Do I Have To Do High School Cheer To Do College Cheer?

[Lauren Chamberlin]

Sorry I just got the account or I would post this in high school cheerleading or college cheerleading. Our high school cheerleading program is not very competitive with even the other high schools in the area. I do participate in all-star cheerleading and have many national titles. I have cheered for eleven years and don't feel it necessary to do high school cheerleading if it will not benefit me. Do I have to do high school cheerleading in order to be a part of a good college cheerleading program?

 

[Official OWECheer]

Some schools require at least a year of college cheer. I can tell you that the skills you learn in all-stars will absolutely help you, but at tryouts you will likely be up against all-star kids with gameday skills from high school. It is not unusual for kids with amazing skill to be passed over for kids with cleaner, easier skills because they have good gameday skills. Remember that colleges don't care about cheerleaders competing, but rather about us performing well at games. Bad gameday performance can result in the elimination of a school's cheerleading program. You should know how to spirit with and without poms, yell (even while stunting) and use signs, poms and megaphones. Here are some videos that should give you a better idea of what gameday skills should look like:

Skip to 1:00
(Notice the sharpness of the motions and the facials; some are a bit overdone, but you get the idea)
Skip to 1:24 (band dance), 1:58, 2:57, 4:00, 4:25
(notice how they spirit)

Skip to 1:20, 2:50, 3:23 (band dance and great spiriting)


I recommend watching the whole thing.

Edit: @ACEDAD I'm sure you can guess why I'm tagging you.

 

[Pip22]

Yes, Lauren, you do. Besides, you will look so cute in your uniform, and lots of boys will want to go on a date with you. So I don't know why any girl would not want to be a cheerleader in high school.

....¿Que?

 

[ACEDAD]

@Official OWECheer

Sorry but I don't know why you tagged me.

Different schools have different requirements but I'm not aware of any that require high school cheer in order to cheer in college.

ACE has had several that never did school cheer.


The Fierce Board: aka Cheernado!

 

[Official OWECheer]

@Official OWECheer

Sorry but I don't know why you tagged me.

Different schools have different requirements but I'm not aware of any that require high school cheer in order to cheer in college.

ACE has had several that never did school cheer.


The Fierce Board: aka Cheernado!

The reason isn't cheer-related ... you're a moderator, right? (If not, I'll tag King).

 

[ACEDAD]

The reason isn't cheer-related ... you're a moderator, right? (If not, I'll tag King).

I'm not a moderator. Just bossy.


The Fierce Board: aka Cheernado!

 

[12mowerd]

Yes, Lauren, you do. Besides, you will look so cute in your uniform, and lots of boys will want to go on a date with you. So I don't know why any girl would not want to be a cheerleader in high school.

Lmao!!!! I just can't right now.

The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[Official OWECheer]

I'm not a moderator. Just bossy.


The Fierce Board: aka Cheernado!

In that case, I'll tag @King tlrol arelt

 

[King]

Sorry I just got the account or I would post this in high school cheerleading or college cheerleading. Our high school cheerleading program is not very competitive with even the other high schools in the area. I do participate in all-star cheerleading and have many national titles. I have cheered for eleven years and don't feel it necessary to do high school cheerleading if it will not benefit me. Do I have to do high school cheerleading in order to be a part of a good college cheerleading program?

In 3 days youll be able to post in the main forums. Welcome to the board!

 

[cheerforeverever]

Most don't require it, but many schools do focus on the crowd leading aspect. Remember, most schools PRIMARILY cheer on the sidelines in college, with competition only a small percentage of the equation. You may want to try out a year of HS sideline cheer to see if you even like it......some people are just more of an international div all star kid than a college sideline kid. Large schools also may have more requirements (such as needing crowd leading experience) just to weed out the pack.
For example, University of Texas - Austin tryout packet says:
"Prospective candidates must be a member of their high school spirit group – cheer squad, pep squad, etc.
- If the candidate is not a current member of a school’s spirit group, he or she may submit an appeal to be excused from this requirement. The candidate will submit a letter of reasoning with the tryout packet and will be notified of whether he or she is eligible to tryout."

So overall, it may not be necessarily required, but you may want to try a year of HS cheer (either senior or junior year) just to have that experience should they ask for it. It is good to be versatile!

 

[cmghas3]

My cp is entering her senior year of high school and we have been going thru this process. This will be her 2nd year as a HS Varsity cheerleader. She does both football and comp season. Prior to that she had 3 years of all star cheer. Now I'm in Michigan and I've heard that the southern universities are a lot more competitive than the ones here in Michigan. I'll use Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, ect...as examples. Most Michigan schools/universities that she plans on applying to "like and or require" one year of HS cheer. Now I never realized how hard HS cheer is until she made the team. It's very different from all star. I also still have a younger cp in all star. The judging is actually much more "strict" than all star in certain areas. My cp struggled a bit her 1st season as she wasn't used to throwing skills on grass, not used to using her voice the way they do, routines with no music. I earned a whole new respect for HS cheerleaders. Most of the colleges here, including the larger universities like to see HS experience.

 

[laneylulu99]

I have been doing competitive cheer my whole life I was involved on my schools varsity squad as a freshman and I hated it. I would really love to do college cheer though, here is what my coach told me. He said I don't need to be involved in highschool but that it would be really beneficial to get into a coed stunt class (IDK if your gym has those or not). This will be especially important if you would like to be on a coed team. Because flying allgirl is alot different than coed. Along with this make sure you are maintaining your tumbling through allstar. Some colleges have specific tumbling requirements! Hope this helps!

 

[Rachetv_inatl]

Some schools require at least a year of college cheer. I can tell you that the skills you learn in all-stars will absolutely help you, but at tryouts you will likely be up against all-star kids with gameday skills from high school. It is not unusual for kids with amazing skill to be passed over for kids with cleaner, easier skills because they have good gameday skills. Remember that colleges don't care about cheerleaders competing, but rather about us performing well at games. Bad gameday performance can result in the elimination of a school's cheerleading program. You should know how to spirit with and without poms, yell (even while stunting) and use signs, poms and megaphones. Here are some videos that should give you a better idea of what gameday skills should look like:

Skip to 1:00
(Notice the sharpness of the motions and the facials; some are a bit overdone, but you get the idea)
Skip to 1:24 (band dance), 1:58, 2:57, 4:00, 4:25
(notice how they spirit)

Skip to 1:20, 2:50, 3:23 (band dance and great spiriting)


I recommend watching the whole thing.

Edit: @ACEDAD I'm sure you can guess why I'm tagging you.

thanks this was very helpful