All-Star How To Beat "end Of Season Blahs"?

[Hungry]

Each season, around this time, my teams seem to lose interest. They seem to lose focus, passion and drive. They're tuning me out, not hearing what I'm saying and really, are looking worse now than a few months ago.

I had a big talk with them last week and things perked up a little, but it feels like most of them have "checked out".

We have 2 comps left and I'm sure a lot of you have felt this same thing as a season nears its end, and I'm wondering what you (kids, coaches, parents...) do to keep the fire alive!

 

[emmabug95]

Wish I could help, but my team seems to have the same problem

 

[Hungry]

Wish I could help, but my team seems to have the same problem

Hopefully this thread will help you too!!

 

[melisssaacheerfreakk]

I don't really think my whole team has this (some people on my team do) but are you going to any bigger competitions soon? We just went to UCA nationals, and actually got 1st there, so that seemed to perk up our team A LOT! Everyone can't wait for practice since we now have a week off. Winning has made every one want it more.

 

[ohsnapitslex]

I would say try having some team bonding activities the last couple of minutes or so before practice lets out. Most of the time cheerleaders are so focused in making sure that the same stunts, tumbling passes, dance etc... always hit that they lose their drive to keep focus and truly appreciate their love for the sport! If you try doing something different at the next practice it will get everyone's minds off guard and whatever activity you chose to do should hopefully allow the girls to get their minds focused for the next comps.

 

[ellie]

yes! i would maybe have a team dinner or sleepover or just play a game at the end of practice to get everyone excited!

 

[Level5Mom]

Set goals with them!
1) What skills do they want to try out with?
2) What skills do they want to compete next year?
3) What team do they want to make?

Can you bump them up a level at the last competition to challenge them?

 

[coachTSC]

Ditto to Level5Mom!

Around this time we still run the routines but we also level up and play around with new stunts and tumbling... It's the perfect time of year to motivate everyone to work on skills above their current level and its a great way to impress the coaches before try out season ;-)

 

[WORKxB4xUxREIGN]

I feel that around this time of year it becomes easier for some of the athletes to become distracted more so then uninterested! They have preparation for end of year/ grade testing, prom coming up, and or graduation for some. I think it becomes the job of the cheer community (coaches, parents, team mates) to remind them of the goals and expectations that have been set! We stress to our kids that the season ends when you depart from the venue we chose to end our season at, but until then you owe it to yourself and your team to give it your all till then! Usually thats when they begin to see its about more then just cheerleading and realize that their actions now will be a good indicator as to if they will be productive members of society!!! Its a tough tough World for quitters and thats the reality of it!!

 

[Susan Jilg]

Our team goes through this all the time, and i do too personally. What really gets us motivated is just one practice lay off running the routine constantly and spend like the first hour just tumbleing for fun, like working new skills or perfecting old ones then run routine the last thirty minutes. The fun tumbleing in the beginning gets everyone hyped up and excited. i love it, thoughs are my favorite practices.

 

[Hungry]

Set goals with them!
1) What skills do they want to try out with?
2) What skills do they want to compete next year?
3) What team do they want to make?

Can you bump them up a level at the last competition to challenge them?

All great suggestions, unfortunately just really wouldn't apply to my team/gym. We are very small, and don't do tryouts. Everyone makes a team & usually it's more of an age thing first (level gets determined based on skills)

We are competing at level 3 right now and there is NO way I could take them up to level 4 in a week! LOL Not a bad idea though and wish I would've thought of that sooner!

 

[cheermommaRN]

We finished our season a couple weeks ago, only the 2 Worlds teams are still running routines. Our coach is using this time to work on our girl's skills in practice, he has been pushing the flyers to try level 3 skills and the little ones (like my cp) that didn't fly are getting put in the air. We also had a lock-in to celebrate the kids getting 5 or higher across the sheet at SC Nationals. One of the activities the coach did was really interesting, he split us into two teams with athletes and parents...the parents were not allowed to choreograph the routine, the kids had to. Then the coach acted like the kids do during practice ("I'm thirsty", "When's snack break?", "You never feed us...", "I'm soooo tired") by the end of the activity all of the kids were saying they were going to be nicer to him next season It really helped them to see how much work he does and how disruptive whining can be during practice.

 

[Carrie]

It's like this with my own daughters team. They just wanna be done and end the season and start fresh! No don't let that happen, bring snack bags once or twice, have a pizza party after practice or sleepover, or dinner! Do a sloppy routine with spaghetti arms! Makes everyone laugh. (Loose arms everywhere!)

 

[RockstarCheer]

We change it up this time of year with all our teams. Our Levels 1-4 teams peak at Cheersport, then we try to keep them interested til All-Levels. So, we divide all our practices up from Cheersport-All Levels. Half the time we work on routines, and the rest of time, we work on skill building. We work up on the next level. The kids get excited and can't wait til tryouts.
As for Level 5 teams, there is no problem, because we don't peak until Worlds. Because our season starts so late for those kids, Worlds is the end all Goal, and where we peak so interest is there til the end!

 

[Level5Mom]

All great suggestions, unfortunately just really wouldn't apply to my team/gym. We are very small, and don't do tryouts. Everyone makes a team & usually it's more of an age thing first (level gets determined based on skills)

We are competing at level 3 right now and there is NO way I could take them up to level 4 in a week! LOL Not a bad idea though and wish I would've thought of that sooner!

Well bummer. How about a little change to the routine? A few new moves in the dance, cheer or jump sequence?