Cheerleading tryouts can be stressful for cheerleaders, coaches and parents. Learning new materials, facing a panel of judges, and the possibility of being cut hold a lot of pressure for cheerleaders and parents. Coaches have their own list of stresses: working hard to maintain fairness, fielding pre- and post-tryout questions, and choosing a successful mix for the squad. With forethought and organization, you can ease some of the strain and make tryout week more enjoyable for everyone.
Planning for Tryouts
Your tryout preparation should begin shortly after the previous season ends. Give yourself a week or two off, and then dive into next season's preparation. Schedule a parent informational meeting to be held at least one month before tryout week. Choose the material you want to use for tryouts and assign your outgoing senior cheerleaders the task of learning and then teaching the material for tryouts. Update your constitution and all other required forms and have copies made. Advertise for meetings and tryout clinics at least two to three weeks prior to their dates.
Tryout Clinics
Schedule at least three but not more than four tryout clinics. Cheerleaders need at least two days to learn materials and one day to review them, but tryouts should not drag on longer than one week. Consider making the final clinic a mock tryout to ease nerves and make sure each cheerleader understands what is required at tryouts. Start each clinic with a thorough warmup and have outgoing senior cheerleaders available for teaching materials and leading small review groups. Be very careful to be welcoming to new cheerleaders and avoid showing favoritism to returning cheerleaders.
Types of Tryouts
The type of tryout you choose will depend on the strength of your program, whether your squad is competitive, and your personal preference. Traditional tryouts typically involve one to three cheerleaders facing a panel of judges and performing the required materials. An alternative to the traditional tryout format is a station tryout. Stations such as cheer, dance, jumps, and tumbling are each manned by a single judge, and cheerleaders cycle through the stations performing the skills independently. Another option is to simply have cuts like a traditional sports team would hold. In this type of a tryout scenario, a coach might post daily lists of those who have made it through each day's cuts, ending the final day with a list of those on the squad.
Announcing Results
Cuts are very difficult on coach and cheerleader alike. Consider carefully how to make this announcement less painful. Avoid public announcements, and try to inform those who have been cut immediately, even before informing those who made the squad. Turn making the squad into a celebration. Dream up exciting ways to announce to the new squad that they have made it. Involve parents when possible, because they will be an integral part of the squad as well. For example, contact parents and request they bring the cheerleader who made the squad to a local ice cream place. As the cheerleaders arrive they will begin to suspect something is going on, which will build the excitement. You, the coach, should arrive only after all cheerleaders have arrived. In both cases, making it and not making it, strive to do what is easiest and best for the cheerleader, not just for you.
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