New Mini Level 1 Coach!

XCD_Chels said:

I coach Tiny and Mini level 1. Any fun ideas on how to help the kids focus more? Its more so towards my Tiny's. does anyone know of any fun games/ ways to help them remember jumps and motions? Thanks!

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Knowing where and who you work for you are already starting out good! Make sure they see you happy. No matter what, they feed off of you. The biggest thing is they get more than we realize. They get bored quick, after an hour. But they know. They will surprise you!


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Karen Hep said:

Are there any forums / threads that have help about practice structure? Mini level 1

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There is a lot of wisdom in the coaches section, if I remember correctly there is also a whole thread just on practice with Minis/Tinys.
If you look at the top of the Newbie-section there is a thread by Weezy on how to get access to the coaches forum.

i know a cheer for motions it gets catchy after you learn it but its kinda just a list and since i cant say the tune it would sound weird

Last night I tried "challenging" my kids like someone suggested and my kids had the best stunting practice of the summer. They were so eager to prove me wrong when I bet them they couldn't "hold their sponge for 10 seconds," or "hit 4 preps in a row."

Question: My mini team is full of 6 year olds that are all the same size, so we've been having trouble with preps. We're obviously stressing technique. Does anyone have any other tips to help minis with sponges and preps?

retiredl5cheer said:

Last night I tried "challenging" my kids like someone suggested and my kids had the best stunting practice of the summer. They were so eager to prove me wrong when I bet them they couldn't "hold their sponge for 10 seconds," or "hit 4 preps in a row."

Question: My mini team is full of 6 year olds that are all the same size, so we've been having trouble with preps. We're obviously stressing technique. Does anyone have any other tips to help minis with sponges and preps?

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Do you need help with teaching the techniques (new ways to word it) or keeping them focused on the task?

For focus, I find minis and youth do so much better overall if we keep it moving and don't dwell on one thing for longer than 10 minutes. I start every practice (with all teams not just the younger ones) with stunt drills. It helps keep those basics sharp and then we don't have to spend whole practices drilling cradles (and losing their focus) because they get 10 minutes of stunt drills at every practice.

If you need help with wording your directions I can help there too. It can be tough to break down the stunt when they don't know what all the lingo even means.


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I know I wrote this in another forum but BE consistent! Never sway! Minis are amazing because they are a blank slates, they only know what u tell them. I meet with my kids before they ever go on the mat and I tell them (for example) u can only walk on the mat with ur arms squeezed into ur sides when u step off the mat u can relax. Even if someone asks to go to the restroom they have to squeeze their arms until their feet are off the mat. It's really funny later in the season when u see kids playing around the gym and as soon as they step on the floor they automatically squeeze. I have never had an issue with my kids transitioning clean in competition!

I do use the treasure box, and a LOT of games. We do stunt relays, motion competitions, bridge races, anything we can think of. While I hear what @ineverstopcheering was saying about not wanting to make anyone feel bad if they are not chosen or the winner, I don't necessarily agree with it. The whole purpose of competitive cheerleading is competition. We do our kids a disservice if we tell them everyone's a winner in the gym and then take them to competition where only one team gets to be number 1. I make it my business to teach my kids how to win, if you want to win the motion contest you have to be the sharpest, want to win the stunt relay you have to keep your stunt up, want to get a prize from the treasure chest have to be at your very best. So when we show up for competition it goes without saying-- I want to be number one, I need to do everything to the best of my ability.

cupieqt said:

Do you need help with teaching the techniques (new ways to word it) or keeping them focused on the task?

For focus, I find minis and youth do so much better overall if we keep it moving and don't dwell on one thing for longer than 10 minutes. I start every practice (with all teams not just the younger ones) with stunt drills. It helps keep those basics sharp and then we don't have to spend whole practices drilling cradles (and losing their focus) because they get 10 minutes of stunt drills at every practice.

If you need help with wording your directions I can help there too. It can be tough to break down the stunt when they don't know what all the lingo even means.


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Both. I'm pretty good with breaking technique into terms they can understand, but sometimes I feel like their eyes glaze over when I'm explaining things. They also fix things when I remind them but forget when they're tired or when we move on and then return to that task. I know repetition is key, but I can't repeat too much because they lose motivation.

retiredl5cheer said:

Both. I'm pretty good with breaking technique into terms they can understand, but sometimes I feel like their eyes glaze over when I'm explaining things. They also fix things when I remind them but forget when they're tired or when we move on and then return to that task. I know repetition is key, but I can't repeat too much because they lose motivation.

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My other problem is that these are very new level 1 kids, so the basics are the only thing we can drill. I love your idea of warming up with 10 minutes of stunt drills. Do you mean sponges, hang drills, dip drills, etc?

retiredl5cheer said:

Both. I'm pretty good with breaking technique into terms they can understand, but sometimes I feel like their eyes glaze over when I'm explaining things. They also fix things when I remind them but forget when they're tired or when we move on and then return to that task. I know repetition is key, but I can't repeat too much because they lose motivation.

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Exactly! They do glaze over during instructions, I see it myself every practice. One thing that really really helps is keeping instructions short and sweet. I can talk to you for 10 minutes straight about the proper way to jump all the way off the ground for a load in. But with them, 30 seconds in and they've started doing the itsy bitsy spider hand jive lol. So I tell them "Hey Ella give me a big jump off the ground and push off their shoulders like you're jumping out of the deep end of the pool." And then I let them do it and show me.
1 correction at a time, 5-6 times and then we move on. If you give 3 corrections at a time, you might get one of them fixed (if you're lucky). So just concentrate on giving baby bites of info in baby chunks of time and you'll see quicker progress.

All progress with little ones can be slow but if you give it to them in easily digested bits and pieces you'll find it moves along more smoothly. Hope that's helpful!


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