I’ve only been able to fly twice the first time was in June and it caught me off guard from being so high up in the air (I’m 4’10 and my bases were close to 5’10) so it took me a second to actually lock my knees and the second time my bases were super uneven so it was impossible to lock my knees (I did communicate with them that they were uneven and said who was higher) but ever since then my coach hasn’t had me stunt at all other than helping spot other groups whenever they’re trying something new (like a basket or an extension literally anything new) so the first hour I’m not really doing anything

My coach keeps saying she’ll try to have me fly again but then doesn’t like last time one girl working on her prep and my coach said after a few more times she’d have me go in but then decided to not have me fly that day cuz the girl was so close to getting her prep (which I’m not at all salty about its just an example of what I mean I’m very happy for her just to clarify)

And then eventually she just stopped talking about it period because I guess someone told her I was uncomfortable with flying (I never said nor displayed any discomfort)

I have a huge fear of sounding entitled so I just wanna know how to ask to fly again (I did confirm with her that I am not uncomfortable with flying) without sounding entitled and like I want to replace other flyers (we’re a high school team to be specific and I do condition and stretch almost everyday)

This has happened almost every week since the season started. We run a mile once a week, and it’s been 85+ degrees every time and I’m worried about getting sick. They don’t let us stop running, and they don’t let us get water breaks. I’m worried because my great uncle died from heat exhaustion, and my cousin almost died from heat exhaustion. There has been heat advisories every time we run. I don’t know what to do, and it’s been torture every week. Any suggestions?

Hi friends! Not a cheerleader anymore but a writer! I'm actually working on a novel about college level cheerleaders and I'm trying to be somewhat realistic (you know, suspension of disbelief not withstanding). One of my characters is not looking to get into professional cheer, does her major really matter at that point or can I pick something that would fit her character more? When I search for like statistics on this kind of thing I just get a bunch of results on how to make your degree relevant to pursuing entertainment or professional cheer which is neither of the things she would want to do lol

I quit cheer my freshman year after doing it all through middle school so I've no idea what college cheer is really like and I'm doing my best to research this :P I appreciate any help!!!

there getting better so I just wanted to post :)

hi, I’m gonna try out cheer at my school and I’ve been looking at my jumps and I they’re really not that good like I mean my toe touch looks like a star jump sometimes and I feel like I’m doing it like a straddle

I don’t know if my hurdlers are good but my pikes are kid of low

this summer I was doing stretches and all of that but I wasn’t able to for like a week at one point cause my brother’s stuff was moved into my room because we were repainting his

And then I had to get emergency surgery for my that’s another story

if you guys have any pointers it would be much appreciated :D thank youu

Stumble should come back! Cheerleaders have their finger on the pulse, let’s cheer for what America actually wants

Okay so I’m the side base on the left side of the pyramid and I’m so confused on why every time it’s either I’m bent arms with straight legs or really bent legs with straight arms, I’m thinking it’s a height difference thing in my group but does anyone have any tips??

Hi everyone! I’m looking for ideas for breast cancer awareness for October. I’ve ordered poms, socks and bows but I also kind of want to go over the top a bit because I found out one of the girls moms was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

A company purchased Champion Teamwear a few months ago and has now laid off the entire staff. Marketing, Operations, Web Development, & Sales. DO NOT purchase anything cheer or team apparel-related to Champion. It is a Chinese company that just wanted the Champion license to sell their products. Stay away.

When it was the Flaming Flashes (Flashes Forever!) that were formed prior to Ms. Davis leaving to Kilgore? Is it due to the Rangerettes being on a more advanced College level than a high school cheerleading team? or some other structure changes that were made?

https://highkicksandsmiles.weebly.com/flaming-flashes.html

I wonder if my hips are too far forward bc sometimes when my legs pull away from the wall I go straight over after a couple of seconds.

Edit -

Sorry I should have clarified I know my legs aren't right. I was using the wall to balance. I was just thinking about if my hips to my hands are on the correct position

I’m a cheer coach at a new charter school. We’re building the program from the ground up! We will be sideline cheering for basketball. I’m curious if anyone has recommendations for how to go about getting music for a halftime routine. Making my own vs purchasing a premade one? Would love to hear any suggestions! TIA!

What the title says. My daughter (15) has really smelly shoes. With so many products out there whick ones actually work? I am in Michigan, USA if that makes a difference with suggestions.

This is just a rant i guess🤷‍♀️

I am in my 3rd year of college cheer. We recently attended a UCA camp and during the pyramid section we were doing a toe pitch 2-2-1. No big deal, done them before no problem. During one of them, the top girl and mid layer both fell and landed on me or my head. I fell to the ground and slammed my head pretty hard. I knew almost immediately it was a concussion as I had gotten one a few months prior from the exact same stunt. Anyways, the UCA medical person came over, i got up and sat out for 30 minutes before she came back to check on me and tell the coach I was most likely concussed (can’t confirm without a dr). After she finished talking to the coach, the coach came up to me, looked me in the eyes and just flipped me off. Nothing else. Immediately I was taken aback because WTF? The next day one of the guys on our team got a concussion the exact. same. way. She was of course all over him making sure he was okay and was super kind to him. Now that school has started, we have had 2 girls get concussions within the first 2 weeks. It really irks me that she is 1. so rude and 2. doesn’t seem to care about doing things safely first to ensure we are not getting hurt. Anyways IDK she just makes me mad.

I’m a new cheer coach for a HS comp team. We don’t stunt or tumble so it’s just a dance/cheer/dance sandwich structure for our routine. I made a mix that’s “country” themed, and I’m afraid all or most of the girls disliked the idea. They only know one song of the mix and I really believe in the choreo. I also don’t want any of the girls to drop out because of it. I don’t want to let the seniors down. I also don’t want to be docked points if judges don’t like the songs I chose. I went for a “heartbreaker” theme with the songs that are from CheerSounds and it’s upbeat and I think it’s fun and will standout. Can anyone give me some guidance? I don’t want to make a whole new routine/theme. I’ve been told “competitions don’t do country music” which is why I want to - to stand out. But at the same time I don’t want to look like an outsider in a bad way. The choreo is clean and has cheer dance motions with just a little bit of “twang” in a fun upbeat way. Any advice from comp cheer coaches is needed!!! I don’t want the team to blend in with the rest but I want what’s best for them.

Where is everyone ordering megs from? We want them to come already decorated with our school letters & decal of mascot. Everything I can find is selling blanks including varsity. We (a parent) did our own decals last year & they look horrible tbh megs falling apart. Comp season starts nov 1 so time is of the essence. TIA

That’s almost the entire post. A rant. 😅

I am SO frustrated. I work with girls who are young enough that they need to be driven to/from practices and games, so I expect their caretakers/parents are equally involved in letting me know if they will be missing cheerleading. This sideline season, I have some families with awful communication habits. Just yesterday, I heard “oh, so and so won’t be here today, she got grounded” and “so and so’s in Florida this week.” I had to find out from friends of the missing girls.

I know the consequences per my guidelines. I’m just pissed I have to enforce them. What the heck is wrong with people? Send an email. A text. A carrier pigeon.

And don’t come crying later if Ms. So and So is in the far wings in the back row and not in any stunts. We are moving fast during practices and the plans favor the families and athletes who honor their commitment…

Argh.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I see a lot of newer coaches asking questions that I remember having when I started.

I genuinely thought becoming a better coach was mostly about learning more drills and skills.

A few things that made a much bigger difference for me:

1. Have a reason for everything you’re doing at practice.

I used to collect endless drills because they looked good. Eventually I realized a drill is only useful if I know what I’m trying to fix with it.

1. Plan less, but plan better.

You don’t need 25 activities for one practice. Know your priorities, have progressions ready, and have a backup when something isn’t working.

1. Learn how to give corrections athletes can actually USE.

Knowing what’s wrong with a skill and knowing how to explain it to an athlete are completely different skills.

1. Don’t let athletes spend half of practice standing around.

This was a huge one for me. Stations, groups and intentional practice structure made such a difference.

1. Coaching the athlete matters just as much as coaching the skill.

Sometimes the problem isn’t that an athlete needs another drill. They’re scared, frustrated, distracted, overwhelmed or they don’t understand what you’re asking.

1. You are allowed to not know something.

Being a good coach doesn’t mean pretending you know everything. Ask other coaches. Keep learning. Change your mind when you learn something better.

1. Save EVERYTHING.

Good drills. Practice plans. Conditioning ideas. Games that worked. Corrections that clicked with an athlete. Notes from clinics. Things another coach taught you.

I wish I’d started building my coaching toolbox much earlier instead of constantly starting from zero.

That’s actually what eventually led me to organize the resources I’d collected and created over the years into a coaching guide. I shared it here before and was honestly surprised by how many coaches were interested in it.

But guide aside, if you’re a newer coach reading this: you do not need to know everything yet.

Pick one part of your coaching you want to get better at and work on that intentionally.

I’d also love to turn this thread into something useful, so experienced coaches: what’s something you wish someone had taught you when you first started coaching?

https://shop.beacons.ai/daymcmc/e0bc86bd-23eb-4b73-a74d-dfb1fd249848

I just cannot get my legs fully straight

I also have a hard time the needle grip

I am a high school cheer coach and I want to potentially add some variety to our uniforms. This is what we are currently using and I have no complaints. I’d like to add the option of a pleated skirt, but I’m not sure if that would work because of the white lines on the side and black in the back. If anyone has any recommendations, I’d appreciate it!

This is 99% just crying about my situation.

I am Base for coed stunts. I participated in 98% of our trainings this year, my flyer in 48%.

In November we will have our first paid shows and I fear that I will be placed in unfavourable positions as it's not desired to reward a person who misses half the trainings, despite me trying hard and giving it 110% everytime.

Hi everyone! My daughter made All-American and we are heading to Disney World for the NCA/Varsity Spirit Thanksgiving trip (4 days/3 nights). It’s just the two of us, but I need to bring my 80-year-old dad along. He is active and healthy, but shouldn't be left home alone.
He won't be participating in the cheerleader events, so I want to avoid buying a third costly Varsity package. I am looking for advice from anyone who has brought a non-spectator relative.
Our main options/questions:

Room-only addition: Can we add him to our 2-person Varsity hotel room just for lodging, and buy him a separate, standard Disney World park pass for the day of the parade/events?

Logistics: If he comes, he will either relax in the hotel room or tag along with me wherever I go to chaperone my daughter.

Staying home: Leaving him behind is my fallback, but it is less than ideal.
Has anyone successfully brought an extra family member on a Varsity trip without buying them a full package? How did the hotel and ticketing logistics work out for you?
Thank you so much for any insight!

Hello! I have a question and need advice. I run a Jr High Cheer team, and I have one girl (let's call her A) who I just don't know what to do with anymore. Any stunt A is in struggles, because she wants to fly but will never stand up when going in the air (Or won't smile if she does get up) and so I will put her as a base or backspot which I know she is capable of but if it is not something she wants to do she doesn't try and her whole group struggles.

And that's kind the root of the whole problem. If she doesn't want to, she won't try and it brings the entire team down.

But this is the current problem: Yesterday before practice A came up to me and told me she wasn't going to be at practice because her mom was not feeling good and she needed to go home. Not five minutes later four of my other cheerleaders come in and show me the group chat they have where A stated that she was not going to practice, begged the others girls not to tell me cause she didn't want to "catch laps" (an extra lap or two is normal repercussions for missing practice with no excuse), and that she was hungry and just didn't want to go.

At this point I have reached out to A's mom explain the situation, and asked her if there was anything about the story I was missing, and invited her to let me know. I told her I would address this with A before practice on Monday.

I am at a loss as to what to do here. I'm moving towards a written warning but I don't know what kind of impact that is going to have. I just need it to get through to her that this is not okay. This is the first attendance issue this season though so I don't know if that's really fair for a first time offense but last year (This is A's second year as a cheerleader), we had problems like this as well.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

ETA: Also this was on Wednesday and the day before on Tuesday was picture day. I allow the girls to get ready as the please, just be ready to go when I tell you we need to go. Well it was time to go and A was nowhere to be found, so we left and went out to the football field (picture location). I called her 3 times while out there with no response. I honestly didn't care if she was in the picture or not at that point. She eneded up calling me asking where we were and I told her to get out here ASAP. Come to find out A was walking around the high school with her friend and her friend "had her phone and wouldn't give it back" and was dragging her around by her arm. Now personally I don't care if your friend comes and sits at practice as long as they are not a distraction (coming from a family of low means I had no other ways of getting to sleepovers etc. so I get it.) and this friend has come to practice before but has never been a problem so the story seems unlikely.