College College Cheer Tryouts: What Do You Wear?

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Aug 7, 2015
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I am approximately a month and a half from trying out for the cheer team for the school I will be attending next fall. They are a non competitive coed school and I have all the skills needed so the only thing that I need to figure out prior to tryouts is what exactly I need to wear. My school's colors are navy, white and gold. I was wondering how I could best achieve a collegiate look for tryouts since I am used to wearing any old tshirt and nike pros for practices.

Thanks!
 
Ask! What's appropriate at one college could/would be a hot mess at another.

Good luck with your tryout!
 
Wear what they tell you.

It largely depends on school.

Ex: Kids at Louisville try out in themed stunt group costume type practice wear. Ex: Mean Girls, Muppets, etc.

At UK you're going to look silly wearing that because they want you in a conservative leo/unitard and skirt/shorts combo. Depends.
 
Ask! What's appropriate at one college could/would be a hot mess at another.
Hey, RileyElizabeth99! What college will you be attending this fall?
Wear what they tell you.
It largely depends on school.

The tryout packet from this year and from years prior simply says wear school colors and when I asked the coach she said the same thing. Our only true guidelines is to wear white cheer shoes and hair can be half up or in a high pony, bow required. I would assume that there aren't any themed stunt groups at tryouts or any of that crazy going on so I am basically looking for a clean and simple look and I not quite sure how to best achive that. Navy has been a bit of a pain in the rear to find and gold has been nearly impossible as well.
 
The tryout packet from this year and from years prior simply says wear school colors and when I asked the coach she said the same thing. Our only true guidelines is to wear white cheer shoes and hair can be half up or in a high pony, bow required. I would assume that there aren't any themed stunt groups at tryouts or any of that crazy going on so I am basically looking for a clean and simple look and I not quite sure how to best achive that. Navy has been a bit of a pain in the rear to find and gold has been nearly impossible as well.

Luckily you have time! Is the school UCA or NCA esque? I know they don't competed but are they super traditional or do they have a glamour-esque feel? This will help in determining spandex v/ shorts. I would look at Omni Cheer and some of the cheaper uni companies. They tend to have swatches for those more traditional team colors, and aren't too expensive.

Linked are some ideas!

Chassé® Everyday Short - Omni Cheer
Sports Bras - Omni Cheer

ETA: And you can get some nice but cheap bows too. I have bows from 7 years ago that are still holding up.
 
My biggest piece of advice without knowing the school.

Do your hair.

Do your make up.

Not all star level crazy but put in some effort to look Game Day Pretty.

Look at how that school does game hair/make up. Do that.

Look the part! I tell HS girls that all the time.
 
Luckily you have time! Is the school UCA or NCA esque? I know they don't competed but are they super traditional or do they have a glamour-esque feel? This will help in determining spandex v/ shorts. I would look at Omni Cheer and some of the cheaper uni companies. They tend to have swatches for those more traditional team colors, and aren't too expensive.

Linked are some ideas!

Chassé® Everyday Short - Omni Cheer
Sports Bras - Omni Cheer

ETA: And you can get some nice but cheap bows too. I have bows from 7 years ago that are still holding up.

My biggest piece of advice without knowing the school.

Do your hair.

Do your make up.

Not all star level crazy but put in some effort to look Game Day Pretty.

Look at how that school does game hair/make up. Do that.

Look the part! I tell HS girls that all the time.

Thank you guys so much for the help! I am going to Murray State. The school is big on tradition and if they competed they would totally be a UCA school. I went to a game as a recruit and snapped a few pictures of their game day hair and makeup and will be practicing on copying that look.

We purchased a gold and navy bows and I have a white bow from cheering in high school as well. I currently have a pair of navy nike cheer shorts and a pair of grey athletic shorts with polka dots from varsity. I also have a couple of school tee shirts (One Grey, One Navy, One Gold) but the navy one is a cheer shirt from the college.

Thank you to everyone helping me out. I know that the outfit is not one of the most important parts of the tryouts but it is a factor and I am used to wearing just spandex and a tshirt for high school tryouts so picking the brains of some people with a bit more experience with college cheer and how I should present myself is a huge help!
 
Retired CP #1 cheered 4 years at Purdue (UCA school) and the nike shorts you linked would be perfect for tryouts. Could you do a solid white t /tank (dryfit style fitted but not tight) with the gold/navy bow? Game day ready makeup and hair as you referenced above. GOOD LUCK!
 
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Sooooo basically I just did what I did for my younger sister when she was trying out for college and needed to know what to wear.....and that's search hashtags on Instagram....(librarian problems )

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Looks like Murray State shirts and Nike running shorts is the way to go

So basically find current cheerleaders and scroll through their pictures. Happy stalking!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would get a school t-shirt from a sports store (or bookstore since it's a smaller school and may be hard to find at a nationals chain sports store.) Nike running type shorts in navy, with a tucked in school tshirt would look very collegiate. Do they wear tall socks on gameday? If so, I would wear them on tryout day. If not, no show socks are the way to go. You want to look game ready, so they can picture you in their uniforms.
 
A collegiate tryout look at a Division I school includes:
-white cheer shoes
-athletic fitted shorts
-sports bra/fitted tank or t-shirt tucked in
-hair out of face half-up half-down
-no jewelry, no long fingernails

Collegiate Hair Bow
If you decide to wear a hair bow, choose a small to medium size bow. Be sure it is worn behind the top center of the head. The proper way to wear a bow in college is to point the tails of the bow directly backward and not forward in your face.

Good Luck!
 
Are recommended nail colors a thing (I would think not), or is Kentucky just being different?

I'm so used to hearing "no nail polish".
 
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