High School How Long Should Tryouts Be Held?

[cheercoach23]

i was just wondering as a coach or a parent, how long do you thing tryouts should be held to get a decent look at girls?

 

[FamousxMindset]

At our school it's usually about a 4 day process, and on that fourth day we have final evaluations.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

We have a week of clinics which are evaluative (goes toward your attitude score...whether you're on time/following directions/etc.) yet also serve as a time for you to learn the dance and cheer, perfect your tumbling, and spend some time stunting.

Then the actual tryout is one afternoon.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

In high school, we had four days of clinics and you tried out on a Friday after school. Tryouts usually lasted until around 5 or 5:30. We got our letters at 7. This was the first round where most people were cut.

The second round was about three weeks long. This is where stunts came into play, consistency in tumbling/jumps, and attitude. Girls were rarely cut in this round. At the end of the three weeks, you found out if you made freshmen/JV/Varsity.

 

[BuegeSmalls]

At my high school it was three days of clinics and then one day of actual tryouts in front of the judges.

 

[ashscott41]

My school was info/parent meeting Monday, clinics Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, mock tryout Friday, real tryouts Saturday morning. Lists were posted at midnight Saturday night. They have a different coach now though so it could have changed, but I really liked this set up.

 

[Twinklestars]

At my high school it was three days of clinics and then one day of actual tryouts in front of the judges.

Same.

Parent meeting was held prior to clinics.

 

[BuegeSmalls]

Same.

Parent meeting was held prior to clinics.

We had that too! And then a follow up meeting about a week after tryouts

 

[cheerforeverever]

The schools in my area usually have Monday, Tues, Wedn to learn material & to check off tumbling (coach approves what is able to be thrown at tryouts.....only consistent skills with correct technique get checked off .....must perform skill 3 times on any day/days Mon-Wed to get fully checked off for a skill. Otherwise it does not count at Friday tryouts) . Thursday is a "review day" where the girls can practice the materials and do fake tryouts in front of the graduating seniors to get final pointers. The review day is optional attendance. Friday is the tryout with outside judges (girls get 30 min prior to warm up and then are lined up per the random number they drew to try out when they walked in that day)

I liked it because it showed who went home and practiced each night vs. a 1 or 2 day tryout where you just see who learns fastest. Hard workers > lazy smart kids.....
Anything longer than a week is too drawn out for the kids stress meters imo. You can always move kids up or down for competition season per their skills if needed, but you don't want to torture them by having them worrying if they will make a team or not for any longer than necessary.

 

[Daniellerae]

In high school we did Tuesday through Friday. Everyday was basically a "clinic" day but on Friday we had the actual tryout. I wouldn't really call it a tryout, because both JV and varsity coaches knew who was going on each team from the clinic days. You did your tumbling and chant and then they immediately told you what team you were on.

 

[cheernerd5678]

This year we did a three day tryout. There was a meeting a few weeks before that you were required to go to if you planned on trying out, and at that meeting they outlined everything and told us where to find the material. We were responsible for learning it on our own, it was posted on a public Facebook page. The first day we reviewed the material, tumbled a bit, and worked on stunts. The second day we had a little time to work but then were interviewed and evaluated on our tumbling and stunts - we just lined up when we were ready and waited our turn for tumbling and for stunts they gave us an order to go in. The third day was the official tryout but it was just jumps and material. List was posted at 8

 

[MHSCheercoach]

Being a coach at a small school our process seems really long. I have a parent meeting to inform them and the cheerleader candidates not only of the tryout process but also what is expected of them if they should make the squad. The following week we have two clinics, the next week 2 more clinics, with tryouts held that Saturday. I would love to do it all in one week but I have to work around softball and other end of the year events. I've held tryouts as early as March and as late as May, doesn't seem to matter much, it's still spread out over two weeks.

As far as announcing goes, my first year the squad had already been picked. Second year, I announced the names in front of all the girls, leaving 3 girls disappointed (so hard because I'm not a mean person but I sure felt like one). Third year I call the candidates in one by one, those who made it went up on the stage and waited to see who else would join their team and those who didn't left the building (I liked this because it's so important and exciting for the girls to get to celebrate w/o guilt with their new team mates). This year I had 6 tryout, 6 made it (They still had to get 70% of the score or I had to cut them according to the school) so I gave them all an envelope as a group with a card that said congratulations (they all seemed so nervous to open those envelopes).

Personally, in such a small school as the one I coach at I think tryouts need to be done away with. We don't have junior high cheerleading and as you can see we suffer from a total lack of participation. And it's not just cheerleading, it's a lot of sports, we barely can field jr. high baseball, jr. high basketball was cut so was cheerleading, and we have to co-op for football, girls basketball, and track. I would rather just take everyone interested, work with them over the summer, and then a month before basketball starts if I have a considerable number I can split them into JV and Varsity. I feel like in my situation more girls would be interested as that threat of rejection keeps a lot away.

 

[cheerforeverever]

Being a coach at a small school our process seems really long. I have a parent meeting to inform them and the cheerleader candidates not only of the tryout process but also what is expected of them if they should make the squad. The following week we have two clinics, the next week 2 more clinics, with tryouts held that Saturday. I would love to do it all in one week but I have to work around softball and other end of the year events. I've held tryouts as early as March and as late as May, doesn't seem to matter much, it's still spread out over two weeks.

As far as announcing goes, my first year the squad had already been picked. Second year, I announced the names in front of all the girls, leaving 3 girls disappointed (so hard because I'm not a mean person but I sure felt like one). Third year I call the candidates in one by one, those who made it went up on the stage and waited to see who else would join their team and those who didn't left the building (I liked this because it's so important and exciting for the girls to get to celebrate w/o guilt with their new team mates). This year I had 6 tryout, 6 made it (They still had to get 70% of the score or I had to cut them according to the school) so I gave them all an envelope as a group with a card that said congratulations (they all seemed so nervous to open those envelopes).

Personally, in such a small school as the one I coach at I think tryouts need to be done away with. We don't have junior high cheerleading and as you can see we suffer from a total lack of participation. And it's not just cheerleading, it's a lot of sports, we barely can field jr. high baseball, jr. high basketball was cut so was cheerleading, and we have to co-op for football, girls basketball, and track. I would rather just take everyone interested, work with them over the summer, and then a month before basketball starts if I have a considerable number I can split them into JV and Varsity. I feel like in my situation more girls would be interested as that threat of rejection keeps a lot away.

Remember that "making the team" will mean more to those who tryout & make it vs. a sign up sheet. Even if that is just 4 kids, that is 4 invested kids in your program. They went through the trouble to tryout & they clearly want to be there, compared to "mom signed me up & is making me do this" or "I signed up because I want to look cute in the uniform for the football boys"....... The middle school in our area does open signups for the cheer teams (which gives all kids an opportunity to try the sport out before it gets more serious in HS, which I agree is a good thing) BUT it turns into high # of cheerleaders, low level of dedication to the program every year. Many of the girls just simply dont care about "being on the team", because they did not have to invest any time or effort to be there.

Additionally, while the fear of rejection may keep some away, it is good in the long term for girls to get used to trying out. They will have to try out (a.k.a interview) for college organizations, internships, jobs, etc. etc . for the rest of their lives. Better to learn to cope with rejection now, rather than getting things handed to you. When the real world comes around, that dream job they want will not be a sign up list

Pros & Cons

 

[Cheercambree98]

We have one day of clinic and then the next day you go and actually try out

 

[AScheer]

We've done it different ways. Our typical way is a parent info meeting the week before, followed by 3 clinic days and a tryout. I've also done 1 day clinic and then a tryout the next day. That was a rare circumstance!

Then one year we had a typical 3 day clinic with a tryout. If you made the "program" you went into a month of practice tryouts to determine your team. No one was cut, if you made it in from the formal tryout you would make a team, just didn't know which one. It actually worked well and our original lists changed a lot after we worked with them for a month.