High School Tryout Season

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

That's exactly what we do

 

[LaurenYHScoach]

That's exactly what we do

How has it been? Do you have any tips? How do you explain it at parent meetings? Thank you!

 

[cheer25mom]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

When it was done that way here we had World War 3 when helicopter mommy little Suzy got cut. "the coach doesn't like her ", "it wasn't a fair tryout", "I want to see the scores", mom made enough of a stink with the school board she got her way, and it started happening more and more, hence outside judges. It worked because cheer is an activity not a sport, so technically has a sponsor not a coach.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

How has it been? Do you have any tips? How do you explain it at parent meetings? Thank you!

I explain it just like you did in your first post:

"So, these tryouts are going to be unlike anything you've ever done before. We are going to pull these girls in and look at their skills over the course of a few days. Then we will post a team on ______. This is the way every other coach in this school has tryouts, and it's the way I'm going to have to tryouts. I don't see the point in herding girls through the gym one at a time like a cattle show and watching them do stuff by themselves. We are going to evaluate their tumbling skills on day 1. We will look at their jumps on day 2. We will watch them do our fight song and one of our sideline chants on day 3. We will spend some time each day looking at stunt groups, they will not be evaluated on their stunting skills per se, but on their willingness to try new stunt technique and learn as we teach them."

This year, I've abolished the score sheet. No other coach has a score sheet. I don't see the basketball team hiring an outside judge to come in and evaluate the kids' form as they shoot free throws.

I think one of the things that has helped me with this is that they all do their stuff with everyone else who is trying out in the gym. If they can't perform under pressure, they don't have any business in a competitive cheer program anyway. Plus, MOST (not all, but most) have a pretty realistic view of their skill sets. They see the kids who have advanced tumbling skills, hyperextended jumps, and advanced stunting skills. They know where they stand. Many of them are over-joyed when they get the phone call that they made the team because they had seen the competition and realized just how tough it was.

ETA: My assistant coach has been with the program a long time. I thought she was going to have a stroke my first year when I suggested this. In retrospect, we've had virtually zero tryout drama since I started.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

double post

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

I do not use outside judges.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

This is one of my new changes. I have the support from school as he agrees that no other team does it. We are going to put them in small groups, we are going to have an evaluation sheet, we are going to have them show us the material int he groups, maybe creating a few different formations, some stuff timed with others, some individual, etc. Our stunt portion was always a simple evaluation, so that will not change. Im still trying to get some ideas and solidify how I am going to do this, so message me if you have ideas.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

This is one of my new changes. I have the support from school as he agrees that no other team does it. We are going to put them in small groups, we are going to have an evaluation sheet, we are going to have them show us the material int he groups, maybe creating a few different formations, some stuff timed with others, some individual, etc. Our stunt portion was always a simple evaluation, so that will not change. Im still trying to get some ideas and solidify how I am going to do this, so message me if you have ideas.

Both of you, and anyone else for that matter, can message me an email address if you want a detailed outline of our tryout process

 

[tojofasho]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

I want to do this so badly but my AD is so strongly against it and insists I use outside judges. The last two years there was at least one girl who had been on Varsity the year prior who made JV, and the parents for both went PSYCHO and went straight to the superintendent and pulled their children from the school and blah. So because of a few helicopter parents who are way too invested, I'm no longer allowed to judge my own tryouts.

 

[cheerisloving]

When it was done that way here we had World War 3 when helicopter mommy little Suzy got cut. "the coach doesn't like her ", "it wasn't a fair tryout", "I want to see the scores", mom made enough of a stink with the school board she got her way, and it started happening more and more, hence outside judges. It worked because cheer is an activity not a sport, so technically has a sponsor not a coach.

Same we do a formal tryout just because we need to have some number to support why someone made a certain team. Coaches are judging so really it's just a way to look at each girl individually and really decide the best team for them. We don't have that many girls trying out but it's still nice to see one girl individually do a dance or do her jumps.

We've never had super drama during tryouts but I do know there were questions why someone didn't make the team and while the girl being a train wreck attitude wise was a major factor, her inability to perform the necessary skills made it easier to put her on a lower team.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

I decided that I would never use judges to judge cheerleading tryouts when I judged tryouts once.

I sat and watched the most painful group of middle school kids from a little inbred town in KY do the most awkward homemade cheers you've ever seen for 6 hours.

My friend who judged with me and I handed our sheets to the coach. She handed us the "results" paper that she already had printed and as she was telling us where she wanted US to hang it, she was individually filing our score sheets through the shredder.

My other great "judging tryouts" aha moment came in my first year as an assistant coach. The head coach of this particular team took the score sheets from the judges. She then, while using the head and shoulders photo of each athlete that was required to be submitted, went through and "adjusted" the scores so that the kids she thought had "cute hair" could be on the team.

It was moments like these that led me to believe that hiring judges was a coward's way of copping out of tryout results. If you're not doing anything shady, you shouldn't have a problem standing up to psycho parent. If psycho parent pulls their kid from the school, so be it. If your administration won't back you on it, then they're without gonads and you're in a losing situation anyway.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

^^^^Amen.

So often, parents will say "coaches judging is not fair."

But Rebecca Random from Whatever University coming in and scoring your kid is?

Or Ally Alumna who cheered with 75% of the girls trying out is totally impartial and an expert on cheerleading?

Right.

You'll never see Coach K from Duke bringing in an outside panel to select recruits (outside of his staff.)

Same thing.

 

[coacha]

We don't use outside judges, but we do a traditional tryout in the sense that the candidates perform in groups before the coaches and we fill out a scoresheet. I'd like to get rid of that altogether, but my AD likes having the backup of a scoresheet with numbers in case parents go nuts. He knows that we are filling them in, so we are getting the team that we want anyhow, he just wants numbers as a backup.

 

[AScheer]

Does anyone just do evaluations? By this I mean, you watch the girls tumble, jumps, learn a cheer and dance, stunt and condition for a week or two and then just name the team? Similar to volleyball or basketball. Not bring in outside people to pick your team. I just hate that cheerleading follows different standards. My athletic director has given me full permission to run clinics and evaluate and then name my own team. He agrees that it is ridiculous that others have any influence over the team decision. If you have done it this way or continue to, what tips do you have? Thank you!

We do. I have never used outside judges, it was one of my non-negotiationables when I was hired. My admin has never had a problem with it and is supportive.

My first year I evaluated only. Since then I evaluate during a 3 day clinic and then do a formal tryout. I'm happy to send you the schedule if you like. Clinic day 1 is basic review (motions/jumps) and learning a dance. I'm watching to see how quickly they pick material up, if they have rhythm. If they're goofing off, etc. We have time built in for open tumbling. Day 2 starts with review from first day. I'm evaluating any improvement. Who looks like they've practiced vs who is lost. Then we learn cheer and have open tumbling. Day 3 is review, open rotation practice (whose practicing vs whose trying hard to make it look like they're productive but aren't) and tumbling tryouts. We do tumbling on this day to make the next day go faster. They line up in the corner by number. They show 1 running and 1 standing. Our coaches give them a score and they go practice the material from the week while the rest of the line tumbles. I try to pay special attention to the kids done tumbling. This is a good time to notice whose practicing in open rotations and who isn't. Day 4 is our formal tryout. It's set up like a traditional one, only coaches are the ones scoring. Started doing this mostly for clarity. By day 2 & 3 of clinics, I usually know my team. The formal scores almost always line up exactly with who I have on my list. Every once in a while there's a wildcard make it in score wise and those are the ones we spend time discussing. The formal tryout can be the deciding factor when we're between otherwise equal kids. It helps me see who can perform under pressure and who crumbles. I find it to be most helpful with JV. Varsity is usually easy to choose, it's JV that can be the hardest!

One year we did a 3 week tryout evaluation. Week 1 was set up like our normal clinic and tryout but instead of picking teams we just chose who to invite into the program. So if you made it past week 1 you were guaranteed a spot on a team. The next two weeks we practiced like normal as one large group while evaluating. Then at the end of the 2 weeks, we broke it down into teams. We did this only once for a reason and I don't recommend! We are not a drama program, and amount of drama it caused was exhausting! The stress of 3 weeks of evaluation took a toll on the kids, parents and coaches. The kids never relaxed and always felt judged. Every tiny mistake was monumental in their heads. Every stunt group switch was the end of the world and meant they weren't in the right group to get on varsity. Instead of bonding with teammates, every girl was the competition. It made making JV a disappointing loss instead of a celebration. As coaches we spent so much time doubting our decisions because we had too much time to dwell on every little imperfection. IMO the shorter the evaluation process, the better!

Tip: take notes! For me, everything counts! From the second you walk into my tryout meeting I'm making mental notes. On your phone, disrespectful to your parent, acting above others because you're a veteran, not listening, etc... I am taking mental notes and it will effect my opinion of you! Every girl has a cover sheet in my tryout book. It has a section for daily notes.

In my experience, almost every parent / kid is accepting of the decision. Be able to communicate why you cut Suzy and stick to your guns. In the pre-tryout meeting I tell them the coaches are judging and choosing. It's also a bullet point they have to initial in our agreement prior to trying out. It states that they know coaches are judging and choosing the teams. All results are final and they agree to our decisions.

 

[AScheer]

I decided that I would never use judges to judge cheerleading tryouts when I judged tryouts once.

I sat and watched the most painful group of middle school kids from a little inbred town in KY do the most awkward homemade cheers you've ever seen for 6 hours.

My friend who judged with me and I handed our sheets to the coach. She handed us the "results" paper that she already had printed and as she was telling us where she wanted US to hang it, she was individually filing our score sheets through the shredder.

My other great "judging tryouts" aha moment came in my first year as an assistant coach. The head coach of this particular team took the score sheets from the judges. She then, while using the head and shoulders photo of each athlete that was required to be submitted, went through and "adjusted" the scores so that the kids she thought had "cute hair" could be on the team.

It was moments like these that led me to believe that hiring judges was a coward's way of copping out of tryout results. If you're not doing anything shady, you shouldn't have a problem standing up to psycho parent. If psycho parent pulls their kid from the school, so be it. If your administration won't back you on it, then they're without gonads and you're in a losing situation anyway.

Situations like this are how I got here too. I was fresh out of high school my first year judging a tryout. To see the behind the scenes blew my naive little mind! I have judged many tryouts. NOT ONE SINGLE TIME has it been on the up and up. Every coach and program is a little different, but all are the same end goal. Judges are a front and the scoresheets do not matter. Sometimes we scored what we thought and they were thrown away. Sometimes we scored in pencil (with light pressure) so the coach could erase as they got passed down. Sometimes we were told what scores we were to give certain girls before they walked in. Last month was the most recent one, for a nationally competitive program. The scoresheets were never tallied or even looked at. It was all a formal pointless (painfully long) show.

Judges are a waste of money. Coaches should have a backbone to tell crazy mom why her daughter didn't make it. The problem is that there are a lot of coaches that won't. Bigger problem is that there are a lot of administrations that won't backup their coaches to these crazies!