High School Open Tryouts

[CheerGlammie]

Ok, so when we started out the season, we had 15 girls, now we only have 10-12ish, so the coaches decided that we need to have open tryouts, to get more girls. Keep in mind that our 1st competition is Dec. 20th and we have a stunt clinic Oct. 26th. Since the squad is leading the tryouts, we get to pick who stays. We can only have the best of the best because we're so late in the season. Any advice on what we should be looking for? Tryouts are tomorrow.

 

[seein_starz]

Ok, so when we started out the season, we had 15 girls, now we only have 10-12ish, so the coaches decided that we need to have open tryouts, to get more girls. Keep in mind that our 1st competition is Dec. 20th and we have a stunt clinic Oct. 26th. Since the squad is leading the tryouts, we get to pick who stays. We can only have the best of the best because we're so late in the season. Any advice on what we should be looking for? Tryouts are tomorrow.

Look for an all-around athlete, good at stunting, jumping, and tumbling with a good attitude. If you get a couple of those types of athletes you're good, and then after that you can look for girls who are phenomenal at one thing and still Good at other things (like an amazing stunter with not as amazing tunbling skills) but make sure you sit down and talk with these girls to get a clue about how they are going to act during practice.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I know it's easy to be blinded by pure skill, but be to assess the attitude of the girls during your clinics.

Important things to look at and ask yourselves during clinics and tryouts:

1. Who is on time every single day of clinics?

2. Who is open to trying different positions in stunting (ex: the girl who admits that she normally flies but when asked to base, readily agrees?)

3. Who responds appropriately to constructive criticism? Ex: If you give her a correction on a cheer, is she an eye-roller? Or does she say thanks and actually TRY what you say?

4. Who is the one talking when others are trying to give directions?

5. Who is sitting back and criticizing other candidates under her breath?

6. Who follows the attire guidelines every day? Ex: Does she show up in a lime green sports bra and pink pros when you CLEARLY said blue tee and gold shorts? This seems silly, but kids who cannot show up wearing what I asked for indicate to me that they cannot follow simple directions.

 

[Cheer Dad]

Honestly, based on the time of season and the crunch you are in I would talk to any girls previously cut from the team and look for the ones willing to work hard and will be reliable. You can't afford to lose more kids.

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I would think this late in the game you'd want to find people most suited for the areas/roles where your team most needs the help - like if you lost a good base, you'd want kids good at basing, if you're weak on jumps a good jumper, etc. If you already have 5 strong flyers, than you wouldn't have much need for a flyer, etc. You'd want kids that can hit the ground running in the spots where you need them?

 

[cheerforeverever]

Positive Attitude
Encouraging , follows directions, can make appropriate changes when asked, willing to try new things
Learning ability + Work ethic
Since it is later in the season, you need kids that are able to learn quickly &/or are going to put in the extra effort to catch up to the rest of the team
Skill Potential
Have an idea of what holes you need to fill in the routine for competition:
Is an athlete versatile in multiple stunting positions?
Is an athlete a specialist? (strong flyer, tumbler, or base but perhaps lacking in other aspects)
What puzzle pieces will fit best with what the team needs in the routine?
Keep in mind that tumbling takes longer to learn than stunting/jumping/dancing typically. Also remember that an athlete with high potential/strong work ethic/good physical conditioning could always progress into skills even if they do not currently have them at the moment.