Making The Transition To College Cheerleading

For the most part, high school and all-star cheerleaders from coed squads generally have a much easier transition to cheering on a coed collegiate squad while high school and all-star cheerleaders from all-girl squads tend to cheer on an all-girl squad in college (though there are several who have made the transition to cheering on a coed college squad).


What was it like to make the transition from a high school or all-star squad to a college squad and was it easy or difficult for you?

 

I went from all girl to smallish coed. So it was my first time coed stunting consistently. Challenging, and I started the year before with learning.

My advice:

1. If you know you want to cheer in college, start early with developing comfort with coed/college level stunts via privates and other means.

As early as maybe 10th grade.

You never want your first time coed stunting to be your dream school's fall clinic.

2. Get your dead mat life WELL before college. Start early with developing that confidence in dead mat/hard floor tumbling.

There is always someone who has whips and arabians through to double on springs, but comes to a clinic and is scared to death to throw anything above a layout. Or pushes themselves to throw specialty passes on hard floor and eats mat.

Don't be that person.

 

Especially if you're a headcase in tumbling already. I came into my program from HS so I was comfortable with dead mat/hardwood.

But I would say you need to know that college cheerleading is about game day. Your coach will love that you have a full, but they'll love the fact that you know how to hit the the crowd even more. You have to really know that you're not just there to compete but to cheer at games, events. It's a lot to balance with an academic schedule. Especially if you skated through HS or never really challenged yourself, the course load in college is a lot less forgiving. You can't skip class because practice ran late or something like that. And if you do, it's only going to be more harmful in the long run.

 

• Don't expect anyone to teach you or push your tumbling skills in college. The athletes that gain new tumbling in college push themselves and work hard on their own time in the gym. College tumbling skills aren't a major focus for most teams.
• If you're learning coed or are fairly new to coed, the best thing you can do to get better is to get as much airtime as possible. Stunt with everyone, small guys/big guys/basic skills/more advanced skills.
• For dudes, same thing, throw everyone you can, a lot.
• Don't give in to your FOMO (fear of missing out) in college. There will always be another party or another game or event, you're most likely paying a lot for those classes and tests, do well on them

 

Even if you were last pass in AS, if you don't continue the work and effort you'll lose the skill or become less confident in it. I still can't believe it took me until I was 20 to master a standing tuck.

 

Bingo. I've seen girls with Arabian Thru's and 1.5s to kick fulls on hard floor their freshman tryout to barely landing a full at their sophomore tryout soo many times.

 

Don't underestimate the importance of sharp, clean motions and solid gameday skills. Some schools make their first cuts based on motions and it can be a shock to kids coming from programs that didn't emphasize it.

 

Are the main ways to get air/stunt time through privates and College clinics?

 

You should also try your hardest to BE COACHABLE.

Maybe you are not the best game day cheerleader because you never did school cheer.

Maybe you aren't a super wow tumbler.

Show coaches that you can be taught and it could work in your favor.

There is nothing worse than an athlete who refuses to take correction.

 

Better yet, don't try out with this super hard pass in the spring that you can't throw in the fall. College tumbling is also about safety. You can't bounce back from a serious injury at age 19 the way you did when you're little. In college, time off is dangerous because you get comfortable with not having the responsibility of staying in shape.

YES! If you were a brat (and you know if you were) in HS or AS and liked to challenge authority or be a cry baby about anything that didn't go your way, college cheer is going to be hard for you.

Humbling yourself is SO important. It will make your coaches like you, it will make your teammates like you. Your accomplishments are great and respected, but it doesn't give you room to act like you're a coach when you aren't.

 

We found privates were more beneficial. My daughter had been on a coed team for several years, but the coed stunting in all star is not nearly enough to prepare for certain colleges. My kids have gone to clinics, but you don't get a lot of stunt time because there are so many other people there. Also if you are an all girl base, find some "life size" flyers to work with for a few months leading up to tryouts. College flyers are generally not the same size as all star flyers, and it takes some time to get accustomed to the difference. You don't want the first time basing a college flyer to to be at tryouts.
The biggest thing I have found - most college coaches do not care that you were in all star. It is all about game day skills. They will take a really good high school cheerleader with a standing tuck and a straight running full over the all star last pass who has never cheered a game.

 

YES. THIS. A thousand times - I coached a cheerleader on my HS team last year who was absolutely amazing skills-wise but the most un-coachable human I've ever met (argues constantly, questioned authority, caused scenes at competitions). When she graduated and moved up to college cheer, she made the college team easily (again, LOTS of talent) but was kicked off within a month for trying to pull the same self-centered stuff with her college coach that she pulled with me. High school coaches have to answer to a lot of people above them/appease parents, and (at least in my district) it's pretty hard to kick people off the team - in college there's no such restrictions. They can and they will kick you off as soon as you become more of a hassle than you're worth.

 

Yes.

You may be used to being the Big Fish in the SMALL POND..

Like, the best Level 5 tumbler at your small gym. Or only girl with an arabian through to kick full on your HS team.

At your college tryout, it is likely that everyone is just as talented or more talented than you.

It is the equivalent of being the Big Fish in the Big Ocean, swimming next to 2 sharks, 3 dolphins. and a whale.

It is very humbling. So humble yourself now.

 

And open gyms. But for those you may have to be a little outgoing to go ask some of the more experienced stunters at the gym if they'll throw you. They will be happy to do so 99.9% of the time. Those guys are at the gym to stunt, and they hate when not enough girls to throw show up.

 

SOOOO TRUE! My daughter decided to go for a D1 college cheer team about a year before college tryouts. THANK GOD she had/has the support of the MOST amazing, talented HONEST coaches. They told her if she wasn't 100% ready they would tell her & not give her a letter of recommendation.
She also busted her behind to make the level 6 team at her gym in spite of her being so young and THOSE bunch of Beasties taught her wicked level 6 stunting skills & upped her work ethic from great to down right insane. A couple of her coaches including her tumbling coach cheered for Louisville so she had their experience as an advantage and she was determined enough to do EVERYTHING they told her to do, down to the extensions in her hair, clinic clothes she wore and working that hard mat like nobodies business. If possible Find someone who cheered for the college your trying out for and ask for their help. There is nothing better than inside knowledge and experience. They worked on getting her tumbling technique perfect rather than crazy hard passes and her back spot stunting skills were solid because she was on a coed level 6 team who's stunts were max difficulty and flying real life regular size ATHLETES who are all over 21. they told me that the reason they felt she is a great fit for Louisville was her work ethic because with hers the coaches can COACH her and will teach her skills they need for their team if she didn't have them at 1st practice. I didn't believe that whole -does she have the "look" they want stuff I was hearing until I saw the athletes at tryouts. And although I HATE admitting it, the "look" is vital. So find out what your school wants their cheerleaders to look like on GAME DAY and dress/makeup/hair accordingly. Most of all DO NOT STOP SMILING and working your crowd. A returning cheerleader told my CP that advice. They will have you stand there for what feels like eternity and you best KEEP on your HAPPY FACE! Because on that sideline someone's always watching you ESPECIALLY the camera guys and tryouts are your 1st test.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk