One thought on “Is it hard being a junior varsity cheerleader without having any experience?”

1. Ashley March 1, 2011 at 1:55 pm

   It all depends on who else is trying out, and how good they are. If you’re trying out against a bunch of girls who’ve been cheering for ages, then it will probably be tough to make the team. If most of the girls trying out haven’t done cheer before (or don’t have very good skills), then you have as good a chance as any of them.

   But even if your school is full of experienced cheerleaders, you still have a chance of making the team if you get yourself prepared. If you’re serious about trying out, start preparing RIGHT NOW and work hard at it! If you can master the skills below, there’s no reason you can’t make the team!

   Jumps: There are three main jumps in cheerleading – the toe touch, pike jump, and front hurdler. You can search the web to see what they look like, but it’s important to learn them correctly. The judges will be looking at your form, not just how high you can jump. Sign up for a cheer class or clinic, or take a couple private lessons, so you can learn the proper technique from an expert. Then go home and practice, practice, practice!

   Tumbling: Most schools don’t require tumbling skills, but the girls who can tumble will score higher. So start RIGHT NOW with some tumbling classes (not gymnastics), and keep them up until tryouts. You may be able to learn a back handspring by tryout time – and that will help your score a lot. The more often you go, the faster you’ll progress… so go more than once a week if you can! You can also get some extra practice by attending open gyms, and taking private lessons.

   Motions: You’ll probably be taught a cheer to perform at tryouts, and you’ll be judged on how sharp and tight your motions are. See if you can learn a cheer ahead of time – any cheer, it doesn’t matter – and practice at home in front of a mirror. Watch to make sure you’re hitting each position precisely, with straight arms and quick, sharp motions. Taking a dance class can also help a lot!

   Voice Projection: Cheerleaders need to be loud – but not screechy. When you shout your cheer, yell from your diaphram and make your voice deep, sharp and clear. This sounds easy, but it takes some practice to get it right. And when you’re jumping around in a cheer and yelling at the same time, it’s easy to become breathless and lose your voice! So start “training” your voice by yelling a chant or cheer while you’re doing something active – jumping jacks, jogging in place, etc.

   Spiriting: You’ll probably be expected to do some spiriting when you try out. That’s when you jump around and yell things like “Alright! Let’s go Eagles! Fire it up!” while doing some simple arm motions. If you’re not used to doing that, it can feel pretty weird… and you might not know exactly what to do or say. So go to a game, watch the cheerleaders, and see what they do. Make a note of some of the things they say, and what they do with their arms. Then go home and practice in front of your mirror. Make up a little “spiriting routine” that you can practice, so it will become more natural for you.

   Smile: The number one tip people give for cheer tryouts is to SMILE! Sounds simple enough, but it’s easy to forget when you’re out there concentrating on your jumps or cheer. So start working on it now. Whenever you practice anything – jumps, cheers, etc – do it with a smile. That way it will become a habit, and you won’t have to concentrate on smiling when you’re out there in front of the judges.

   To get an idea of what the judges are looking for, here’s a typical score sheet that many schools use:

   Entrance/Smile – 5 pts
   Crowd appeal (neat, pleasant appearance) – 5 pts
   Spirit (being peppy) – 5 pts
   Voice Projection (being loud but not screechy) – 5 pts
   Motions (being sharp) – 10 pts
   Memory/Recall (ability to learn the cheer) – 10 pts
   Jumps (height and technique) – 15 pts
   Tumbling (difficulty and form) – 10-15 pts
   Dance ability – 5-10 pts
   Grades – 10 pts
   Citizenship – 20 pts
   Total Possible points – 100 pts

   I hope this helps some! Good luck!

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