Getting Ready for Cheerleading Camp
Tryouts are over, but a new year with a completely new squad is just getting started. You've had your Varsity rep fit the team for uniforms, and you've signed up for camp with your territory manager....What now? What do you do from now until camp to whip your team into shape? Regardless of what level you were at the end of last season, everyone is starting from scratch at this time of year...Here are some guidelines to get you where you want to be for camp!
At this point, squads should go through a full stretching routine at least three times a week, and general stretching should precede any activity. The benefits of stretching and increasing the range of motion of both muscles and joints include improved performance and a lowered risk of injury. It's easier to stretch muscles when they're warm, so begin by doing basic total body movement. Jumping jacks or jogging in place are a great warm-up for your stretching routine. When you start stretching, remember that static stretching is the safest way to stretch. Move the body to the point of tension and hold that position for at least eight seconds without bouncing.
Although you may want to jump into your new season headfirst, it is critical at this point to make sure all of your cheerleaders are properly stretched and conditioned before you start any serious physical activity. Stretch at the beginning of practice and do some sort of group conditioning at the end, like circuit training. Granted some of your cheerleaders may be in great shape, but some may have never been this physically active on a regular basis in their whole lives. Assess your squad's physical condition, and move forward once you feel comfortable that you entire team is ready to advance to more strenuous physical activity.
Once you are properly conditioned, start with the basics: motions. Your cheerleaders may hate you for this at first, but reviewing their motions will make practices for games and pep rallies easier down the road. Make your first practice a motion workshop. Go over all of the motions and check for correct motion placement. If you spot a wide high V, instead of fixing it yourself, stand in front of the erroneous V and have your cheerleader fix their motion. By having him/her fix the motion on their own, the cheerleader creates a memory of movement, and should now be able to hit that position on their own! If you put them in the right place every time, they will never know what it feels like to correctly place that high V.
Next, take some time to work on your squad's jumps. Make sure that all team members are using the same approach. If you're lacking a uniform approach, have all team members start with their hands in a high V and swing them inward toward each other, using that motion to initiate momentum for height. They will then stop their arms in a sharp T motion or a high V at the apex of their toe touch, herkie, hurdler, etc. Check for good form. Make sure each cheerleader's hips are directly under their shoulders. You don't want them to be leaning their shoulders down in a jump. Just because it's called a toe touch doesn't mean they actually have to touch their toes.
Start reviewing your traditional cheers and sidelines. Divide your squad into groups and assign a returning cheerleader in each group to lead the review and/or teach the new cheerleaders your squad's sidelines. Work on perfecting material the squad already knows. Review the material from tryouts and add those cheers and sidelines to your cheer list. This review will help them focus on material long enough to perfect, and it's a good trial run for cheer private coaching and evaluation at camp! In order to become the types of cheerleaders that can pick up material quickly, they have to practice learning and perfecting material!
Camp is a place to learn new skills, so don't push your team to have squad liberties for camp if they're not at that level yet. That's what the instructors at camp are for! But if you'd like to get a head start on stunting before camp, remember to follow the proper partner stunt progressions! Work on beginning technique like step-up drills, L-stands, etc, so your squad will be able to move on to harder stunts quickly at camp. Depending on your squad's ability level, you can use some practice time before camp to set stunt groups and work on synchronization of lower level stunts. This is the time to make sure all of your top girls are prepping the same way to load in to an elevator and doing the same thing with their arms when they ride their cradles. Just be sure not to overdo it...There will be plenty of time to stunt at camp!
Don't forget to use this time to let the girls get to know you and each other! Plan some squad bonding time. Some of the girls on the team may know each other from last year, but there will probably a few that will feel pretty left out of the group in the beginning. Plan a pot-luck dinner, an end-of-the-year barbecue, an at-home manicure and pedicure night, or a night of squad mini-golf. Check out the ESPN airdates from this year's national championships, and schedule a nationals viewing night to get them pumped for the upcoming season. Whatever you decide to do to promote squad bonding, make sure you keep up with it throughout the year. Fostering strong relationships and genuine friendships can help the team work through any difficulty on the field or at practice.
That should do it! Don't stress out over being prepared for camp, because it is not required. But it is recommended! A good deal of time, money, and energy goes into your camp experience, and you should try to get as much out of camp as possible! So go get going, and have a great time this summer at camp!