Cheers are performed during breaks in a sporting event, such as in timeouts, between quarters and at halftime. Your cheers should be longer than a sideline chant, and while you might repeat a certain portion of the cheer, you typically do a cheer only one time. Add excitement to your cheers with jumps or tumbling, and include signs to get your crowd to yell with you.
Cheer Words
The first step is to come up with the words for your cheer. Avoid long storytelling type cheers and keep the words simple and understandable. Typically cheers rhyme like a poem. Start with a theme for your cheer by deciding what you are encouraging your team to do. You can encourage it to a win or just to keep fighting. Cheers should include a portion that the crowd yells with you, such as "Go Fight Win!" or "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!" Make sure the pace of your cheer words is such that your crowd can decipher the words and you can incorporate motions, jumps and stunts.
Motions
Next, plan out the motions that go with your words. For beginner cheerleaders, do not have a word for every motion. Try hitting a motion and holding it for another word before executing another motion or inserting claps between motions. Also pay attention to the flow of your motions. It makes sense to transition from a "T" motion to a touchdown motion, but a forward punch to a bow and arrow is not as smooth. When possible, choreograph a motion that fits with a word, such as a high "V" on the word "Victory."
Stunt Incoporation
Once you have words and motions for your cheer, it is time to pick a stunt to incorporate. Choose a stunt your squad has shown consistent mastery of. Plan where the stunt will go in the cheer: beginning, middle or end. Decide if your stunt will require you to repeat a portion of the cheer. If the stunt is being placed at the end of your cheer, decide if you will dismount to words during the cheer to words or to counts after the cheer ends.
Formation
The final step is to create a formation. Start in the position for your stunt and design a formation based on that. Place cheerleaders on the same side of the formation as they are in for the stunt. Try to avoid too much traveling to and from the stunt. If you have a large squad, you can plan a widespread formation that takes up most of your performance area, but if your squad is smaller, try to keep your formations tighter.
Member Comments