice , a rightwing news network.

All in all, it’s unlikely that the white evangelical Christians who are Trump’s most passionate followers care about the hypocrisy of Trump selling Bibles. These people don’t actually labour under the delusion that their hero is a man of God. They just know he’s a useful means to an end. A Pew Research Center report released earlier this month found: “Most people who view Trump positively don’t think he is especially religious himself. But many think he stands up for people with religious beliefs like theirs.” In other words: they don’t care if Trump personally practices what they preach; they just want him to legislate in a way that means others are forced to follow these practices.

This isn’t to say that the Bible venture is some sort of genius strategy by Trump. It is, as many people have pointed out , clearly something of a desperate move by a man who is having trouble fundraising and who knows that if he’s not headed to the White House he may be headed to jail. “Donald Trump is weak and desperate – both as a man and a candidate for president,” James Singer, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, crowed on Monday. Trump may well be desperate, but that shouldn’t cheer anyone up – least of all the Biden campaign. Few things are more dangerous than a desperate man with nothing to lose.

Former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader Krystal Anderson, 40, dies after giving birth

Anderson had been diagnosed with sepsis during her pregnancy and, after delivering her stillborn daughter, she experienced organ failure. This is not some tragic one-off: it’s part of a growing national crisis. Maternal deaths in the US have more than doubled since 1999 ; the US has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized countries. Black women (Anderson was Black) have the highest maternal mortality rates – almost three times the rate for white women. Activists say this is partly because of institutionalized racism : Black women are not taken seriously by their healthcare professionals when they raise issues – not even if they’re a superstar like Serena Williams. “No one was really listening to what I was saying,” wrote Williams in a 2022 essay about her traumatic birth. “Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me.”

The US supreme court expresses skepticism in abortion pill hearing

On Tuesday, the supreme court heard oral arguments in US Food and Drug Administration v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the first abortion case to reach the supreme court since it overturned Roe v Wade . The anti-abortion doctors arguing the case may have gone a little too far in their efforts to ban access to a common abortion pill, mifepristone, as even conservative justices seemed skeptical of their arguments. However, the hearing did bring new attention to the Comstock Act, a 19th-century obscenity law , and its potential to be weaponized by anti-abortion extremists. “[I]f Republicans want to enforce the Comstock Act as a nationwide total abortion ban, they don’t need to win control of Congress,” writes Moira Donegan in the Guardian . “All they need is the White House.”

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People are drinking ‘sexy water’ now

What fresh hell is this? You don’t want to know. But if, actually, you do want to know, then Caitlin Dewey has a refreshing read on performative hydration and how water got entangled with “self-care” culture.

‘I had high breasts, most of my eggs … [and] a pep in my step that had yet to run out … ’

Behold one of the many eyebrow-raising lines in a the Cut essay titled The Case for Marrying an Older Man , which is a masterclass in internalized misogyny.

The Taliban will resume stoning women to death

“The international community has chosen to remain silent in the face of these violations of women’s rights,” one activist said .

A human rights official has resigned from the US state department over Gaza

Annelle Sheline said she was unable to serve as a representative of a government that “was directly enabling what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be a genocide in Gaza”. Sheline’s resignation comes as Gaza is on the brink of famine . And, as children in Gaza starve to death, the US continues to blithely enable atrocities: in recent days , Biden authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs to Israel.

The week in pawtriarchy

A wildlife rescue in England took in a cute little baby hedgehog, fed it and tried to nurse it back to health. “Our hearts melted,” one volunteer said. Then they realised it was actually a pompom from a bobble hat .

• Donald Trump
• The Week in Patriarchy
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Israel-Gaza war
• Biden administration

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