How to Coach Youth Cheerleading
The first glimpse of cheerleading began in the 1880s, when fans attending Princeton University football games shouted: "Rah rah rah, tiger tiger tiger, sis sis sis, boom boom boom ahhhhhhh, Princeton Princeton Princeton!" With a shortage of female competitive sports, cheerleading eventually become a sport dominated by females in the 1940s and today. Today, competitive cheerleading involves millions of girls and young women and makes use of vocal, athletic, gymnastic and other skills.
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Things You'll Need
- Large open spaces
- Cheerleading uniforms (not needed for practice)
- Pom-poms
- Padded flooring if available
Instructions
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Coach Solid Basics for Youth Cheerleading
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Start with simple jumps such as tucks, spread eagles, stags and herkies. Emphasize enthusiasm and proper form rather than absolute perfection.
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Progress to slightly more complex jumps like double nines and right front hurdlers. Be sure to have cheerleaders practice the jumps on the floor before they try them in the air.
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Save pyramids and other complex stunts for older cheerleaders. However, it's a great idea to show youth cheerleaders videos of college or professional teams to get them excited about the sport. Even better, let them see advanced cheerleaders in action.
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Have cheerleaders improve flexibility by doing yoga and gymnastics stretches. Each practice session should begin and end with a 15-minute stretching period. Flexibility is the key to preventing pulled muscles and other injuries.
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Focus on teaching one technique at a time until all of the cheerleaders have it down without thinking about it. If one or two cheerleaders are falling behind, spend some extra time with the cheerleaders after practice or before the next practice.
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Demonstrate hand, arm, leg and other body movements to the cheerleaders slowly with explanation. Include instruction on proper faces to make while cheering.
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Watch each cheerleader to make sure movements are sharp and deliberate.
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Review movements from the previous practice(s) during your practices to keep moves fresh in the minds of your cheerleaders.
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Encourage cheerleaders to practice their movements in front of large mirrors to see how well they are doing.
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Be extremely strict about correct spotting techniques when coaching youth cheerleading. Cheerleading can be a dangerous sport, and you want to build good practices for the future. Use spotters even for beginning maneuvers, and teach spotters to cover all angles of a stunt.
Coach Proper Vocal Technique for Youth Cheerleading
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Cover the difference between yelling with the vocal cords alone and using the diaphragm to push out the cheers. Show youth cheerleaders how to take in a deep breath and release the breath from deep in the diaphragm. The diaphragm, located just below the ribs, should expand and contract with each breath.
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Release the breath as you would to create a fog on a pair of glasses. A "haaah" sound should be heard without trying to use the vocal cords.
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Yell from the diaphragm by focusing on letting air and force flow from deep in your body as the sound comes out.
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Tips & Warnings
The coach sets the tone for the team. Make practice fun and enjoyable, especially when teaching difficult aspects of cheerleading.
Make sure each youth cheerleader uses proper technique for the movement shown before adding in new movements.
Encourage cheerleaders to cheer better rather than spending too much time on what is done wrong. Spend more time teaching proper technique than pointing out flaws (re-teach proper technique to correct flaws instead).
Avoid teaching too much in any one practice session, as it can confuse the cheerleaders and keep them from properly learning techniques.
Do not have your youth cheerleading team perform complicated lifts. They may not be strong enough to support the weight of other team members.
