College Becoming A College Cheerleader

[Katelyn Flyer]

All of the websites that I’ve looked at have listed their tryout requirements and clinic dates, so should I not email coaches?

 

[CheerBank]

All of the websites that I’ve looked at have listed their tryout requirements and clinic dates, so should I not email coaches?

Maybe when it gets closer to tryouts or clinics if you have any specific questions. I’d also google the teams and find some videos on YouTube - there are so many out there - to give you a better idea of what the skills are and what are some of the game day traditions.

 

[CoachMandiCF]

All of the websites that I’ve looked at have listed their tryout requirements and clinic dates, so should I not email coaches?

If you have any other specific questions then I would. If not, then you have what you need.


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[Kentucky Girl]

Have you considered Auburn or Florida? They're a couple of SEC schools that do not compete.

 

[Katelyn Flyer]

Have you considered Auburn or Florida? They're a couple of SEC schools that do not compete.

Thanks! I’m considering both of them. Every time I’ve looked at the tryout requirements for Florida, they’ve seemed pretty difficult. I haven’t really looked into Auburn’s cheer team yet, but I’ll make sure to do that.

 

[CheerBank]

Have you considered Auburn or Florida? They're a couple of SEC schools that do not compete.

Just because a team doesn’t compete it doesn’t mean tryouts are not competitive. Game Day presence and skills are no joke.

 

[Katelyn Flyer]

Are there any schools that don’t value game day skills as much?

 

[OnceUponACheerleader]

Are there any schools that don’t value game day skills as much?

Any school that does predominately "game day" is going to value game day skills...

 

[RileyElizabeth99]

Are there any schools that don’t value game day skills as much?

Like I said in my other post I made to you, there isn't a single SEC school that is going to want to take someone that doesn't have excellent game day skills. Based on your posts it seems like you have no desire to listen to any of the advice on here since the same points have been been made over and over and over again and you continue to ignore the posts that give you answers that you don't want to hear. I wish you the best of luck but it truly sounds like you would do better at an all-star gym than you would on a college team.

 

[Katelyn Flyer]

Sorry it’s just hard because I really do want to cheer in college but I can’t really base my decision off of that. I’ll just work on my game day skills as much as possible this year.

 

[ScottyB]

Sorry it’s just hard because I really do want to cheer in college but I can’t really base my decision off of that. I’ll just work on my game day skills as much as possible this year.

Just be open to cheer being different than you are used to it being. New chapter, new era, new style, whatever you wanna call it.

 

[njallday]

You seem smart and you obviously love cheer as do most of us who are on this board... but I PROMISE you life after cheer is great! College, especially these big SEC schools you're looking at have SO MUCH to offer outside of classes. Any interest you can imagine, there is a club or group for. Greek life is huge, if that's something you're into. If you put yourself out there you will find things that are just as, if not more, fulfilling than cheer. College is all about coming out of your comfort zone and trying new things.

I'm not saying this to discourage you from the cheer thing, but if you step on one of the schools on your list's campuses and fall in love and can't imagine yourself anywhere else but you don't have the skills to make that particular team, go there anyway.

 

[Katelyn Flyer]

Thanks! You guys are right. Maybe I just have to move on from cheer.

 

[RileyElizabeth99]

Thanks! You guys are right. Maybe I just have to move on from cheer.

Gaining the skills you need for tryouts is always possible, it comes down to how badly you want it. Unfortunately, my high school cheer years were not the best and for my junior and senior years I was not placed into a stunt group. I was what my team dubbed to be a 'tumble monkey'. For competition and sideline both years all I did was motions, jumps and tumble. I didn't base, I didn't fly, I didn't do anything to do with stunting due to numbers and issues with our coach. So after my recruiting trip and talking to the coach of the team that I would be attending I knew that my best bet to make the team would be learning to fly coed. My jumps and tumbling skills were on par with what she needed and I had good game day skills as well but not being in shape for stunting was going to hurt me. Luckily I was able to go to a local gym and get in some stunting and learn the basics for tryouts.

Game day skills are easy to learn. Tight motions, yelling loud, having a smile and spiriting can be taught to anyone and perfected whenever you are cheering your high school games this season. But at the end of the day it depends on how badly you want to be on the team. Do you want to push through your shyness and work on that loud voice or just throw in the towel?

ABOVE ALL: pick a school sooner rather than later. It will help you immensely with scholarships and so much more than cheer.

 

[OnceUponACheerleader]

Please don't take this the wrong way - but to me, it sounds like "cheerleading" is something you want to do for the 'status' more than the actual sport. You want to be able to wear the uniform - and have that as your identity. Again, I could be totally misreading your posts. But I think @njallday really nailed it.

Be honest with yourself as to why you want to cheer. If it is for the 'status' consider something that you will truly love instead - she mentioned Greek Life, or other clubs. College/University is an entirely different experience than high school - especially if you are going to a large school. You make friends who have similar interests and (at least in my experience) nobody cares if you are a cheerleader or if you are in the science club. There is such a diversity in clubs and groups, class sizes, areas of study, teams, etc. You are not going to know everybody's name, and not everybody will know yours or who you are.

I guess my point is - cheerleading isn't going to make you 'popular' or give a status that maybe the movies portray - which is the tone I am reading in your posts. You are going to 'fit in' to what ever your interests are because you are going to meet like-minded individuals.

Again - I am not trying to be disrespectful, because maybe you actually do really love cheer as a sport, and you do want to find the best cheerleading team that fits your needs. But only you know that. Take the advice people have left you in this thread. It is good advice - and it sounds like most of the people commenting have walked this road before you. :)