Help A New Coach Piece Together A Competition For 5th Graders?

[michelle wasak]

I am a new coach in a youth football program that has to attend two competitions and have been behind the eight ball since day one. The program does not have anyone with experience, in fact they usually play it safe and redo old stuff and mix it up. I already have a cheer and music (Michael Jackson tribute) but I am struggling on what goes where and how much of something I need. It's cheer for cure and has to have all elements with-in 2:30 . I cheered competitively 20 years ago but I can't even get a video of what my girls looked like last year or any past teams in my town. My girls are talented but never really had a coach to guide and educate them so I got no clue the level of difficulty to make the routine. I guess I don't have an idea of what the whole piece should look like. if I just had some sort of idea as to a lay out and of what and where and when. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[cheerforeverever]

First thing that you need to look at is the score sheet.
-Assuming this is the same Cheer for a Cure competition circuit, you will be in the Junior Prep School/Rec division? .....correct me if I am wrong ( CHEER FOR A CURE – CHEER FOR A CURE CHEERLEADING COMPETITIONS ),
-Think of your team's strengths & weaknesses. How much tumbling does the team have? How strong are they at stunting? There are mounted, non mounted, non tumble & non tumble/non mount divisions, so depending on what the strengths are, you need to choose the division that would be the best fit for the squad.
Strengths & weaknesses of the team also affects what order you will put together sections of the routine. If they are weaker at stunting and stronger at tumbling, put the stunting section near the beginning with tumbling later. If they are solid with stunting but weaker at tumbling technique, then visa versa. They will get more tired as the routine goes on, so it is more strategic to put what they are more solid at later in the routine. Get the skills they struggle with out of the way early.
-Look at what the scoresheet is looking for. Do they need props/poms/sign use to score well in a cheer/motion section? What do they need in stunts or tumbling? Are they looking for all squad tumbling OR more individual passes that are varied? Are they looking for execution over difficulty? Are they looking for a certain number of skills or transitions? Are there different level restrictions or is it all one "level" & anything under AACCA/ NHSF rules goes? You MUST cater to the scoresheet in order to do well.

Let me know if this is the correct competition circuit info or PM me the competition score sheet for the division & I will try to help you out.